Pratik Gandhi
Charu Jain: Was it your childhood dream of being an actor? When and how did you start it?
Pratik Gandhi: I had been introduced to theatre during my school years in my hometown Surat. I used to study in a school there called Pravruti Vidyalaya where all vocational subjects like agriculture, carpentry, bamboo culture, sculpting and theatre were compulsory. We learnt theory and practice both and even gave exams for it. So in a way I was lucky to have visited an unconventional schooling. Theatre happened at a very early age in my life. I was in 3rd or 4th standard when I started performing on stage for school, function, inter-school competitions. In a way I have grown up in theatre on stage.
In 2004, I shifted to Mumbai, seeking and hoping to create my space in commercial Gujarati theatre as I, at that time had knowledge about just that aspect of theatre. I am a passionate engineer too! So with an engineering degree in hand, I came to Mumbai, started working simultaneously in both fields. I was a consultant engineer with the National Productivity Council for 4 years after which I took up a job with one of the most prominent and biggest corporate companies in India and I did that job for almost 8 years. So from 2004 to 2016, I was juggling between both my passions along with the third thing which I was really good at - comparing for live shows. I did it to survive in the city at the same time I had to keep my craft crisp. I wanted to keep myself well prepared for that big moment which could have been on theatre or on screen. In 2012, I got my first Gujarati film Bey Yaar which materialized because of the theatre projects I was doing. The makers and writers of the movie saw one of my plays and had faith that I will be able to do justice for one of the roles. And since that movie, a lot of things changed for the Gujarati film industry as a whole. I took a break for 22 days to go shoot that film. It became a run- away success and in a way, a cult film in Gujarat and I had no inkling about it here in Mumbai. I was in my routine hustle with work. Two years later I landed another movie Wrong Side Raju, so I again applied for leaves for 22 days because I had accumulated around 200 leaves in my account on the hope for these kinds of things, some day will come, when I will be able to succeed with acting and by God's grace that has happened. The movie went on to win the National Award for best Gujarati film in 2016. That was the time I was in a dilemma, I had to choose one of the fields - my engineering and corporate career or a career in films. Because the next promotion in office would have put me as an Additional Vice President which entailed a lot of responsibility and a big portfolio. If I would have picked it up, I would have been away from my creative side with acting. I was not willing to give up my creative side yet. And I was being offered work which I couldn't do because of the daily job. So my family and I came up with a collective decision that this was it, I had to take the leap of faith and get into acting as a career full time. So from 2016 I am a full time actor and since then I have done around 10 Gujarati films, 2 Hindi films and in 2018, I got into talks with Hansal sir for Scam 1992 and it's out!
CJ: As Scam 1992 has garnered national attention, tell us about your journey?
PG: I am completely overwhelmed by the response I have got for my performance, and the compliments we collectively got as a team from all around the world. It's absolutely surreal right now. It's absolutely heartening that people have appreciated it and accepted it with open arms with such a lot of love from everywhere. And there is a sense of ownership that I have seen in the audience. People have owned this entire series up. There is something that is so relatable to them and they feeling connected to it. And for me something very sweet has happened. All the actors from the Gujarati cinema who have seen me grow as an actor and have seen my work, my success feels personal to them. They feel someone from their family has reached such level. That’s a different level of ownership that I am enjoying right now. I am really happy with the kind of response we have received. All thanks to the wonderful team and Sony LIV for the platform. As far as the response is concerned, I was sure that the product will be a good one because Hansal Mehta is involved and experienced artists and team is involved. Applause who has given really good content were making this show, Sony’s team was involved, so one thing i was sure in my head was this will be a well made show. But the response we have received right now, I had not imagined it in my wildest dreams. It is really overwhelming. I mean I am still trying to digest that this is the reality!
CJ: People now know you as Harshad Mehta. How did it feel getting into the character and giving such a beautiful performance?
PG: When director Hansal Mehta watched Wrong Side Raju and Bey Yaar, he immediately knew somewhere in his head that I could portray Harshad Mehta with honesty. A call went from him and I was called in for an audition at casting director Mukesh Chhabra’s office in Juhu.
The biggest reason why I chose to play the role was Hansal Mehta, and also I loved playing real life characters on stage, I have done quite a few which included playing Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. So it was kind of a dream to portray a challenging character like Harshad Mehta. There were a lot of layers to the character. Also, I enjoy playing characters which have complex human emotions. This is one of the biggest projects in my career. So all these reasons were key in accepting the role. A lot went into the research as well. Though I was given a lot of reference material to read online, there were few videos available as well. There was an interview with Pritish Nandi which I saw. The script itself is such a detailed document for me to get into the details of the characteristics. So all these things helped me a lot and to add to that - multiple discussions with writers and the director himself. As far as the technicalities of the scam are concerned, I was in school at that point in time, so I don't have any detailed idea about it. I did have some idea about something big / irregularities happening in the share market because one of my close relatives lost a lot of money at that time - so in a way I was connected to this. But as far as other technical aspects and jargons are concerned I had to learn about the transactions that happened without computers. So I read about it as well and met people who were active in the investment business at that time. I did this because I wanted my dialogues to be believable, and not come across if I am just saying the dialogues without understanding. A character like Harshad Mehta who is very well known, his photographs are available in public domain, he loved being in the news. One of his most popular pictures is the one where he is standing with his Lexus. So I do believe physical resemblance is an important thing, but we consciously took the decision where we did not try to look exactly like him but we focused more on behaving like him and creating that character which displayed his mannerisms and traits. His helplessness in the early days to where he reached a stage of self confidence, his gradual shift from confidence to over confidence, then to the level of arrogance and ego. So this was the journey we chose with this character. Even Hansal sir was of the opinion that we don't have to be caricature - ish or mimic him. Rather we imbibe him, internalise him, because one as an actor too gets invested in a role. So that was the overall idea, which we tried and it's for the audience to gauge if we have been successful with it. Where physical resemblance is concerned, when I first met Hansal sir, he said I was too lean, thin to become Harshad Mehta, so I will have to gain weight. I gained around 18 kgs before we went on floors for the shoot. I kept eating everything that was put on my plate, even the things that I would avoid earlier. So I had a huge belly, a lot of fat on my face and the moustache. All those things helped me to go closer to his looks.
CJ: "Risk hai toh Ishq hai" - While delivering this dialogue, did you think that it will be in the mouths of every person of the Nation?
PG: The credit goes to the makers, writers of the show. The script was a well written one. I am overwhelmed with the response.
CJ: What are your future plans?
PG: Post scam 1992, I am getting multiple offers from mainstream hindi cinema and web series. A lot of interesting lead characters that are being offered to me as of now. So I'm looking forward to playing such interesting characters in near future and looking forward to work with senior directors and other crew members where I can also learn from them.