Gaurav Gera on 'Bhalla Calling Bhalla': Our Director is the Captain of the Ship

ZEE5, the largest OTT creator of Original content in the country recently announced ‘Bhalla Calling Bhalla’, a show shot entirely online. The show which premiered on 20th May and it has received an overwhelming response from the audience. The show stars Lubna Salim as Mrs. Lovely Bhalla, Rajesh Kumar as Mr. Bhalla, Leenesh Matoo as Sahil Bhalla (son), Gracy Goswami as Lisa aka Arundhati Bhalla (daughter) and Gaurav Gera as Gaurav Singh (Mrs. Bhalla’s brother). 

We got in touch with Gaurav Gera who spoke to us about the show, his experience shooting from home, lockdown routine and much more. Have a look:

1. First of all talking about the series, what has the response been like till now?

I just got a few reviews but yes it's good, they are loving my character. And the family is adorable. 

2. What compelled you to take up this project?

First of all, the concept was very unique. I felt that nothing like this has happened before, so for me it was a new thing. I like to do that. However, on the phone when I heard it, I felt that it's going to be challenging and whether or not this will happen. But then finally it's done and I like it, I'm quite happy with it. 

3. As the series is shot from home, how difficult it was to coordinate with everyone and then shoot a scene?

So for me, our director Deven Munjal made every thing easy for us, for all the actors. He made things easy for us but otherwise it was a difficult task. In this show, our director is the captain of the ship. So he didn't make it look that difficult, it was a little complicated when we heard it but we made it happen. So kudos to the creative team. 

4. Coming back to your character, what was the one thing about your character that you liked the most?

Our director takes a lot of interest while telling us the shot. So in my videos, there are a lot of activities. Like in some shot I'm walking backwards. So the activities have been really well designed for me. 

5. What was your initial response when you were told about this concept. 

My first reaction was how will we do it, will it happen or not. Because it sounds easy but it's a task to do it. I thought that since I make videos, I have a habit of shooting, I also know about the editing. Because the rest of the actors have shot themselves, I was like how will the shot division be like and how will they edit it. But because it's a professional setup, they have done it really well. Even the special effects and the graphics is pretty bang on. Normally, I'm quite critical with my things but when I saw Bhalla Calling Bhalla, there was a sense of happiness, I felt good. There is something great about the series.

6. Specially in this lockdown, people are turning more towards the digital content, do you think that now you'll be more keen on doing digital projects?

Yes, I've always been, I think there are some great works that are happening on the digital medium. There are a lot of platforms as well, I think everyone is doing good work. There was a phase of the evolving of the digital OTT platform and that phase have been passed on now. 

7. What is your current lockdown routine?

Since I make a lot of videos, so definitely almost everyday I'm thinking of what shall I post today. I thought that I'll make a lot of videos in the lockdown,  as I also used to make it earlier. But I didn't think that I'll have to cook and wash the dishes as well. So because of this task, I'm not able to make that many videos. 

8. Lastly, any message for fans?

I'll only say that watch news but only for the information. But don't get too much involved in it. Because there's one news which is coming from all the four sides, so take a break, do something else as well. To keep yourself updated and to aware of things is very good but over indulgence can be really bad for health.