Gullak Season 5: Anant Joshi on nervous energy, his craft, and joining the Mishras
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Actor Anant Joshi has opened up about stepping into the beloved streaming series Gullak as a new cast member in its fifth season, revealing that nervous energy is not a weakness he fights — it is the very engine of his performance.
A Surreal Homecoming on Set
Speaking during the promotional run for Gullak Season 5, Joshi described his first day on set as something close to a dream colliding with reality. Having watched all four previous seasons as a viewer, he arrived not just as an actor but as a fan walking into a world he had only ever seen through a screen.
'I was very excited. Nervous energy, I think that's my being. I'm usually very nervous before doing any scene or any character. It's a very natural thing for me, and I've accepted that about myself,' he said. 'Walking into the set, I was very excited because I was also going as an audience as I had seen 4 seasons as an audience. That I used to watch my parents' banter on TV. Now I'm standing in the same house and watching it. So it was a surreal feeling.'
Finding His Tribe in the Cast
Joshi was effusive about the ensemble he joined, describing the existing cast's internal, grounded approach to acting as something that instantly resonated with him. 'I've had an amazing experience working with this set of actors, who approach things very internally. And I call them my tribe because they're the kind of actors with whom I can connect, with whose process I can connect. So it was a very domestic feeling for me,' he said.
The actor noted that the warmth of the set mirrored the familial atmosphere the show portrays on screen — a quality that has made Gullak one of the most consistently praised Hindi-language web series across its run.
Excitement Over Fear
'Even though I'm from a Mishra family, as a professional, I found the environment very domesticated. And I had a lot of fun. So more than nervousness or fear, I had a positive emotion of excitement of being part of the Mishra's family,' Joshi added.
His comments point to a performer who has made peace with pre-performance anxiety, treating it as a signal of investment rather than a limitation — a mindset that aligns with the understated, lived-in style that Gullak has always demanded of its cast.
About Gullak Season 5
Gullak, produced under the TVF banner, follows the middle-class Mishra family through the textures of everyday domestic life. The show has built a loyal audience over its previous four seasons for its authenticity and restrained humour. Season 5 is now streaming, with Joshi's addition marking a fresh dynamic within the familiar household setting.
Whether his character brings new conflict or comic relief to the Mishras remains for audiences to discover — but Joshi's evident enthusiasm for the role suggests the transition from fan to cast member has been anything but routine.