Pratik Gandhi excited about first release after Scam 1992, reveals how he spent lockdown

Pratik Gandhi’s name has been synonymous with the big screen long before he took over individual screens and people’s lives with Scam 1992. After Abhishek Jain offered him his first film, Gandhi’s debut in 2012 in the Gujarati film Bey Yaar brought him from theatres to the celluloid. His excitement to work with Jain is apparent on the phone as they collaborate for his first release after Scam 1992, especially as it will be launched on an exclusive streaming platform in Gujarati, meant for global audiences to enjoy.

Gandhi’s deceptively simple smile is what won hearts as he played Harshad Mehta. Those who have watched him in Gujarati movies, including the National Award-winning Wrong Side Raju, have been in awe of the serpentine ease with which he has been switching into the skin of each of his characters. Still basking in the glory of his last hit show, Gandhi spoke to Republic World in an exclusive interview about his upcoming projects, his love for his roots in Gujarati cinema and theatre, and his intense hustle through the last decade.

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Decades of hustle to meet success

Gandhi’s energy is nothing short of dynamic while talking about his upcoming venture Vitthal Teedi. “It has been so long I have worked with Abhishek, that is most exciting for me. I enjoyed working on it so much, and I’m going to speak on behalf of Abhishek as well that he’s loved the experience too,” Gandhi jokes, describing his bond with the director as comforting as that of a spouse, “kuch bolne ki zaroorat nahin phir bhi kaam perfect ho jaata hai,” he jokes.

Perhaps it is this enthusiasm of Gandhi that has brought him so far and yet kept him this grounded. He was born in a family of teachers that had no connection to the entertainment industry whatsoever. He’s confessed to having a “multiple passion disorder” a couple of years ago in a Ted Talk, and that statement holds true with his body of work through the decade. His Twitter bio mentions ‘Actor. Theatre Enthusiast, Industrial Engineer’, and he has juggled these careers until 2016. His multiple passions are inspiring for anyone who wants to chase theirs. “I worked in a corporate as an Industrial Engineer since 2004 and juggled theatre parallelly. Then Abhishek offered me my first film, which was when I took a leave of about 22 days to finish Bey Yaar.” He wasn’t present for the promotions of the movie as he wanted to diligently finish his projects at his full-time job.

Breaking records, changing paths

Another one of his passions, theatre, got him into the Limca Book of Records. His play, a 95 minute monologue was performed in Prithvi theatre in Mumbai in three languages back in June 2016. The play, Mohan No Masalo had three shows. The 11 am show was Pratik’s monologue in Gujarati, at 4 pm it changed to Hindi, and at 8 pm he switched to English. Out of curiosity, he happened to mail this to the Limca Book of Records whether something like this has happened before, and the rest is history.

The kind of hustle that has been through over the years is the dream of every realist. Gandhi shares that while shooting Bey Yaar he would “sit down with the laptop wherever we would be changing clothes as there were no vanity vans. I was granted the leave with the condition that I would be available on call whenever required as I was the one responsible for process planning and a new plant was being set up that time. Post that, I was offered several films, but had to refuse because I could not take too many leaves and the scripts were not convincing enough,” he says.

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When Wrong Side Raju was releasing, Gandhi had to take a call for his future in the acting career. “I joined my office as an assistant manager and resigned as the Deputy General Manager. In all these years, was a lot of travelling as well as workload of the job. The next promotion I would get would put me in a Senior Managerial position, which would be tough to manage along with a career in acting. It was an interesting time as I was getting recognition in both these fields,” he shares.

The best part while shooting for Scam 1992

He entertained the audience through the lockdown and says that he has a déjà vu happening being in another lockdown at the same time of the year as the last. While the entire world was busy becoming chefs and experimenting with making coffees and recipes, Gandhi denies being actively involved in cooking. Despite having played a chef in two movies – Dhunki and Luv Ni Love Stories – Gandhi almost proudly handles what he calls the “chhotu duties” of the house. “I’m the helper in the house that brings groceries, chops veggies and helps in the preparation of a dish. I think I could be a good sous chef,” he chuckles as he shares his lockdown chronicles. “After Scam, there have been so many interviews that I gave while I was mopping the floor or doing the dishes,” he reveals.

However, this does not affect his love for eating and sharing Gujarati food. Hailing from Surat, the city known for its lip-smacking delicacies and eccentric street food, Gandhi took it upon himself to get those on the sets of Scam 1992 love Surati food. “While shooting, the best part was the lunch. I would get a tiffin from home. After a while, it became like a potluck where a lot of us would being tiffin on the sets despite catered food already being there.”

His experience behind the scenes seemed as enjoyable as the appreciation for it he gets now. With a steadily sharp rise in the praise for his performance in his last web series, Gandhi is quite aware of the comparison that is drawn between him and Abhishek Bachchan, whose The Big Bull was based on the same character, albeit in a different format and storytelling technique. He dismisses the trolls online who compare and put one performance over another in harsher terms. “I think there should not be any comparison between artists. I find that illogical. Everyone has a unique way of understanding characters and interpreting them on screen, and that can never be compared.”

Gandhi confesses to being a huge fan of Abhishek Bachchan. “He has been in the industry for more than two decades and I have loved his performances be it Yuva or Guru. I have not yet had the time to watch The Big Bull, but I know for a fact that he is such a fine actor there is never a question of comparison,” he says, also pointing out other factors nullifying all comparisons and judgements that the story of the same man, Harshad Mehta, was told in two different formats of a film and a web series, with different makers and points of views towards one subject.

Tides are turning in film industry with OTT platforms

Gandhi’s process of picking roles is based solely on the factor of how good the story is. “I do not have any calculations or a specific process while picking roles. I only look at how I can align myself with a story and become a part of it. I try and merge myself in the emotion of the character, so people do not see me, only the character,” he shares. Perhaps the fact that he tries to merge into the story while understanding the character and relating to it was what made his Harshad Mehta so stellar. “I relate with that character in some aspects like he was from a middle-class family, had big dreams, and also that we are both Gujaratis,” he says.

But the most relatable character Gandhi has played “is Dhunki. The emotions the character felt were very close personally to me.” That is visible when one watches the Anish Shah directorial, where Gandhi is relaxed into the character of Nikunj, a man working in a corporate wanting to follow his passion and cook, but faces several challenges as he sets up his new business.

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Dhunki was a hit despite it being slightly experimental for a Gujarati film. The 2019 Anish Mehta directorial Mumblecore starred Deeksha Joshi, one of the most known and lauded actors in the Gujarati film industry. Comedy has always been influential in making a Gujarati movie hit by default, but there are several new types of movies that have succeeded in the last decade. “The fact that the audience likes this shows that the Gujarati film industry is at an interesting juncture. People liking content like Dhunki, or a Hellaro means that times are changing. I get more attracted to movies that offer cinematic experiences in terms of storytelling. Initially, it was like a chicken-and-egg situation where the makers would not venture into experimenting. But now that the audience is liking the variety, it is giving confidence to the makers too,” he says.

Gandhi is cheerful about the fact that Teedi is launching on the brand new Gujarati streaming platform OHO. “This is the best time for actors with OTT platforms coming in. Storytellers are now exploring real talent not just running behind stars. That is because the audience has also changed. The audience is now exposed to global content. The way they now watch things is different for the last couple of years. There is nothing like star power now, as people now value performers. This has given a lot of confidence to filmmakers. Everyone collectively is open to experimenting. What the audience also looks for is solid content that moves them, works with them on an emotional, personal level.”

He shares that Mitron was also the last movie his father watched before he lost him. Gandhi has had an impressive body of work in regional as well as Hindi cinema. He got national attention through Scam 1992, that released back in 2020. When asked if he felt something was missing in his role in the big-ticket release Mitron that went relatively less noticed, he gets sentimental recalling his character “in Mitron my character was very interesting. Nitin Kakkar is such a brilliant director to work with. The movie had such a beautiful slow-paced feel. And after its release, critics categorically mentioned my performance which was overwhelming for me as I was mentioned separately,” he shares.

There is a difference in the way people – audience and filmmakers perceive him now. “Filmmakers take me more seriously now as an actor. They are more open to casting me in mainstream projects. There are several offers that I have in Hindi films as the lead. That is the biggest change for me,” he shares.

Before moving on to another set of interviews for the day, and going back to reading scripts, the actor expresses his excitement again about being part of Vitthal Teedi. “Apart from this upcoming release, there are about three films and two web series. Hopefully, things should go well in the coming months,” he signs off sounding optimistic.