Adarsh Gourav: I want to keep changing and evolving; I want to work globally

Critical success of Ramin Bahrani's The White Tiger as well as a BAFTA nomination for his performance in the film has given Adarsh Gourav an access to opportunities and the actor says he wants the make most of it by choosing unique characters. The Jamshedpur-born actor was nominated for the leading actor BAFTA for his role of Balram, the quintessential underdog, from a poor low-caste family.

Based on Aravind Adiga's Booker Prize winning novel of the same name, The White Tiger follows Balram's (Gourav) rise from a poor villager to a successful entrepreneur in India, showcasing how hunger and lack of opportunity can build and drive a human being's animal instinct of survival. It also featured Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Rajkummar Rao.

Gourav said going ahead he wants to keep evolving as an individual and an artiste. “I do not feel a sense of pressure in terms of what I will do next. All I know is, I want to do films that engage me and the audience. I want to keep changing and evolving as an individual. I want to become a better version of myself,” the actor told PTI in a Zoom interview.

He added that he would not like to restrict himself and keep learning and exploring newer things in life. “I want to work globally. Work in all languages, learn new languages. I hope, I have the time to do that. My driving force in life is to pick up new things and chase them completely and try to master them in some way. I want to be part of unique stories, play different characters with ease and that will come with age and experience.”

The international acclaim combined with award nominations at Independent Spirit award and AACTA award, led to increased media attention and better offers for the 27-year-old actor, who has previously appeared in movies My Name is Khan, Mom and Netflix series Leila.

The actor said he has read a lot of script in the past few months and there are some interesting offers, but he is not in position to divulge any details until the official announcement. “There are a lot more auditions happening and access to opportunities than before. I have read a lot of scripts; spoken to filmmakers I have aspired to work with. Things are looking good. But there is only so much I can talk about because there is no official announcement on my future projects. But there are a bunch of interesting things happening next year."

Gourav said as a child he never intended to be an actor, but now he does aim to excel the craft. He has also made a wish list of directors he would like to work with and that includes Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Zoya Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar, Devashish Makhija among others. “It (acting) happened accidentally. I was singing at a place and someone asked me if I want to try out acting and I said, why not. I was just an enthusiastic kid. I gave it a shot and it worked then. It was purely an accident, I never intended to be an actor,” he said.

The actor will now be seen reprising his role of Ankit Pandey in the second season of Hostel Daze, directed by Amir Musanna and Sangram Naiksatam. The Amazon Prime Video show, which will be out on July 23, captures the hostel-culture of an engineering college.

The actor said in the sophomore season newer arcs are being explored in terms of relationship dynamics and individual journey of every character. “This is the only show that I am part of that has had a sequel. For the second season, I did watch the first part and sort of revise, jog my memory through my character arc and all of that. Having said that, the character has been established (in season two), you understand his sense of morality, ethics, thought process better,” he said.

Besides Gourav, the comedy-drama series also stars Luv Vispute, Shubham Gaur, Nikhil Vijay, Ahsaas Channa and Ayushi Gupta.