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When Gaurav was mistaken for an Italian footballer
Gaurav Chopraa fooled his international co-star into believing that he was footballer Antonio!
NICOLE DASTUR
Till now, Gaurav Chopraa was known either as Samay from Aisa Des Hain Mera or as the on-off, off-on boyfriend of Narayani Shastri. But now, he has another claim to fame. Even if it's just 10 minutes of it! Television's long hair, rugged-looking actor has completed filming Edward Zwick's (of Traffic and The Last Samurai fame) latest Hollywood flick, Blood Diamond, making his Hollywood debut before his Bollywood one!
So how did he land himself the "small, but significant" role, as he calls it? "How I got the role is more
interesting than the role itself," laughs Gaurav as he tells us how he was in South Africa for a Bollywood musical when one of the casting directors spotted him and made him the offer. "It all happened so suddenly, but my instinct told me not to miss this opportunity," says Gaurav. Before he knew it, Gaurav was in the same shot as Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou!
"There was just one small hitch. The original role that I was to play was that of a French journalist. But since I couldn't speak French, Edward actually changed the role to that of an Indian journalist. I was really touched," says Gaurav. His first meeting with the stars was memorable. "People kept asking me which country I was from, and one girl thought I was an Italian footballer. I decided to play along with the joke for a while, and named myself Antonio. That's how we broke the ice," laughs Gaurav.
Veer the conversation to Leonardo and Jennifer, and Gaurav is all praises for them. "Both of them are so down-to-earth, with no starry airs at all. Jennifer was very interested in Indian culture and asked me about the ancient stone which I was wearing on my ring. Leo and I discussed our most crazy experiences with fans."
Was there any particular incident that left an imprint on his memory? "In one particular fight sequence between Leo and me, both of us got so caught up in the scene that for a minute, the entire crew thought that we were actually fighting. That was one emotional scene, and I'm proud of the way it's turned out."
So does he plan to step into Bollywood now, or does he prefer the small screen? "I came to Mumbai with dreams of making it big in movies. Things are under way, but it's too early to speak about them," Gaurav signs off.
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