Gaurav Dwivedi, who has acted in films like Shaadi Main Zaroor Aana, Mulk, and very recently in Why Cheat India? is now gearing up for his next two big ventures, Nikkhil Advani’s Batla House and Anubhav Sinha’s Abhi To Party Shuru Hui Hai.
Talking about being an actor, Gaurav reveals, “I am an accidental actor. While performing my primary job to promote state film policy and getting shoots done in UP, I got many opportunities to act. Though my first brush with acting started in 2005 when I appeared in Kabeer Kaushik’s film Sehar which was on UP mafia. Later while on a reccee trip to Allahabad director Ratna Sinha (Anubhav Sinha’s wife) offered me a role in her debut film Shaadi Main Zaroor Aana. Followed by Anubhav Sinha who cast me in Mulk. I recently did Why Cheat India? where I played the role of a MLA, Jatin Shukla and I got a lot of appreciation despite not being a trained actor. Sharing screen space with actors like Emraan Hashmi, Rajkumar Rao, Rajit Kapoor boosted my confidence and gave wings to the actor inside me.”
“My next Abhi To Pary Shuru Hui Hai is a black comedy and is like a modern age Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. I feel my role in the film is quite challenging for me as it has a galaxy of actors like Pankaj Tripathi, Saurabh Shukla, Vinay Pathak, Kumud Mishra, Pawan Malhotra, Richa Chaddha, Divya Dutta. I am also doing Batla House with John Abraham where I play vice chancellor and the film is set to release on August 15th. I am really excited for these two films.”
Gaurav Dwivedi, who studied at Cardiff University UK under the British Chevening Scholarship started his career as a TV journalist and worked with Aaj Tak and Zee News but later took a sabbatical from journalism.
Later, he joined Ram Gopal Varma’s film company as its COO. Given his experience and ability in films and media, he was appointed as Vice Chairman of Uttar Pradesh Film Development Council in 2015 with a Minister of State rank. He promoted the state’s film policy and made UP the next film destination of India.
Earlier, he also represented UP govt at prestigious Cannes Film Festival and IIFA Madrid. As a result of his efforts of getting over 100 films to shoot in various parts of UP the state also got the Most Film Friendly State National Film Award in 2016 and 2017 consecutively.
When quizzed about his future plans, Gaurav shares, “My journey has been quite fulfilling so far. My passion for cinema has offered me various roles and opportunities. I am looking forward at producing a film. I want to produce content which I am proud of.”