Gulshan Devaiah has moved from the menacing edge of Guns & Gulaabs to the warmth of Badhaai Do, but one thread runs through his work: a certain quiet control that many viewers associate with Irrfan Khan. Now Devaiah has addressed that connection directly, explaining how he absorbed the late actor’s influence without turning it into imitation.
In a new conversation with Hindustan Times, the actor described Irrfan as a career-long reference point. He said the influence was present “both consciously and subconsciously,” but added that he never set out to copy him.
Learning acting without a classroom
Devaiah said he never attended drama school. Instead, he treated the screen itself as his classroom: observing actors whose choices he admired, then working out what he could use for himself. Alongside Irrfan, he mentioned Manoj Bajpayee, Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert De Niro and Kate Winslet as performers he studied.
The key, he said, was not becoming a mimic. He was deliberate about not copying any of them. That distinction matters because it explains why Devaiah’s performances don’t read as a tribute act: the lesson is in the thinking, not the mannerisms.
What made Irrfan magnetic
Devaiah’s description of Irrfan centres on restraint. He pointed to Irrfan’s “big, god-gifted eyes” and the way they held the frame when the actor appeared to be doing very little. Sometimes Irrfan would deliver dialogue without even looking at his co-actor, and the audience still stayed with him. That refusal to chase a standard performance rhythm is what Devaiah found magnetic.
He also pushed back on the idea that a leading man has to look one particular way. Irrfan did not have the conventional packaging of a Bollywood hero — Devaiah referenced Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan — but he could still pull focus.
- Stillness is a tool: holding back can pull the audience closer than overplaying a scene.
- Command attention without a template: Irrfan’s draw came from restraint and expressive eyes, not standard hero packaging.
- Learn by observing, not impersonating: Devaiah treats great performances as study material, not scripts to copy.
The phone call he didn’t expect
Devaiah said he had watched Irrfan so closely that he did not realise how much the actor meant to him until the news of his death. He recalled crying on the phone with his mother, who was surprised by his reaction.
“I didn’t know you liked him so much,” she said. “Yeah, neither did I,” he replied.
For him, the grief was not his alone. He described Irrfan as a one-of-a-kind actor whose death felt personal to millions, like losing a family member.
What’s next for Devaiah
He is now looking ahead to Little Thomas, directed by Kaushal Oza. The film follows a curious young boy who wants a sibling and releases on October 23.
For an actor who learned from a master of restraint, it is another chance to show a new shade — and another reminder of why he keeps watching the greats without trying to become them.
Source: Hindustan Times
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