‘At Times, Life Has Better Plans For You’

‘You
have
to
keep
working
hard.’
‘The
universe
sees
that
in
you
and
the
higher
power
puts
those
opportunities
in
your
way.’

From
being
a
basketball
player
in
college
to
working
as
data
analyst
and
then
making
inroads
into
showbiz,

Dhairya
Karwa‘s
career
trajectory
is
an
interesting
mix
of
choices.

After
years
of
modelling,
the
Jaipur-born
actor
made
his
debut
in

Uri:
The
Surgical
Strike,
followed
by
smaller
parts
in
films
like

’83,
Gehraiyaan
and

Apurva.

Dhairya
is
now
winning
over
audiences
with
the
streaming
success
of
his
first
leading
role
in
Umesh
Bist’s
time-bending
thriller



Gyaarah
Gyaarah.

“Now
that
I
look
back,
even
I
wonder
how
it
all
panned
out.
None
of
this
was
planned,”
Dhairya
Karwa
tells

Mayur
Sanap/Rediff.com.

Gyaarah
Gyaarah
is
your
breakthrough
work.
Were
you
waiting
for
this
opportunity?

Absolutely.
This
is
a
part
which
comes
your
way
so
rarely,
especially
when
you’re
just
finding
your
feet
in
your
initial
stages.
This
has
been
a
wait.

Looking
back,
I
think
it
was
necessary
for
me.

Had
it
not
for
those
four
films,
I
wouldn’t
have
been
this
performer
that
you
saw
in
the
show.
Being
able
to
work
with
those
great
actors
and
directors
made
me
this
actor
today.

It
has
taken
time,
but
here
we
are.

The
series
was
shot
at
Mussoorie
and
Dehradun,
where
you
have
done
your
schooling.
Did
you
feel
nostalgic
shooting
there?

Oh
yes!
There
is
a
place
at
Astley
Hall
called
Hotel
President,
we
grew
up
eating
butter
chicken
there.
It
was
my
first
meal
that
I
liked
in
Dehradun.
That
was
quite
nostalgic
for
me.

It’s
like
homecoming
when
you’ve
grown
up
in
those
hills.

Just
going
back
and
meeting
familiar
faces,
visiting
your
school,
that
entire
experience
was
really
special.

We
have
seen
so
many
actors
in
police
uniform
across
films
and
shows.
What
was
the
kick
about
playing
a
police
officer?

I
was
really
inspired
by
(Amitabh)
Bachchan
sir’s
character
in

Zanjeer
and
lately,
Jaideep’s
(Ahlawat)
performance
in

Paatal
Lok.

When
you
see
such
great
performances,
it
stays
with
you
in
your
subconscious.

I
tried
to
follow
Umesh
sir’s
(Bist,
Director)
lead
because
it
was
his
vision.
He
was
really
collaborative
and
encouraging,
and
pushed
me
to
bring
out
how
I
could
I
add
to
Shaurya’s
character.

It
was
such
a
beautifully
written
character.

Did
you
watch
the
original
K-drama

Signal
before
stepping
into
your
character?

I
had
started
playing
it
but
our
director
said
please
don’t
watch
it.
And
we
are
all
very
good
students
so
we
did
not
(watch
the
show).
He
didn’t
want
us
to
get
influenced
by
that.

I
feel
the
essence
is
the
same
but
both
the
shows
very
different
because

Gyaarah
Gyaarah
is
so
culturally
rooted
in
our
landscape.
The
characters
belong
to
Uttarakhand,
so
we
approached
it
as
an
original.

Of
course,
we
had
to
keep
the
essence
the
same.

You
have
a
very
interesting
career
trajectory.
How
did
you
eventually
decide
to
pursue
acting?

(Laughs)
Now
that
I
look
back,
even
I
wonder
how
it
all
panned
out.

None
of
this
was
planned.

Sometimes
you
just
need
to
have
faith
in
the
higher
powers
because
at
times,
life
has
better
plans
for
you.
I’ve
seen
that
in
my
case.

I
was
playing
basketball
in
university.
After
college,
I
started
working
in
a
multi-national
firm
for
two
years.

The
original
plan
was
to
get
an
MBA
degree.

But
after
those
two
years,
I
figured
that
this
9
to
5
job
was
not
for
me.

I
would
look
at
these
fancy
pictures
on
magazine
covers
and
I
wondered,
why
am
I
not
in
those
pictures?

Luckily,
my
friends
and
family
were
encouraging.
They
said
give
it
a
shot.

That’s
how
I
started
modelling
in
Delhi. 

Then
I
decided
to
move
to
Bombay
to
give
it
a
serious
try.

I
came
here
in
January
2016
and
started
giving
acting
auditions.

The
thing
is,
a
modelling
career
in
our
country
is
very
short-lived,
especially
for
men.

So
I
decided
to
learn
the
acting
craft. 

One
thing
led
to
another,
and
I
cracked

Uri
after
spending
some
two
years
in
Bombay.

Since
then,
I
have
been
working
continuously.

Did
you
face
any
prejudices
from
casting
people
as
they
tend
to
think
models
can’t
act?

Oh,
it
did
happen
to
me
(Laughs).

People
don’t
say
it
upfront
but
you
get
the
idea
from
their
demeanour.

But
you
can’t
be
bitter
about
it. You
only
need
to
keep
trying.

There’s
a
funny
thing,
I
was
never
apt
for
bike
ads,
as
I
am
very
tall.
Bikes
are
very
small
for
me.

There’s
actually
a
scene
in

Gyaarah
Gyaarah
where
you
look
quite
uncomfortable
on
a
bike.

(Laughs
loudly)
I
am
sure
you
noticed
that.

What
to
do,
man?
They
need
to
make
some
really
tall
bikes.

But
my
physicality
has
worked
in
my
favour
and
I’ve
always
thought
of
it
as
a
strength
rather
than
a
limitation.

Do
you
consider

Gehrayiaan
as
milestone
in
your
career?
How
did
things
change
for
you
after
that
film?

Gehrayiaan
gave
me
recognition.
Things
definitely
changed
after
that.

People
knew
me
after
that;
they
knew
I
was
capable
of
something.

I
am
grateful
for
Guneet
(Monga),
Karan
(Johar)
and
Umesh
sir
for
trusting
me
with

Gyaarah
Gyaarah
because
they
probably
saw
flashes
of
potential
in
me.

But
just
like
it
happens
with
any
actor,
I
was
signed
for
a
few
big
projects
but
they
never
took
off.

You
feel
bad
when
such
things
happen.

How
do
you
deal
in
situations
when
things
don’t
work
in
your
favour?

It
is
important
to
be
consistent
at
your
work.
You
have
to
keep
working
hard.

The
universe
sees
that
in
you
and
the
higher
power
puts
those
opportunities
in
your
way.

You
have
to
be
patient.

The
common
critic
of

Gyaarah
Gyaarah
is
that
it
leaves
viewers
with
a
lot
of
unanswered
questions.
How
soon
can
we
expect
the
next
season?

The
discussions
are
definitely
on.

The
entire
team
is
ready
to
go
on
floors
and
shoot
but
there
are
certain
factors
that
are
beyond
you.

The
questions
you
are
wondering
about
are
deliberately
put
on
hold
and
we
will
reveal
in
season
two.
I
hope
we
come
back
soon.