Wamiqa Gabbi: Days before the shoot, I panicked and told Jenuse I can’t do the film

Hardly a few days remained for the shoot of Jenuse Muhammed’s 9, which has Prithviraj in the lead, to commence.
That’s when Wamiqa Gabbi, who plays one of the female leads, called him up. “I am nervous and I am getting sweaty hands. I don’t think I can do this film,” she told him. He might have been shocked, but Jenuse didn’t show that. He held it together and told her, “You will do well,” and gave her a pep talk.As nervous as she was, she agreed to him on one condition, “I will do well, but you should treat me like a student, alright?”
Once the shoot started, it was a ride like never before, says the Godha actress, who has also been busy with films in other the industries in the South and even short films lately. In conversation with the effervescent Wamiqa about her projects and unique preferences as an artiste:
The shoot of the film, 9, just got over. How different was it from working in Godha?
The shoot is over, but I have a few patchworks left, which I might complete this week. It has been one hell of an experience. I don’t think this genre of movies have been attempted much here.
In Godha, I was a Punjabi girl and had Hindi, English and Punjabi dialogues. I just had one Malayalam dialogue in it, which was Ellavarkkum Namaskaram. In this movie, I speak Malayalam and I used to practise scenes a day in advance before the shoot. Jenuse had given me the English script first so that I could understand it well. During the shoot, I used to sit with him and the assistant directors for at least two hours, discussing the next day’s scenes and dialogues.
At the same time, it was a lot of fun shooting in locations like Spiti and Manali. I never felt I was doing a Malayalam film, which was quite different from my first experience shooting in the South for a Tamil movie during which I was nervous and clueless.
You play this mystery girl named Eva in 9. Tell us about her.
She is a badass! I don’t know whether I was allowed to say that to you but I am not supposed to say anything more (laughs). When they approached me for the character I was in the required shape so I didn’t have to do any specific preparations for it either. But, this is the most exciting role I have played, so far.
How was it sharing screen with Prakash Raj and Prithviraj?
I was born and brought up in Chandigarh. I have no filmi background. I used to do theatre. I did a Punjabi serial as a child artiste and was also one of the cousins in Jab We Met. Not many people would notice me easily as I was in Class 8 at that time. That was about 11 years ago. I am saying this because, for someone like me, working with people of this stature is really when I go, ‘Thank you God! Thanks to the universe for conspiring this to happen.’
Though I haven’t watched a lot of Malayalam films, I knew Prithviraj and I was like, ‘Oh, that hot guy in the Hindi film Ayya.’ My friends, who are mostly from Punjab and Mumbai, were also jealous that I was going to shoot with him in Manali (laughs).
All I know is acting. I am not too keen to be a heroine and that’s the reason I am doing very few projects. I don’t want to be the one dancing behind the trees and getting my stomach pinched. I want people to remember me for my craft and I guess working with people of their stature help me achieve that satisfaction.
Recently, you also did a short film that went viral, titled If Salary Is A Person.
Wasn’t it quite relatable? I did it because I could. I felt it’s worth my energy and time; it excited me. I might be an actor, but being this person who doesn’t do many projects, I too have moments when I go ‘God, I am broke!’ That’s one of the reasons I took it.
I also want to learn a lot more about different facets of acting and that’s another reason I did a short film. I am a learner, I even want my films to make me a better person. I remember, I had told Jenuse, “I don’t know why you picked me for this role and whether you have seen any of my work, but do give me honest feedback as to how it is going. I will eventually do well for sure, but I want to learn too.” Even before the shoot started, just like how it always happens with me a few days before the movie starts rolling, I got a panic attack. But he assured me that I will be fine.
What are your other upcoming projects?
I have already completed Iravaakaalam in Tamil with S J Surya and Sshivada. It is a drama with a little twist and I play Surya sir’s wife in it. Both 9 and Iravaakaalam are movies that any actor would be proud of. I also have two Punjabi film shoots coming up in London and hopefully a Telugu movie that I might do in November.
I was offered a few in Malayalam too but wasn’t excited about them. Actually, I have not been offered many interesting projects from Malayalam. I guess the filmmakers have seen me handle only Hindi and English and probably don’t feel I can speak Malayalam in movies. As someone who has had experience of doing enough projects in South now, I am confident that I can handle Malayalam projects. Probably after 9, I will get more of interesting projects in M-Town.