You would have seen him as an England-returned groom in Made in Heaven 2’s episode of Mirror Mirror on the Wall, who was absolutely in love with his ‘perfectly caramel-colored bride, or in Karan Johar’s latest magnum opus, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani where he was goofily known as ‘the stevia guy’. But one thing is for sure, Bengaluru boy Rohan Gurbaxani has made his presence felt in Bollywood with his grand debut.
The success feels surreal but Gurbaxani is soaking it in very slowly. “I feel extremely fortunate and grateful to have my debut and second project with such massive banners, especially because millions of people will be watching my work,” says Gurbaxani, who was last seen in the Hollywood movie Chick Fight which starred Alec Baldwin.
Recalling his first day on a Dharma Productions set, the actor says he could not believe he was sitting in front of veteran actors like Jaya Bachchan and Karan Johar who were directing the scene. “I had to tell myself to stay calm and not freak out. I am someone who can keep the feeling of being starstruck aside and treat my co-actors, in this case Ranveer Singh and Jaya Bachchan, as teammates rather than larger-than-life figures. I don’t let it distract my craft. When I’m in a scene, I am locked in and available to spring off the energy of my co-actor and let the magic happen,” he shares.
In Made in Heaven 2, he was possibly a groom who was a total ‘green flag’, being extremely supportive of his fiance Sarina. The role came to him coincidentally. “It was quite a spontaneous, coincidental story. I had finished my acting degree at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Covid happened and then I was back in Bengaluru. I wanted to get my name out into the hindi film industry. When I wasn’t working on my craft, blind WhatsApping casting directors was my favourite activity during my free time. I booked a few ads and the director of my first ad liked me and later I found out that he recommended me to multiple other casting directors in the industry and things started taking off from there,” says the 26-year-old, who was on the edge of his seat when he got that email about being selected for the role.
Being in the industry completely on his own, Gurbaxani found the key to survival being patience. “Everyone gets impatient in the beginning in any industry. But the patient ones are the ones who succeed. So, patience is the name of the game, only those who persevere through those ups and downs can really make it far in my opinion. It also comes down to gratitude and not comparing yourself with the journeys of others. Just have your horse blinds on, keep your head down and do the work,” says Gurbaxani, who is looking forward to his upcoming movies Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, starring Ananya Pandey, Adarsh Gourav and Siddhant Chaturvedi, and Bandish Bandits season 2.
While his schedule now revolves around different shoots, he still finds time to take a break to come home to Bengaluru. “It has been reduced considerably. Bengaluru is very different from Mumbai. It gives me a feeling of being grounded. The city is also a reminder of how far I have come,” Gurbaxani says as he signs off on an emotional note.