Some actors' struggle leave a mark on you and such is Pratik Gandhi¡¯s cinematic journey. Right now, anyone who is following OTT shows is talkingabout him and he rightly deserves it. The man aced his role as Harshad Mehta in Hansal Mehta¡¯sweb series Scam 1992- The Harshad Mehta Story.
Indiatimes decided to talkto him and know about his journey. His story is a ray of hope for everyaspiring actor who dream to be recognised one day.
To begin with, we askedPratik Gandhi, how did he manage to impress Hansal Mehta to bag a role as HarshadMehta, ¡°I think my regional and theatre work helped me to reach here. Hansal ?Mehta sir has watched Gujarati films and helikes me. So when I auditioned at Mukesh Chhabra¡¯s office, I was sure that beinga? Gujarati will help me bag thisrole, so that worked for me. Also, Hansal sir knew my theatre stints and wasaware of my work.¡±
When asked about how people areconvinced he is really Harshad Mehta as his performance is par excellence, and he says, ¡°It¡¯s an overwhelming feeling for me. This is my first bigproject, a lot of people have noticed me, But I was around for 15 years doing mybit. I have worked in Mumbai theaters for 15 to 20 years now. And my first Gujaratifilm came in 2013, so Harshad Mehta is almost a? new birth for me, the way people have respondedto it, so much of love around, all the appreciation for my character is stillunreal. I am still digesting the fact that this is happening with me for real.¡±
When asked if the strugglebroke a hope in him, he negated, ¡° Not really because, I will tell you why Icame to Bombay in 2004 from Surat that¡¯s my hometown. In the beginning Igained my theatre experiences, and also did a job in corporate work for 12 to15 years.
Not many are aware butPratik has done engineering and pursued a job in the same field, ¡°From 2004 till 2016 I havedone that. In 2016, I did my second film Wrong Side Raju which won? a National Award, and then I started getting opportunities,from theaters and Gujarati films as well, but I couldn¡¯t do that frequently so I couldn¡¯t get many leaves from my job, so I did one film in two years. I usedto accumulate all the leaves, so I used 20 leaves one at a time. I was on thehope that someday something big will come and then I lost my job.
He further added, ¡° ?Then I had to decide that either I be in this worldor that world. Because initially when I came. my fight was to get a house inMumbai. (Bombay mai ghar hona bahut badi baat hai, 12 saal laga muje sirf ekghar kharidne mai).
When asked if ever he will returnto his job if things don¡¯t work in the industry,he strongly said, ¡°No. Because I have done that for almost 16 years andright now I am doing a lot of things,from theatre, doing plays and even directing it. Also, today's web world is avery interesting space because there is no formula that is driving it. Even filmmakersare very open to experimenting and that¡¯s why I got this part otherwise I am surefaces which sell they would go for them, why would they go for me? Actors aregetting to work, so I am open to cinema and web series.¡±
He even added he will nottypecast himself and will explore all kinds of genres, characters, and languagesas that satisfies him as an actor.
Talking about the compliments he has been receiving from the industry, Pratik said, "The best compliment I have receivedis from Hansal sir, he calls me and says we are almost ready and I asked sirhave I been able to do justice, he didn¡¯t say much, but he said, ¡°You have outdone yourself¡±. Also, Shabana Azmi called me and praised me, She said 'I havenot seen this kind of performance in 30 years', being the legendary herself wasa huge compliment for me.¡±
Indeed the man has come longway and stolen the show!
Illustration by: Ranak Mann