Gulshan Devaiah has worked in the Indian film industry for more than a decade and continues to appear in various films and web series; however, despite being a great character actor, he has not become a household name as of yet.
Nevertheless, even though he cannot seem to find himself in any of the current categories that are often used to define actors in the Bollywood industry (like the angry young man or the chocolate boy or even the action hero); he has managed to carve out his niche as an actor who is able to portray strong and multifaceted characters, which are both funny and menacing without using anything theatrical to achieve that.
If you watch any of his performances on screen, you will see how difficult it is to pin him down into any one category. Perhaps that is precisely why Bollywood kept him on the edges.
There are many examples in his work, such as in Shaitan, Hunterrr, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, and Dahaad, that highlight Devaiah’s sincerity in his performance; it’s very clear that he isn’t performing to be a star but rather is genuinely interested in how humans behave toward each other, often in unsightly, complicated ways. His performances show little cosmetic value due to the lack of vanity; he doesn’t have to show desperation to be perceived as a hero.
And while mainstream Hindi cinema may not know how to utilise actors who aren’t trying to appease the audience, the industry has spent years complaining about the lack of quality writing while repeatedly not allowing actors to elevate inferior material. Gulshan is part of a long history of performers that Bollywood respects intellectually, but the industry has not made a financial investment. The type of actors that critics laud and that audiences have positive memories of, but studios rarely build projects around.
Even the OTT boom, which supposedly democratised storytelling, only partially changed his fortunes. Streaming platforms provided additional exposure, substantial roles, and improved retention. However, increased exposure cannot be equated to “stardom”. In the entertainment ecosystem of India, stardom is still dependent on infrastructure support, such as marketing machinery, headline projects, and faith in the actor’s ability to “open” a project. Gulshan Devaiah has received critical acclaim, but has never been fully backed. And that feels increasingly absurd.
Gulshan is representative of the type of authentic performer that everyone claims they now desire as an audience. He does not show up on screen as a manufactured persona; he delivers his character through tone, rhythm, and discomfort. He has been the best part of an otherwise poor script. Conversely, he has also acted as a counter to larger stars simply because he is believable.
Furthermore, Gulshan’s screen presence represents a new form of masculinity. Traditional male protagonists in Hindi films have always required a level of certainty, such as moral, physical, and emotional. In contrast, very few of Gulshan’s character portrayals contain certainty (of any type). They are quirky, impulsive, have questionable morals, are sexually insecure, and lack emotional completeness; in other words, they feel more authentic than previous generations of male leads. Maybe that is why his performances linger longer than many conventional “star turns.”
As we celebrate Gulshan Devaiah today on his birthday, the discussion surrounding him should transcend the conventional “underrated actor” pigeonhole. That has become an easy industry compliment, a means of acknowledging the giftedness without thinking about why the industry tends to undervalue it, and is, therefore, a lazy gesture.
The truth is more straightforward and, perhaps, harsher than that: creative actors tend to be rejected by Bollywood because they reveal the creative deficiencies of the industry itself.
In addition to being an actor worthy of praise for his creativity, Gulshan Devaiah deserved to be seen and heard by Hindi cinema as the version of itself that knew how to make him central.
