Gulki Joshi breaks down on the sets of Zee Theatre’s Purush

Essaying the true pain and peril of a rape victim on stage is a challenge that requires a considerable amount of emotional investment by the actor. This was no secret to actor Gulki Joshi when she first read the script for Purush. “I was very scared,” the young actress truthfully admits. Joshi portrays the role of Ambika Bhagawat, the fearless and resilient social activist, in Zee Theatre’s teleplay Purush. The teleplay is now available on ZEE5.

Gulki returns to theatre with 'Purush' after a hiatus of two years and admits to having found the role of Ambika extremely demanding and challenging. “In my past experiences with theatre I used to be completely immersed in the scene. I was apprehensive about coming across either aggressive or someone too timid, and achieving that balance was crucial,” said Gulki. Apart from playing the layered and complex role of Ambika, Joshi also had to match step with veteran actor Ashutosh Rana who plays the role of the tyrannical and misogynistic politician Gulab Singh in the play. “Working with Ashutoshji was very scary in the beginning and eventually extremely comfortable. I genuinely learnt a lot from him and the best thing was absolutely no ego hassles,” the actress added.

Set in Meerut, UP, in a middle-class Brahmin home, Jaywant Dalvi’s Purush creates a layered narrative as the plot explores a number of glaring ideologies that plague men as well as women in Indian society. In a regressive and unyielding scenario, Ambika not only fights for herself but also stands up for other women who are subjected to injustice or oppression. Her fight against the corrupt Gulab Singh is aided by others like her who never give up and eventually find a way to gain justice. Despite the role itself being demanding, Gulki found herself identifying greatly with Ambika’s character. She felt the role was offered to her because her personality is quite similar to Ambika and even offstage she doesn't shy away from standing for her principles.

One of the play’s most pivotal scenes where Ambika is raped by Gulab Singh proved to be an experience that, Gulki says," Will never leave her as her emotional state lasted a lot longer after the director yelled cut. At one point I  broke down because I got into character and didn’t know where to stop. I could not get out of the scene even after the final shot was okayed,” Gulki adds/

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