Gulshan Devaiah, who has carved a niche for himself in Bollywood since his debut in director Anurag Kashyap’s ‘That Girl in Yellow Boots’ in 2010, received much appreciation for his performance in director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s romantic tragedy ‘Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela’ (2013). He portrayed the character of Bhavani in the film. His character was based on Count Paris from
William Shakespeare
’s Romeo and Juliet.
The film was headlined by Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh.
Gulshan
Devaiah recently reminisced about working with Ranveer Singh at a difficult time in the latter's career. The actor also acknowledged that he often felt left exhausted merely by watching Ranveer's endless energy.
During a conversation with Lehren Retro, Gulshan revealed that while shooting for ‘Ram Leela’ Ranveer used to be upset because his film ‘Lootera’ didn’t perform well at the box office. He shared, “His films were not doing well at that time. Though he received a lot of appreciation for director Vikramaditya Motwane’s
Lootera
(2013), it didn’t do well business-wise. I think that had started affecting him, whether he wanted it or not.
He further added, “His first film (Band Baaja Baaraat) had done well, but his second film Ladies vs Ricky Bahl ended up being average (grosser). Though he was getting that stardom, such movies (Lootera) give you an unexpected opportunity and then you start rooting for people to like it since it’s such a beautiful story made by a really good director. And people didn’t like it as much as he wanted. It was a bit dull in the beginning.”
However, Gulshan observed that after the musical scenes for ‘Ram-Leela’ started filming, Ranveer's mood improved and he became his high-energy self again. “He immediately came back to ‘his zone’. He is exactly like you think he is. Those who have known him since childhood also say that he’s been the same since then. His energy level is amazing. I used to walk away sometimes realising I can’t maintain the same energy. I used to get tired looking at his energy,” he added.
‘Ram-Leela’ was the first project that Ranveer Singh and his now-wife Deepika Padukone collaborated on, and it was also the time when their love flourished. During the film's shooting, the duo confessed they were nearly ‘inseparable’ in the first episode of ‘Koffee with Karan Season 8’.
Written and directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, ‘Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela’ stars Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh in lead roles. It also featured Supriya Pathak, Richa Chadda, Sharad Kelkar, Gulshan Devaiah, Barkha Bisht Sengupta, and Abhimanyu Singh in the pivotal roles. It was based on the tragedy ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William Shakespeare.
Saw Deepika Padukone sitting on Ranveer Singh’s lap on the sets of 'Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela’; Gulshan Devaiah recalls beginning of their love story