Decoding Pratik Gandhi’s recipe for fulfillment

With Gandhi within the Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition and Saare Jahan Se Accha on Netflix, Pratik Gandhi is quick rising as the brand new chameleon within the movie world. From enjoying Harshad Mehta to Mahatma Gandhi and Jyotiba Phule in between, his versatility is quietly making an announcement. 

“I like human drama. I like exploring completely different mindsets with out judging them,” says Pratik as he stirs his black espresso at a lodge in central Delhi. “One angle of their lives is understood to the world. What will not be identified to even their household is what was occurring of their minds once they have been busy altering the world round them. That’s the space I need to discover,” he explains.

Every biopic presents a novel problem. With Phule, there was only one picture for reference. In Gandhi, there’s a downside of loads. “It really works each methods. If there have been extra pictures, I must put in additional bodily effort to appear to be Phule. I labored on his feelings to make the viewers imagine in my reflection of Phule. With Gandhi, I didn’t need to mimic him. Even with quite a few movies and pictures, my job is to make you imagine, on the fortieth or fiftieth second, that that is Gandhi. It required a little bit extra preparation on my half.”

Unconcerned about comparisons with Ben Kingsley and Rajit Kapoor, Pratik says that his theatre background, the place he performed a younger, strange Gandhi in Mohan’s Masala (Mohan’s Recipe), helped form the character, other than director Hansal Mehta, with whom it’s his fourth mission. “Our bond is such that we are able to discuss with out exchanging a phrase,” says Pratik, including that an actor carries a little bit of author in him by default.

Pratik Gandhi in ‘Gandhi’.
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association

“Theatre follow brings you near literature. I can’t write on clean paper, however I rewrite what’s given to me through the rehearsal course of. I always verify the metre of my dialogue. Right here, understanding the nuances of the language is useful. Through the use of the synonym of a phrase, an actor can enhance the depth of the dialogue.”

In Saare Jahan Se Accha, the place he has joined palms with director Sumit Purohit, who wrote Rip-off 1992, Pratik states that the most important problem he confronted was making a real-world spy, Vishnu Shankar, posted in Pakistan. “Spies are purported to be frequent guys who don’t search pointless consideration, dwelling distant from glamour. What we normally see on display screen is the alternative. So I needed to unlearn the picture of a spy in my thoughts. Now we have labored on each the behavioural and visible elements to create a world of the Nineteen Seventies, an necessary decade in our historical past. The lives of spies is all about getting info and communication, however there have been no mobiles, and computer systems have been hardly there.”

Pratik liked projecting the fixed ethical dilemma of Vishnu and likes the truth that his Pakistani counterpart, performed by Sunny Hinduja, is equally conflicted. “Vishnu’s means could also be proper for reaching an even bigger goal, however whereas working in direction of the purpose, he’s doing one thing mistaken to these near him, together with his spouse, colleagues, and associates. He’s doing one thing huge however can’t share it with anybody. I get attracted to those complexities, peculiarities, and pressures {that a} character goes by as a result of it turns into difficult to course of and translate to the viewers.”

Pratik Gandhi in ‘Saare Jahan Se Accha.’
| Picture Credit score:
Netflix

Having labored in an engineering job till 2016, Pratik has additionally juggled household life, his ardour for performing, and making ends meet in a difficult world. “My dilemma was egocentric, and if I extrapolate it to Vishnu’s dilemma, that can be egocentric, however in his thoughts, he isn’t being self-seeking as a result of he’s doing it for the nation. In my case, I used to be doing it for myself. Nevertheless, I fully perceive the emotion. The fixed feeling of guilt is difficult to handle. Ghar par time nahin de pa rahe (Not in a position to spend time at dwelling), should handle workplace in addition to rehearsals, no matter purpose you would possibly give, you’re feeling a way of guilt.”

What makes Pratik completely different from his contemporaries is that, with craft, he has lived life. “When Rip-off 1992 occurred to me, I used to cry that I get the possibility at 40, however later I thanked God that it occurred at 40 as a result of until then I might collect life experiences which helped me profoundly course of advanced feelings.”

However being found late by filmmakers limits the choices for enjoying sure elements. “Sure, I could not match a college-going character, however if you happen to carry a script, go kar jayenge (I’ll go),” grins Pratik. He jogs my memory of the lighter elements he performed in Madgaon Categorical and Do Aur Do Pyaar. “Theatre prepares you to play each raja and vidushak (king and clown) and every part in between.”

ALSO READ: Anurag Kashyap blasts CBFC and Brahmin backlash towards ‘Phule’: ‘If there’s no caste, why are you offended?’

However the “unstructured” movie trade has its queer methods. “I used to be outrightly rejected by tv. I’m instructed that I don’t look a traditional hero. Ought to I take this as a praise?” asks Pratik with a chuckle

In an interview with this journalist, Phule director Anant Mahadevan described Pratik as the brand new Sanjeev Kumar. Unusually, not many mainstream actors come from Gujarat. “Once I was beginning out, we have been instructed that Gujarati actors don’t make it huge in Hindi cinema as a result of individuals might odor the Gujarati of their diction. Aside from Sanjeev Kumar, we don’t have many mainstream actors from the State. Paresh Rawal made it huge as a supporting actor. Nevertheless, after I got here to Mumbai, I realised that those that come from Punjab additionally sound Punjabi, however they’ve been accepted as a part of the mainstream. I assume OTT has bridged this hole. Now the linguistic flavours don’t hassle anyone.”

Saare Jahan Se Accha can be streaming on Netflix from August 13.

Printed – August 12, 2025 08:02 pm IST