When director Girish Malik approached VJ-turned-actor Purab Kohli with the script of Jal, he was thrilled. “Thank god… I had told Girish,” Purab shared with members of the media while promoting the film in the city on Saturday, with co-actor Kirti Kulhari of Shaitan fame in tow.
That’s because for the first time in his career, Purab is playing the role of a villager, dressed in kediyas and mouthing the Kutchi dialect (of Gujarat) — a complete contrast from his previous urban characters. In Jal, he plays Bakka, a man who can spot water in the arid Rann of Kutch.
Now, the film is winning laurels internationally at film fests.
Purab, who did most of the talking as Kirti (his love interest in Jal) was nursing a bad throat, reasons, “I had never planned to be an actor. It was only after a couple of films that I started taking my craft seriously. Luckily, Mohit Suri allowed me to experiment with Woh Lamhe and Awarapan in due course. So, Jal was yet another chance for me to explore my acting abilities.”
It also allowed the travel-adventure freak and his co-stars to live the Kutch life, to bear the 40ºC heat for 45 days and appreciate the value of water, which also forms the backdrop of the film. Purab says, “The film deals with water scarcity. But it does not preach. Honestly, the Kutch experience has made us value water even more.”
Purab had wanted to break away from his urban image a few years ago as well. “I was in talks with a Hyderabad producer for a film that would show me as a Hyderabadi boy with that local accent. Sadly, it did not work out. But I am open to do films here,” says Purab whose association with Hyderabad dates back to his first film. “The last leg of shooting of Supari was shot in Ramoji Studios.
I was here for a month,” Purab adds. About her Hyderabad connections, Kirti says, “My father was in the Navy. So, I had a chance to be here at the Air Force Academy. I stayed here and played badminton. I have also stayed in Vizag for six years. I recently shot half of my film Bandeya in Vizag. It will be released in Telugu as well.”
