Dhurandhar: Gaurav Gera REACTS To Looking Unrecognisable Spy In Aditya Dhar Film; Says Ranveer Stayed 'Silent' On Set - EXCL

You

don't get to witness a film like Dhurandhar often, reiterates Gaurav Gera. The actor, who played a spy helping Ranveer Singh's character get into the underworld gang owned by Akshaye Khanna's Rehman Dakait in the town of Lyari, Pakistan, is all praise for director Aditya Dhar. He calls the movie, entirely Dhar's vision. Dhurandhar released on December 5 and blew up the box office and social media with rave reviews from all quarters. Adding to its winning factor, is the movie's incredible cast that's left viewers shocked. And Gaurav is one of them.

Gaurav Gera on fans' reactions

In a free wheeling chat with Zoom, Gaurav shared being overwhelmed about all the love coming in. "I've read online comments. They make me so happy, some even brought tears. It's a lovely time and I've been waiting for it for so long," Gaurav shared with excitement."I feel so happy and lucky to be part of Dhurandhar. After playing such varied characters including Chutki, I was waiting for an opportunity where I can show various shades of my craft. Sometimes an actor gets typecast and audience doesn't realise what he/she is capable of. Dhurandhar is such a film that allowed me to explore a side of me which viewers hadn't seen until now," the 52-year-old actor added.

Gaurav is still loved for his TV classic show Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin. However, Dhurandhar came his way out of luck. "The team of Mukesh Chhabra called me. I auditioned for a very intense scene. Aditya was also there. They put trust in me to play a spy. I was instructed to act so normal, as if melting in the crowd, and I'm glad I could do that."

Looking unrecognisable in Dhurandhar

Gaurav's character Mohammad Aalam is a middle-aged man running a juice shop in the hussle-bustle of Lyari's main market. In the guise of a juice vender, he is a spy who gets tasked with helping Ranveer Singh's Hamza Ali Mazari to help him become a core gang member of the main antagonist, Akshaye Khanna.Interestingly, Gaurav's look in the film is so well crafted that many in the audience claimed it took them a while to realise that the actor behind Aalam was actually Gaurav. Social media is filled with reactions lauding him. Gaurav says the reason might be that he looked older."Ofcourse my character looked way more older than how I look. Infact people don't realise my actual age. The film's team even cut my hair shorter than usual. I sported white beard, which in reality is white (laughs) due to all these years of makeup. But yeah, people finally saw the real me," Gaurav said.

Getting the Lyari accent and detailing right

Reacting to how he got the Pakistani local dialect right, the actor reveals, "Earlier, I played a character with a Multani accent. I could do that because of my roots that go to Multan. So, playing a man in Lyari wasn't difficult. Aditya gave me all the liberty too. They created the entire Lyari in Thailand. It was a market place which they converted into the town, with such minute details about the set design."While there were portions where Gaurav was part of action sequences, his maximum scenes involved keeping things running for Ranveer. Mentioning the heartbreaking scene on the bridge post the 26/11 chapter in the film, Gaurav revealed, "The bridge scene was shot in Amritsar at peak of winters. I was wearing a half-sleeves sweater. We were shivering, but we finished it in one day."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gaurav Gera (@gauravgera)

ALSO READ: Dhurandhar: The Kashmir Files Director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri Asks Aditya Dhar, Ranveer Singh To 'Knock It Out Of The Park'

Working relationship with Ranveer Singh

He further added how Ranveer stayed in his character even when the camera wasn't rolling. "My process of working with Ranveer was, we didn't speak much because we were spies and they aren't supposed to exchange many words, just emote through eyes and tone. We did discuss scenes beforehand, but the dialogues were minimum. And Ranveer is one actor who kept to himself, stayed silent on set and in his character for a large portion of film."As Dhurandhar continues to rake in huge moolah at the box office, fans and makers are now gearing up for the release of its second part 0n March 19, 2026.