After gaining popularity with her recent web series, Wamiqa Gabbi has been inundated with film offers

Sheetal

Actress Wamiqa Gabbi has never shied away from good work, be it regional cinema or Bollywood movies. Wamiqa, who is currently basking in the glory of her powerful performance in Disney+ Hotstar’s web series Grahan, made her acting debut in Bollywood movie, Jab We Met.

A strong believer of ‘You are the choices you make’, her aim is to portray good roles. Not afraid of being typecast, she says, “The role of Manu in Grahan is something I enjoyed playing. And if ever given an opportunity to play it all over again, I won’t even think twice before saying yes. The notion is that if one is doing a period drama or romantic film more than twice, it becomes easier each time. But it’s not true. Every time we are offered a role, there has to be a different approach and many other factors involved— from the theme of film to the layers in role to the director’s vision.”

About the naysayers that one finds along the way, Wamiqa says her work and commitment towards her craft is the only answer. She says, “Many would say, first become a big name in Punjabi industry, then think of Bollywood. But, there’s no right time for setting high goals for yourself. One has to do it continuously and repetitively. The same goes with the medium, good opportunities can come from television, OTT or films. The best thing an artiste can do is to stay honest to his craft.”

About the difference between Pollywood and Bollywood, she says, “Pollywood lacks professionalism in the sense that till today the casting and production-related decisions would happen on the basis of one’s contacts and rapport with groups. Having said that, Punjabi industry has forayed into many new genres like period dramas, action and suspense thrillers. I would love to see web series coming out of Punjab in our language.”

About her upcoming projects, she has been reading a number of scripts post-Grahan. “The series has helped me gain a wider audience and Bollywood projects have the pan-India target. There’s another web series in the pipeline, but given the pandemic times, it depends on other things.”

While the actress is tight-lipped about it but the buzz is that she will play the younger version of Sivagami in the prequel series to the Baahubali franchise, which will air on Netflix. Another Punjabi movie, Galwakdi, starring Tarsem Jassar opposite her awaits its release after being postponed twice since last year. Also, it is rumoured that her successful Malyalam sports comedy, Godha, will get a Hindi remake and she will be reprising her character.

About the controversy that Grahan created, she says, “People have this habit of forming a perception without watching the whole thing and they misled others in the process. I am glad that it was put to rest post the release. I am from Punjab and I would never do something that would hurt the sentiments of Punjabis. I have got so many congratulatory messages from many co-stars and people from Pollywood fraternity.”

A daughter of a writer, Wamiqa loves to read and feels privileged to have been introduced to books so early in her life.