Meet Harsh Gupta | Actor, Filmmaker, Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Harsh Gupta and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Harsh, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I don’t personally believe in balance. I rather believe in contrast, deep work and deep rest. Obsession and silence, train like war, recover like heaven. Growth happens on the edges, I believe on the edge you are fully in it. Even if it means something simple like celebrating a day with your loved ones. If you are in balance, you will have other things on your mind, things you have to do tomorrow. And vice versa if you are working on a Saturday, you would be thinking about your friends out partying. That’s where balance pushes you to be mediocre. Contrast however, means you have the discipline that is needed to thrive. I run 2 restaurants in opposite corner of the planet, teach acting, audition and act full time, workout regularly, maintain personal relationships and run a production company where I serve as a writer, director, actor, producer & editor depending on the project’s needs. I do all that and more because of the contrast I create for myself. Balance to me, seemed more mediocre and didn’t push me to be my best version.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I have always believed in quality and in-depth work. My vision for my art is quite simple. Do it for the love of it, as your life depends on it. Do it with utmost honesty and passion. I derive my art from the life that happens around me. The stories I write, the people I meet, the scenic beauties I experience, everything around me goes in my art in some way or the other. I strongly believe in the Oscar Wilde quote, “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life”. The things that we live through as human beings but necessarily don’t experience are translated into art and provide a complete experience. That’s the reason people find a certain missing piece of their own lives in some stranger’s quite flawed art. Whereas most of the people in my field, work to achieve some kind of gains, be it monetary or status wise, my goal as a dramatic performance artist is purely to create compelling yet unapologetic stories. I do not let finances dictate my art as I make money from other sources which help me survive. I don’t make a film or perform in a play to impress the audience or the director or my peers, I do it for myself first. Once I feel in my heart and soul that a certain piece is moving and serves a purpose, I make it work. Most of the other performing artists, only perform when given a stage or a script. I create the script! I write stories, I direct those stories and I produce them. I run my own production house “FA-36 productions” through which over a period of 6 years, I have produced over 10 films many of which have been awarded at various festivals around the globe. I have acted and fight directed an off-Broadway Musical “Ramaavan”. I am the first south Asian winner of the Best Actor award at the reputed “The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute” where greats like Al Pacino and Chris Evans have studied. I recently began teaching at the same esteemed organization to teach “Method Acting” and I had the privilege to be the first Indian to teach it. I run my brainchild restaurant chain, “Breakin’ Brew” which is a theme inspired restaurant that not only provides scrumptious food to patrons but engages them in the world of Heisenberg too. I began this restaurant when I was trapped at home during the pandemic. I planned the whole thing and designed it being trapped inside. We began construction and operations once the pandemic became weaker and now almost three years later, I run two successful themed restaurants and planning to open more. I am a very grounded individual and work in a domino effect way where I keep working on the controllable and the uncontrollable falls into place itself.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My favorite spots in the city have to be the brooklyn bridge, the east side river with some nice coffee in hand, central park and dumbo. These places have a certain vibe to them that I just connect with and feel at ease. The most exciting place to check out would definitely be times square, as overrated and overpriced as it may seem, times square actually offers a lot of fun things to do and get to know New York in a shorter period of time.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout would definitely go first and foremost to my family and my friends. They have been immensely supportive of my dreams and helped me out at every single step. I am doing everything today thanks to them. My parents took their time but went all in once they began supporting me and my childhood friends made sure I always believed in myself. My professional friends keep me grounded and thriving for more. Secondly my shoutout would go to my mentors, my great teachers, especially those at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, where I learnt everything I today run on and created a base for my learning process in life. I have been lucky in mentors and I have always found myself learning from great teachers, those who were walking encyclopedias in their respective fields.

Website: www.actorharsh.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hkg_harshofficial

Other: www.fa36productions.com www.breakinbrew.com