‘WORKING WITH VISHAL SIR IS LIKE ATTENDING AN ACTING WORKSHOP’
Wamiqa Gabbi shares how collaborating with a filmmaker like Vishal Bhardwaj has helped her grow as an actor
Actor Wamiqa Gabbi seems to be in the best phase of her career, with projects that have allowed her to work with some of the best directors in the industry. After Kabir Khan’s 83 (2021), she starred in the web show Mai, directed by Atul Mongia. Her recent outing in the sixpart anthology, Modern Love Mumbai, is garnering her praises, where Gabbi featured in Vishal Bhardwaj’s directorial Mumbai Dragon.
Gabbi expresses her fondness and admiration for Bhardwaj, with whom she has also collaborated for another of his upcoming project, Khufiya. “It still feels like a dream to have worked with Vishal sir. He makes things so easy and comfortable for his actors. He makes sure that there’s so much love on set. It’s a different kind of ambience that he creates — so full of passion, art and magic,” she gushes.
She goes on to reveal that she was “star struck” when she first met Bhardwaj but things soon eased out. “Getting to work with him is like attending a workshop in acting and filmmaking on a daily basis, there’s just so much to learn with him being around on the sets, and I made sure every single day counts,” says the 28year-old actor, who will be seen next in Vikramaditya Motwane’s Jubilee.
Gabbi admits that she considers herself really lucky to be able to work with accomplished directors and it does add value to an actor’s work profile. However, she adds, “It also adds so much to your personal growth. As an artiste, your mind opens up a little more when you work with people of this stature. So, it’s not like, ‘Oh, I’m getting to be in a Vishal Bhardwaj or a Kabir Khan film.’ It’s so much more than that.”