Actress Harshita Gaur, known for her portrayal of Dimpy Pandit in Mirzapur, sat down with mid-day for an exclusive conversation, where she opened up about returning to the earlier version of her character in Mirzapur: The Movie, shed light on her upcoming psychological horror movie Anarth, and shared her health and fitness tips.
Harshita Gaur on Mirzapur
Mirzapur: The Movie is set between the events of season 1. In season 1, Harshita`s character Dimpy starts as a principled, innocent girl who then loses all her loved ones and struggles to come to terms with her reality before discovering inner strength by the end of Season 3.
When asked whether returning to an earlier phase of her character felt like undoing Dimpy’s growth, Harshita admitted that stepping back into season 1`s emotional space was challenging.
She explained that reconnecting with Dimpy’s idealism required a conscious shift: “It definitely wasn’t easy to step back into the old version because with each season the characters and their emotional graph had gone to a higher point. Going back to that first year and channelling that naive energy was very different. It was a little difficult to make that mental shift. But everything in Mirzapur is so comfortable because we’ve been doing it for almost nine years.”
When asked about the experience of shifting from a show format to a film, she highlighted the larger scale of the film: “The scale of the shoot was grander, the sets were bigger structurally. You have to expand the scale because it has to look like a cinematic experience. The feeling of it was very different. We also shot songs, which we hadn’t done in the series. You will see me dancing in the film, which was exciting.”
On choosing Anarth
Harshita also has Prime Video’s psychological horror film Anarth in her kitty. While remaining tight-lipped about her character and the narrative, she revealed that it was the film’s novel concept that instantly drew her in. Calling it a departure from her previous work, she said, “Horror was a space I had never done before. When I went for the narration, I fell absolutely in love with the story. It was so good that I felt I had to be part of it. More than my character, I was drawn to the story.”
Her excitement was amplified by the prospect of working with a stellar cast. “My co-stars were fabulous. You always want to work with good actors, so naturally I was excited when I found out I would have scenes with Kalki Koechlin and Parambrata Chattopadhyay. They were both great, and we bonded over food. We were shooting in Kolkata, and would often get authentic Bengali food for us, and we all used to sit and eat it together,” she said, describing their warm off-screen camaraderie.
However, she recounted that her experience on set wasn`t all smooth-sailing. “Because we were shooting a horror movie, the whole vibe of the set was very daunting and very eerie.”
Harshita shares the benefits of meditation
On the occasion of World Health Day, Harshita shared her approach to fitness and well-being. She emphasised the benefits of strength training, particularly for women, and cautioned against overlooking it in one’s 20s.
She said she consumes amla daily along with fruits to boost her Vitamin C intake. Additionally, she swears by “a spoonful of ghee or cold-pressed coconut oil in summer mornings” to keep her skin looking radiant and luminous.
Underscoring the importance of mental well-being, she said, “One rule that I follow is not to pick up my phone at least an hour after I wake up and an hour before I sleep. I also meditate every day. In today’s world, it’s important not to make a habit of sitting with your phone but to use that time to meditate instead. We go to the gym to train our bodies, but we don`t train our minds. If we do, we will be equipped to handle anything life throws at us.”
