00:00Thank you so much for having me here.
00:12Well, what my role here is I play Deva called Guliga Deva, which is a very ferocious God who eats chicken.
00:19And he is very, very angry, very aggressive.
00:22And I was so humbled that Sudhir asked me to play this role.
00:26I have never done something like this before.
00:28This is my first Canada film. I've done other languages, but this is my first Canada movie.
00:32It feels absolutely brilliant because to perform something which is so culturally rich, so traditionally rooted, I think it's an honor.
00:39And I've had some brilliant spiritual experiences while shooting the song.
00:43I actually at some moments felt that this deity who I don't know about was a part of my dance.
00:49And I remember before I went on to go on and do this dance form,
00:55I prayed to Guliga, who I don't really know because I'm not a follower of the deity.
01:01But I prayed to him that I'm performing your character and I hope I can do justice to what you have been doing.
01:08And I hope you all love what I have done because it's a lot of hard work that we have put in.
01:12Do you want to go on to Guliga? What's the reality you do in real life?
01:20Well, Guliga is very aggressive. I am not that kind, but I think the dance, of course, yes, is.
01:26I do a dance called Paso Doble, which is a Spanish bullfight dance, which is aggressive dance form.
01:31So I think as a dancer, we adapt to various situations and various dance forms.
01:36And it was a great experience.
01:38So these actually gave us some references of how Guliga dance takes place.
01:43And tonight when you all come for the event, you will see how the dance happens.
01:46And that is what we tried to bring about in the dance.
01:50Ashutosh Aria helped us to put this dance together.
01:54So I think it's it was a great experience, a new language, a new God, a new experience.
02:00I think that's what as actors, as dancers, we get to do.
02:12True.
02:14Well, the controversy happened and they didn't want us to shoot this dance at all because they were against the entire movie of Karadarja, against Guliga as a character.
02:32They even were not very happy that a non follower of Guliga was performing that particular role.
02:37So I think a lot of issues took place.
02:40I remember I would take almost four and a half hours to get ready for that makeup and two hours to remove the makeup.
02:46And middle of the shooting, it was to be canceled.
02:48I was blocked for three nights to shoot.
02:50But I shot for it for almost eight days because every time we started to shoot, it was, you know, stalled.
02:56And I'm glad that controversy did come off slightly.
03:00And now the movie is coming out.
03:02Sir, does it be in my mind also that Aliyah performed the idea that was his picture?
03:10But is there a maximum danger or something that will happen?
03:17Well, initially there was, but I just personally feel when the blessings of the God comes onto you, there is nothing that can stop you.
03:25And I must say that this film definitely is blessed with so much of controversy, with so many problems that they have faced.
03:32It is still coming out, which means there is some energy somewhere of Koragajja, some energy somewhere of Guliga, which is blessing them by saying, bring out the story.
03:42And I think that's what is most important.
03:44I think this film is totally rooted and culturally in essence, like they say, the Mitti ki Khushbu.
03:58This is what this film is all about.
04:00It's not the famous gods that you see all over and in our country.
04:03It's not a Ram.
04:04It's not a Krishna.
04:05It's not a Shiva.
04:06It's a very tribal story.
04:08And I think that's important because that is what is true India is.
04:12That is what our culture is supposed to be.
04:14That's from where we all come around.
04:15And I think that's coming out as a movie.
04:18I think it's something to enrich us and to make us more experienced as people.
04:31Well, I think comparing the two cinemas would be quite difficult, but yes, I'm sure.
04:36And I completely agree that a regional cinema has its own stories because every region has its own little culturally rooted things.
04:43And why not?
04:44And today with this new age cinema coming around and so much OTT coming around, it's much easier to bring out different, different languages.
04:52And I am so happy that something like this is coming up.
04:58Well, you will see some coming up.
05:00I will not want to speak about it.
05:01Just my new song, which I directed and I photographed called Oh Jaane Ja, just released last week.
05:06So go and watch that one and the rest you will see coming up.
05:09Oh, Dharam Ji's family is extremely close to me.
05:16Aisha is my student.
05:17I have been performing with Hema Ji for the past 10 years as Shiva and she plays Ganga.
05:21I just hope and pray that Dharam Ji recovers really soon.
05:25And we get to see him again at all our rehearsals.
05:28We get to see him at all the pujas that I attend for them.
05:30And he's a wonderful man with a golden heart and a great family that they all have.
05:35And I just hope that he gets well soon.
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