Saw Big B's films, videos from '90s for ‘Guns & Gulaabs’ character: Adarsh Gourav

For playing a teenager from the 1990s in Guns & Gulaabs, actor Adarsh Gourav says he extensively watched videos on the internet and movies starring megastar Amitabh Bachchan to grasp the essence of that era.

Created and directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, the show centres on the life of four protagonists - a mechanic Paana Tipu (Rajkummar Rao), a killer 4-cut Atmaram (Gulshan Devaiah), a cop (Dulquer Salmaan) and Jugnu (Gourav), and reluctant heir of a ruling gang - and how a drug deal puts them at odds with one another.

"I did see a few films of Mr. (Amitabh) Bachchan when I got the part to understand the styling and all of that,” the 29-year-old actor told PTI in an interview.

But the majority of his references came from videos about real people, Gourav said.

"I just liked watching a lot of random stuff on YouTube, and sometimes things just stick with me.

"I saw a video of a person having ice cream in a very important way, and the timing of it was very odd. In the show, there’s an ice cream scene, where my character was sucking on an orange ice cream while he was doing something important," he added.

In the show, currently streaming on Netflix, Gourav plays Jugnu, son of Ganchi (played by late actor Satish Kaushik), who runs an illegal opium business in the fictitious town of Gulabganj.

Through his role and Kaushik's character, the actor said that the show's creators, Raj & DK, have portrayed the patriarchal dynamics within Indian families, which Gourav believed were more prevalent during the 1990s.

"I guess the 90s were more patriarchal in some ways than right now. He (Kaushik) is the main patriarch of the family and the boss, so it did play in my head, like how open I could be with him.

"When I listen to stories about how my dad and his dad were with each other, versus how I’m with my dad, it is very different."

Gourav shot to fame after his breakthrough performance in the 2021 film The White Tiger and has appeared in Apple TV+ climate change series Extrapolations.

The actor said he is willing to work across industries and languages.

"It’s kind of cool when you work with people from all over because people in America, England, or someplace else, they have had such different lives and perspectives on things. It becomes really interesting and cool working with them.

"It is a constant thing, where I keep auditioning for things over there and here (in India) as well. Wherever I get work, which sort of speaks to me in a way where I feel like this is worth spending five months with, I’d love to take that up,” Gourav said.