For actor-comedian Viraj Ghelani, known for Jawan (2023) and Govinda Naam Mera (2022), Navratri is a time when fame takes a back seat. He stops working after 6 pm, turns down lucrative offers and returns to the same garba grounds where he danced as a child, surrounded by friends who knew him long before he became a familiar face. “These days are mine. I won’t share them with anyone,” he says.
Such is his attachment to the festival that he puts work on hold for the nine nights, regardless of the money on offer. “At that time, I forget that I am an actor or a known person. I don’t give a damn about all these things. I go back to my roots, to where I started celebrating Navratri and playing garba as a child,” he says.
Ghelani has no intention of trading his familiar dance circle for a VIP section. “Navratri is a celebration of the person I was and the person I am. It is an homage to the fact that you should never forget your roots. I go to the same ground, dance in the same circle with my friends, jostle with the crowd and live those days,” says the 36-year-old, who met his wife, baker Palak Khimavat, during the festival.
His bond with the celebrations was forged in simpler times, when even buying a pass was difficult. “I didn’t have money to buy Navratri passes. I would buy a pass for ₹2,000 and sell it to a friend for ₹2,200. I needed the money to go for garba, and then we would have to figure out how to pay for dinner. So, I would buy passes in bulk and sell them to friends who needed them,” he recalls.
{{/usCountry}}His bond with the celebrations was forged in simpler times, when even buying a pass was difficult. “I didn’t have money to buy Navratri passes. I would buy a pass for ₹2,000 and sell it to a friend for ₹2,200. I needed the money to go for garba, and then we would have to figure out how to pay for dinner. So, I would buy passes in bulk and sell them to friends who needed them,” he recalls.
{{/usCountry}}Those memories are closely tied to his childhood friend, director Oneel Prashant Karnik, with whom he would sell passes, play garba and head out for dinner. “Our childhood goal was that we should never become so famous that we stop playing garba during Navratri. Prashant and I used to sell passes together, have fun and go out for dinner at night. That is what I want to hold on to,” he says.
Even today, Ghelani returns to the grounds where he grew up celebrating the festival, including Kora Kendra in Borivali and a ground in Malad, where he joins his group. He also visits NESCO in Goregaon and makes time for celebrations featuring singer Falguni Pathak. Despite fans approaching him for photographs, he ensures he returns to the dance floor. “I meet them, click pictures and then tell them I will be back in two minutes after finishing a dance. These garba days won’t come back for another year. Everything is on pause for these 10 days,” he says.
Navratri also brings back memories of his father, who introduced him to Hakka noodles during their festival outings. Although Punjabi food and pav bhaji remain among his favourites, he continues the noodle tradition in his father's memory. “I lost my father two years ago, so every time I eat them during Navratri, I remember him. I make sure I have them at least once during the festival because he used to feed them to me,” he shares.
As for the song that best captures his garba persona, Ghelani is quick to name Pathak’s Pari Hu Main. “I am a princess. My wife also calls me that because I love attention and I love it when people do things for me. Whenever the song plays, I tell people to let me do my step and then I join them,” he ends with a laugh.