The year may have just begun, but Pavail Gulatie has already fulfilled one of his teenage dreams. The actor is thrilled to have starred in Deva alongside Shahid Kapoor, whom he has been a fan of since he was a teenager. “I joined Shiamak Davar’s dance classes because I saw Shahid dancing in Ishq Vishk [2003]. [During the shoot], he became like an elder brother to me. I’d go up to him for advice; we’d also share personal stories and eat together,” he says. 

In Rosshan Andrrews’ directorial venture, Gulatie plays a cop, whose murder is investigated by Kapoor’s Dev Ambre. It took the actor some time to grasp the actioner’s huge scale. “It took me a while to [understand] that even when you are running, there has to be flair to it. The stylised filmmaking was [novel for me], and Rosshan sir is a master of that. He was the guru and I became the perfect chela,” he laughs.