Exclusive! Class actor Gurfateh Singh Pirzada: As a selfish actor, I will always say that I haven't gotten the right due

Gurfateh Singh Pirzada rose to fame after portraying a lead in Gulity along with Kiara Advani and Akansha Ranjan Kapoor. The aspiring actor was also seen playing a small yet key character in Brahmastra, and now he is back with the popular show Class on Netflix.

Class is garnering immense praise from the viewers, while all the actors including Pirzada are also receiving love for their outstanding performances in the show. In a candid chat with OTTplay, the talented artiste shared his thoughts on the success of his latest venture and also spoke about his journey in the Industry till now. Excerpts:

Class is garnering so much praise and great reviews. First of all, how does it feel - very natural and obvious or surprising?

I mean, obviously, I wanted it. And I hoped that this would be the response. But it was great because it comes after three years long. I mean, obviously, Brahmastra came in between. But I still had a very small role in Brahmastra. But like, after guilty, it's been three years after the lockdown with a lot of changes and delays. But yeah, better late than never.

People would have liked to see more of you onscreen after Guilty, while you have been in very less projects. Would you say that you haven't got the due, which you should have in the industry?

I am an outsider. I don't really think that I had to do all of it when I came here. Now as I've grown, I am proving myself as an actor, and more and more hopefully, through these projects. So, of course, I am getting welcomed with open arms, and people are very keen to work with me, some really interesting and those people that I look forward to working with have been kind enough to reach out. Whenever there's something they will have to sort of collaborate and do something with me, which is great. But yeah, I mean, I'm an actor, I'm selfish. I am always looking to do more work. So I will always say that, okay, I haven't gotten the right due. Because, you know, I'm someone who loves working. And I would be, I would only be happy when I'm working 365 days. 

You played a Dalit character in the show, but the one who wants to raise his voice for the rights of the community, it might be in a bit of negative light but still. As an actor do you feel responsible to portray such a character as casteism is still there in our society?

Yeah, of course, of course, you are responsible when you're playing such a character. You have to study, you have to properly dig deep into what the exact cause, clashes about and how it formed, and what termbase ideology was, and everything like that, or read about everything regarding that. I basically come from a family or, like a setup where we don't talk about all this. We don't care about it. I have not been taught about castes really, while I was growing up because like it didn't matter, but now I know because of the show. And because of this character, I've read so much about it that now I've started seeing the differences. Now I know, This is what the difference is and this is what the conditioning is because certain people don't even realize when they're discriminating but they are because you know I guess they've seen it since they've been growing up so they end up doing the same thing without really realizing what that might mean. So you are responsible you have to do justice to what you have to do. Of course, if you ask me I could have done more and would have wanted to do more for sure. But in the time and in the character space that I got in the show I could find I try to do as much as I could.

You have been seen in a negative role in Guilty and your character in Class is also around the negativity, however, in Brahamastra you were seen in a positive character. What kind of character you are most comfortable in?

But is it really negative? In Class, the part is good and bad both. And guilty was also good & bad both and not just bad. You know, it was wrong. You found him as bad until the end, but otherwise, you were rooting for the guy. I want to do characters that have good and bad both. Because everyone is good and bad. Like, you know, I'm sure you've done something bad, I've done something bad, but at the same time, we would like to be, we would like to hope that we're good people. So, I personally, like darker stuff, which is a different case. But also, I can only do so much right, I can only do what I'm offered. And fortunately, so far, I have been getting these opportunities and which are great. I have consciously said no to a lot of things. Because also, I'm aware that I don't only want to do this, I also want to do like happy films, happy shows, slides of lives. And, and my next thing is something which is very light, and it will be a good guy entirely. You know, putting in the positive light and all that stuff. So yeah, it's a little bit of everything. I don't want to put myself in a box, only to like darker rules or like green or like, good, happy. But like everything. One thing is when change it up. And then because I want to give the audience and we and the directors also like a surprise now they should. That was like that's exactly the thing I got when people saw Class because nobody expected that I might be doing like the rich guy or someone or the other. Because I guess the look? But I'm glad I surprised people.

We've learnt that Ayan Mukerji's film is set to be a trilogy. Are you going to be a part of those too and can you please tell us about the developments of Brahmastra Part 2?

Let everything about Brahamastra Part 2 get confirmed first. However, whenever and if it happens, of course, I want to be a part of it. And all that journey is also important because all said and done, Brahmastra is what gave me my chance. Brahmastra is what got me noticed in Dharma, and what led to everything else, even though it came after. Like, it sort of welcomed me into that door, you know, so I want to do that. Also, I want to do love stories. In fact, next, I really want to do a love story if I get it. But let's see.

Apart from Neeraj, which other character do you wish to play in Class?

Apart from Neeraj. I don't know, I think I really liked Chayan and Chintan's part. And I really like Balli's part also, because there are those parts or something that most people won't play, you know. And, like, people like me like newer actors get a chance in these roles, which most established people will not play because they're a bit risky. 

You have worked in both films and show. How different the characters are shaped in both as films end within a few hours, while the series go longer.

I think the film is naturally easier because it's a shorter format. And you start and end soon. And it's easier to snap out of your characters and build that character arc. In series, it's longer. So of course, it's better in terms of character development, because you create more time with your character, but at the same time, it's harder to sort of stay in, in line with the character because then you can also lose it because, like we shot Class over almost two, two and a half years. And the first thing I shot was from episode eight, and then eventually, it was all over the place. I was shooting for episode one and then episode five. So if I'm not thorough with my character, and if I haven't done my prep, right, I could have lost it very easily I could and I could have been acting out. So I think that's the hardest bit in a series, you have to really be on your toes to sort of make sure and know where your character is coming from and where your characters going. 

Please tell us about the developments of Bedhadak.

This is pushed a little bit that's about it, but it will happen at some point. But I have another project that's immediately starting next month. So I think right now everyone's busy with something or the other, which were prior commitments. So once those finish there, then we will get onto this also, at some point. Whenever there's news, you guys will know.