Wamiqa Gabbi has been tucking into poha, jalebi and more while on a city-to-city promotional spree for her Friday release Bhool Chuk Maaf. “My trainer will not be happy about it. But when he asks me, I tell him what can I do! It is part of work!” laughs the doe-eyed stunner whose amicable personality instantly draws you in.
Wamiqa has acted across many industries — north to south — leaping into the collective consciousness of most with her stellar turn in the Vikramaditya Motwane series Jubilee as well as a bunch of projects with Vishal Bhardwaj. In Bhool Chuk Maaf, her first bona fide comedy, she plays a lively small-town girl whose fiance (played by Rajkummar Rao) is stuck in a time loop a day before their wedding. The Telegraph caught up with Wamiqa to know more.
Wamiqa with Rajkummar Rao in Bhool Chuk Maaf, releasing in theatres on May 9
What was your reaction when you first heard the story of Bhool Chuk Maaf?
I felt it is a concept that is crazy but can also get quite creepy (laughs). It is the kind of film that can shift between genres and that the makers can really get creative with it. We are laughing about Ranjan’s (Rajkummar Rao) situation, but for him, it is very sad. If you were to see the film from some other perspective — and not through the lens of comedy — then it can get quite dark. The man is stuck in one day for days on end. We laugh at his misery because it is a comedy but it is creepy too. But we decided to make a fun film... that is the perspective we chose. And it was a lot of fun!
How would you describe your character, Titli? There is, obviously, a huge comedic element to her, and she seems to be a child at heart...
Her innocence really struck me. There is a childlike aspect to her personality, which is what you are also referring to. I love the fact that she is so content with life. She always dreamt of getting married and she is so happy that it is happening for her. I feel we really complicate our lives with a lot of unnecessary things. Titli doesn’t do that.
She is just so happy that she is getting married to the love of her life. She is such a happy person and so, when she is going through something like what is happening to her in the film, you do feel bad for her. She is like a titli (butterfly) herself... she has a lively and colourful personality.
She loves her parents. She loves Ranjan a lot. And she behaves like a child only in front of him. Even he is a child with her... it is a beautiful relationship and I really enjoyed playing her.
In our cinema, such characters, unfortunately, are often reduced to bimbettes. How did you ensure Titli isn’t dismissed as one?
She is very sharp. If someone is wrong, she tells that they are, and she is capable of coming up with the right answer or, at least, a better answer. She is also smart enough to know what battles to pick and what to let go of. Sometimes, she lets things slide with a smile. There are various ways to react to people and situations. One chooses how to respond depending on many factors. You can choose anger, ego, laughter... or maybe you can just be submissive.
I think being submissive at the right time is also fine, you know. Sometimes to do it at the right time is okay, and to make someone feel a little bigger is okay. Titli does that sometimes, but not at the cost of her dignity. That can be tricky. But because she is loved by everyone, there are very few that will harm her or her dignity. So she moves forward in life with that confidence, even as she holds on to her innocence.
Do you relate to her in any way?
I love the way she loves, and the way she feels comfortable with her partner. She is very excited about many things in life and I like that because I feel like I am also a little bit like that. But I wish I could be as content in life as she is. I am very ambitious... I am always telling myself: ‘I have to do this, I have to do that.’
You have done a lot of acting jobs in many languages and across mediums. Would this be the first time you have done an out-and-out comedy and really put yourself out there?
Yes. I was very nervous about it. But what I understood is that you just need to relax. If you have a good sense of humour, you can be funny in front of the camera as well. You need to have a certain amount of wit to be able to bring spark to a scene. Though I was nervous initially, having had such a good experience doing comedy in this film has made me want to explore the genre more.
Having consummate comic actors like Raghubir Yadav, Seema Pahwa, Sanjay Mishra and Rajkummar himself, must have helped...
Definitely! Raj inspired me a lot because he is so good with improvisation. He is very good with witty answers and reactions. He would come out of nowhere in a scene and always surprise me, and my reactions somehow benefitted from his improvisation. He is just too good. The others are, of course, so good at what they do, and they have been doing it for decades. Seema ma’am, Zakir sir (Zakir Hussain), Sanjay Mishraji... there is something about them. Their experience makes them so relaxed both in front of the camera and off it. They all have good energies around them and that is what translates on screen. They are a really great bunch of people and I had such a good time shooting with them.
If you were stuck in a time loop, which day or phase in your life would you want to revisit?
I am in that phase in life where I am really understanding the importance of good people, the importance of being with family and how magical pure love can be. The time I would really want to go back to is a strong childhood memory. We lived in Chandigarh and visited my grandparents in Pathankot during the holidays. As kids, we would go to their farm, climb trees and pick mangoes. A bucket of cold water drawn fresh from the well would be kept and we would drop the mangoes into it. And then the whole day, we would sit under the sun and eat the mangoes. It was so beautiful, such simple and happy times. I really wish I could live that again.
It has been a good few years for you on screens big and small, but you have spoken about how you faced so much rejection in the past that you were on the verge of giving up acting. If you met that dejected Wamiqa today, what would you tell her?
Nothing. I will observe her quietly. Because I think whatever she was doing, whatever she was thinking, it was absolutely right. The feelings she felt at that time are important in how they have shaped me as a person and an actor today. The rejections I faced were important to understand life as I look at it now. Everything in life teaches us something.
When you are going through a low phase, you ask yourself why it is happening to you. But you are not special, you know. Everybody is going through something or the other. Stop making your problems feel like they are the biggest problems in the world.