India, Nov. 24 -- A ctor Adarsh Gourav, who is awaiting the release of his next film Tu Ya Main, steps into a new space with his latest role, that of an influencer. For Adarsh, playing Maruti Kadam meant building a character from the ground up, one rooted in the rhythms and language of the digital world. "Actors sab chor hote hain, hum logo ke haav-bhaav churate rehte hain," he says with a laugh, adding, "We constantly pick things from our surroundings because life imitates art and vice versa. Then we package it smartly." Even the line heard in the trailer, he reveals, came directly from observing an Instagram influencer: "I kept picking up pop-culture lingo too, just to make him feel real." Adarsh believes Maruti will feel fresh to audiences because he is not modelled on one person but stitched together from dozens of micro-observations. "It's like giving birth to a new character," he says and adds, "And it's a massive responsibility because influencers are everywhere today. People instantly recognise what feels authentic and what doesn't." To ground the role in realism, his preparation took him across Mumbai in ways he hadn't expected. "I met as many influencers as I could, and also people from the underground hip-hop scene," he shares. This led him to neighbourhoods he had lived near for years but never visited. "I went to Bhiwandi and Nala Sopara, places barely ten kilometres from my house, but I had never gone there or met people from those pockets, even though I've lived in Mumbai for 18 years." He says the real challenge was filtering the traits he collected and keeping only what felt truthful. "I had to be cautious and pick the most believable behaviours and then own them completely." The positive response to the teaser has been especially rewarding. "The teaser that got the character noticed was shot over two continuous days just to wrap the trailer," Adarsh says, "And when it finally looked like this and people praised it so much. maza hi aa gaya."...