© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
A month before the shooting of Vishal Bhardwaj’s adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children as a multi-part series was to commence in 2019-end, Netflix pulled the plug on its production. This left actor Wamiqa Gabbi, who was meant to essay the role of Parvati, in a bind. She had blocked 10 months for it as well as declined several Punjabi films. Though the actor, who first appeared in a lead role with Punjabi-language Sixteen (2013), had been part of several talked-about movies such as Nikka Zaildar 2 (2017) and Parahuna (2018) in Punjabi, Godha (2017) in Malayalam, and Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam (2016) in Tamil; she was looking for more challenging roles.
Unexpectedly, this cancelled show became a significant stepping stone in her career, leading to Gabbi bagging several major projects. Four such projects — Jubilee, Modern Love Chennai, Charlie Chopra and Khufiya — released this year, making her an actor to watch out for. “Sometimes it takes 10 years to finally have that one year that changes your life. I am grateful that 2023 turned out to be that year for me. My career received this boost just when I was confused and even considering quitting this profession,” says the 30-year-old actor.
After spending nearly seven years in Mumbai and with few interesting offers coming her way, Gabbi in early 2019 was beginning to question if she was meant to have a successful career in acting. “I was not enjoying my work either. So, I thought of making some money by doing Punjabi movies and then travel,” the Chandigarh-bred actor recounts. In due course, she hoped to find her true calling. That year in March, she auditioned for Midnight’s Children and was shortlisted. This was followed by a three-day workshop with director-acting coach Atul Mongia.
“That workshop opened some windows in my mind and changed my life. I realised it was all about working on oneself,” Gabbi recalls. When Bhardwaj called her to inform her that she was selected, Gabbi disconnected his call since it was an unknown number. When she finally did speak with him, she was in a state of disbelief. After the show got cancelled, she was out of work. Soon after, the pandemic swept the world.
However, her selection for a Bhardwaj show made several casting directors take interest in her. “That’s how I was called for Jubilee and Grahan (2021) auditions. The pandemic, which had restricted our movements, gave me the time to work on myself, getting rid of negative emotions,” she says. Initially, Gabbi was not selected to play the role of free-spirited Nilofer Qureshi in Jubilee since its director Vikramaditya Motwane thought she “lacked confidence and a sense of humour”. The pandemic delayed Jubilee’s making and Motwane changed his mind a year later. “When he checked my Instagram handle, he could see my positivity and energy in the posts I shared during the pandemic,” says the actor.
All the characters she was seen playing this year varied from each other and were set in different milieus. “I have been rejected many times because the makers wanted someone with more Instagram followers. Hence, I have a lot of respect for the directors who don’t care about it. They inspire you to be humble,” says Gabbi, who started using her father, author Govardhan Gabbi’s nom de plume as her last name when she was in Class XIII. She loves the fact that her name doesn’t give away her religion or caste.
Jubilee, which was released on Prime Video in April, gave her the chance to take a deep dive into her character of Nilofer, a courtesan who picks up the film industry’s ways and becomes a star. She appeared as a newbie detective in the Bhardwaj-directed series Charlie Chopra in September on SonyLiv. Her next release was Netflix’s Khufiya, also directed by Bhardwaj. She also played lead in the Thiagarajan Kumararaja-directed segment of Modern Love Chennai (Prime Video). Prior to these shows, she delivered impressive performances as the naïve Manjeet in Grahan, and the mute but brave Supriya in Mai (2022).
Gabbi’s first screen appearance, however, was in Jab We Met (2007) in which she played Kareena Kapoor’s cousin. While growing up in Chandigarh, Gabbi watched plays and cinema from an early age. “My favourite film used to be Devdas (2002), I used to watch it frequently. I have danced to its song, Kahe chhed, chhed mohe, during several dance performances. With Jubilee, I fulfilled my kasak (desire) to showcase that kind of dance on screen,” says the actor, who learnt classical singing and dance at Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh. In Jubilee, she is seen performing to popular songs Voh tere mere ishq ka and Babuji bhole bhaale.
Meanwhile, ready to make a splash in mainstream cinema, Gabbi is acting in Atlee’s forthcoming Hindi production with Varun Dhawan. She has romantic drama Shiddat 2 and fantasy Genie in her kitty.
