'Have learned so much from the people I’ve worked with'

New Delhi: An acting career is like ‘rowing a boat on an endless river’ with the unexpected right around the corner, believes Gulshan Devaiah, who wants to have a journey filled with varied performances.

The Bengaluru-born actor is currently riding high on the success of his latest thriller series, ‘Dahaad’, where he stars as Devi Lal Singh, a dedicated police officer and a progressive father. He has followed the series performance with an equally endearing role as a regular guy who develops a bond with a fellow traveller, played by Saiyami Kher, in ‘8 AM Metro’.

“I’m responsible for curating my career and I can’t give this responsibility to anybody else,” Devaiah said about his eclectic choice of characters. It’s like I’m rowing a boat on an endless river and I don’t know what’s coming up. I like that about my career. It gives me an opportunity to stop anywhere I want while on this journey. It’s up to me,” he told the top news agency.

Continuing the analogy, the actor said that ideally, he would like to get off the boat on his own terms.

“One day I will be tired and get off or maybe the river decides I’m not needed and suddenly there will be a waterfall that I didn’t see coming and I will be done,” he said.

A graduate of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), the 44-year-old decided to shift gears after almost a decade in the fashion industry. He started acting with Bengaluru’s English theatre and soon moved to Mumbai as he was a ‘sucker for feature films and long-format’.

In 13 years, Devaiah has starred in critically acclaimed feature films such as ‘The Girl in Yellow Boots’, ‘Shaitan’, ‘Hunterrr’, ‘A Death in the Gunj’, ‘Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota’, ‘CandyFlip’, ‘Badhaai Do’ and delivered unconventional characters in the series ‘Afsos’, ‘Duranga’ and ‘Dahaad’.

Crediting co-actors, writers and directors for influencing his sensibilities as a performer, Devaiah said his career choices are a reflection of what he has learned from his collaborators.

“When you work in the field of arts, you are working with a lot of highly skilled creative minds. They definitely influence your aesthetics and sensibilities. I’ve learned so much from the people I’ve worked with. With every experience, project and role, I have this feeling that I’m better than I was before. Be it in application, approach or professionalism, I’ve had a very valuable experience thus far. I hope to continue gathering all these experiences,” he added.