Gulshan Devaiah REACTS to ‘ultra-machismo’ in Indian cinema

Gulshan Devaiah expresses fatigue over the hyper-masculine narrative dominating Indian cinema today, highlighted by films like ‘Pushpa’. He critiques the obsession with rugged facial hair and aggressive protagonists, revealing that his casting in ‘Kantara’ stemmed from his willingness to steer clear of this grim archetype. Read on to know more.

Gulshan Devaiah, who received a lot of appreciation and love from the audience for his performance in ‘Kantara: Chapter 1’, recently shared his opinions about the current trend of machoism in Indian cinema. In an interview, the actor expressed how films like ‘Pushpa’ are quite popular but highly tiring. Let’s take a look at what he has to say.

Gulshan Devaiah talks about his issue with machoism in cinema

In an interview with SCREEN, Gulshan Devaiah was asked to comment on how lines between antagonists and protagonists are blurring these days with stars like Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh playing gray characters in their movies ‘Animal’ and ‘Dhurandhar’. To the same, he said, “I just have a problem with everybody having a beard. Why does everybody need to have a beard? Everybody is doing Pushpa only. What’s the problem with being clean-shaven? It’s just a trend. So is ultra-machismo.”The actor further expressed that the trend is “incredibly fun.” He added, “But I’ve gotten tired of it after a point. Why is every leading man ultra-macho?”Devaiah expressed that Rishab Shetty cast him in ‘Kantara’ because, as an actor, he would not “approach it by just staring and not blinking at all.”

Gulshan Devaiah talks about how he reminds people that they shouldn’t follow the bad guys he played

The ‘Hunterr’ actor added that people love his character Atmaram from the show ‘Guns & Gulaabs’. And due to the same, he always has to keep reminding them that he is not a nice guy. Gulshan said, “He may be cool and fun, but one shouldn’t get carried away and forget that these are extremely flawed characters. He’s considering killing children. Come on, who does that?”

More about Gulshan Devaiah

In ‘Kantara: Chapter 1’, Gulshan Devaiah played the role of King Kulashekara. The movie, released on October 2, 2025, went on to earn over 850 crore at the global box office.On the work front, the actor was last seen in the series ‘Perfect Family’, co-starring Manoj Pahwa, Girija Oak, Seema Pahwa, and Neha Dhupia. The show is currently streaming on YouTube.