Featured Actor: Gagan Arora

After a long time, I came across an actor worth featuring in the Rising Stars section. What surprises me is Gagan Arora’s deep understanding of art at such a young age. The first time I saw him play Aarav in Girls Hostel 2.0, I loved his performance even though he had less screen time in the show. That was a perfect example of how screen time doesn’t matter when it comes to making an impact. What matters is your powerful presence on screen. Gagan Arora was unforgettable since then but I did not find any good show to feature him. And now that I did have a show, I don’t want to limit him to a particular show. Because as an actor, he is much more than Happy (his character in Tabbar).

Tabbar reconfirmed what I already knew the first time I saw him in Girls Hostel 2.0. Gagan Arora is here to make it big. And no, not just in the shows that are made keeping the youth in mind but he can spell a cast with his work on every age group. His performance in Tabbar says a lot about his maturity as an actor, and as mentioned before, his in-depth understanding of the craft. 

India has no dearth of superstars; every industry has its own gods and goddesses. But how many good actors do we have? Can all these superstars be called ‘Actors?’ If you ask me, my answer would always be a big NO. People’s thirst for entertainment made them turn mediocre artists into superstars, the ones who constantly quenched their thirst by appearing on screen every now and then giving the audience no time to think about ‘acting.’ 

OTT is redefining not just entertainment but also acting and I hope, someday it would also make people sit back and wonder who should get the superstar status, or maybe absolutely no one should get that status. This industry is for actors, young actors who enter the industry wanting to give their two hundred per cent to their job. They are here to grow, not just get work, earn a decent amount of money, go back home, and enjoy the limelight. 

I hope someday just like Bollywood is known for all the Khans, OTT in India will be known for actors like Gagan Arora, Sparsh Srivastava, Manish Chauhan, Ritwik Bhowmik, and all the rising stars who are redefining acting. 

Though I have watched only two shows of this talented guy yet, I plan to dig some of his old shows and watch them only for Gagan Arora so that I get to enjoy more of his work. 

And yes, before I end this write-up, I would suggest you watch him in Girls Hostel 2.0. Why am I suggesting this show and not Tabbar? Because in Tabbar, his character is, for the longest time, is carrying one emotion, though that emotion has different shades, those shades are often of fear or stress. When it comes to Girls Hostel 2.0, you get to see how beautifully he manages to switch between being a carefree college guy and someone you can rely on. When he doesn’t say anything, he is a quiet guy who you might not even notice in the crowd but when he opens his mouth, he has the power to shut everyone up – with a strong voice as well as intelligence. He has done all of it without drastically changing the colours of the character.