Vaibhav Raj Gupta: It took three seasons for people to recognise me

A still from Gullak

Despite being in the industry for 12 years, Vaibhav Raj Gupta found his moment in the spotlight after SonyLIV's Gullak series. However, it wasn't until the second instalment that people began to notice him. "Gullak changed my life and career. While the first season didn't [create an impact] because the show didn't have big faces, the fever caught on after the second edition. It took three seasons for people to recognise me as an actor," says Gupta, adding that now he gets calls and scripts from production houses, and "people are taking me more seriously".

Gupta's life is slowly changing for the better. As the offers pour in, he is ecstatic that the audition process has reduced. He recollects being called a "thanda actor" by a casting director four years ago. "Here I was believing that people know that I am an actor, but the reality was different. That hurt me a lot," says the actor, who took his real-life experience and used it for a short film on MXPlayer titled Emotions.

"After seeing my work in Gullak, Shreeram Upadhyay called me with a story he had written and wanted to direct. It belongs to an experimental zone and is something I would keep doing for the rest of my life," says the actor, who started his career with short films. "[I took up] Emotions because it was a story about an actor who wanted to excel in his auditions. Every actor would relate to this role. I liked the planning in the script. I was the only actor in the 14-minute short. [Doing a solo performance] was challenging." Gupta adds that he took the short even after Upadhyay offered him no remuneration for the role. The actor, who was recently seen in Mai, also has The Cancer Bitch, and a film with Supriya Pathak and Neil Bhoopalam in the pipeline.