Actor Gulshan Devaiah is having a hell of a year so far, with an unforgettable performance as the monster in Dibakar Banerjee's segment of Ghost Stories as well as spearheading his own Prime Video show Afsos. The actor, who's been on the periphery for some time now is finally getting his due with a number of upcoming projects to his name.
From his favourite films to his sneaker obsession and more, we spoke to the actor about the 10 things he can't live without.
There Will Be Blood. Every now and again I watch it and it just never ages. I think it's one of the greatest male performances of all time. It's an absolute masterclass from Daniel Day-Lewis. It's about greed and how it can consume a person and how it drives a human being to be the devil and it's just so masterfully crafted.
Black Adder – it's one of my favourite series. It's from the mid to late '80s and stars Rowan Atkinson before his Mr Bean days and it's just epic. Rowan Atkinson is probably one of the best physical comics of all time. It's full of hilarious lines and has so many great actors like Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry before they all became legends.
It's a saying by Albert Camus, a philosopher who said 'In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer' which I came across while I was shooting Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota. It was just after I had surgery and I was in a lot of discomfort when I came across this quote and it really resonated with me.
In Mumbai it's Gustoso. I love their Neapolitan Pizzas. I have to go there once a month at least to eat a shit ton of pizza.
I love Greece. My wife and her family are from there, in Athens, and I really feel at home there. It's such a beautiful country with a rich culture that's very different from ours. Athens is a wonderful city to walk around and there's so much history at every corner. And the food is just insane.
I'm a big sneaker person – I have almost 100 pairs. I love the Nike Jordan ones, they're my favourite, I have 6-7 pairs. But I think Puma and Reebok are also doing some great stuff right now.
I listen to all kinds of music, it depends on my mood. But these days it's 90s Bollywood. I was listening to a Suniel Shetty playlist earlier today. But I think it's been a very bad year for 90s music, with a lot of rehashed classics which have been butchered.
One Football, because I'm an Arsenal fan and it helps me keep track, especially when I'm not courageous enough to stay up and watch them lose.
I love this channel called Primitive Technology which is just this guy in shorts who builds things in the wild without using any modern tools or equipment. It's crazy but a good kind of crazy. That and during Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota I watched a shit ton of karate videos. Just hours worth of footage in Japanese just to take the style in.
I only eat once a day – it's called intermittent fasting. It's a lifestyle choice and I started doing it two years ago because of cramping and inflammation after my surgery. I read about fasting and the benefits so I tried the extreme format of fasting for 23 hours a day and eating for one hour. But you have to eat a lot of food in that one hour. The first 5-6 days are hell but after that, you get used to it and your body resets and you feel much better.