Pratik Gandhi is surprised why there hasn’t been a film on Phule yet: ‘Every social evil he fought against is still there’

Amid controversies and initial opposition from the Brahmin community, Ananth Mahadevan’s period drama Phule will finally see the light of day this Friday on April 25.

- 

Based on the lives of legendary 19th century social activists Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule, the film stars Pratik Gandhi and Patralekhaa as the lead couple. In an interview with SCREEN, Pratik talked about playing larger-than-life real-life characters like Jyotirao Phule, Mahatma Gandhi, and Harshad Mehta, and how he manages to bring authenticity to each of them.That's the first question I asked my director when he offered me the role. He joked that a film on Phule hasn't been made because we were supposed to make it. Every social evil he fought back then is still there, in one or the other form. So something which is so relevant, nobody thought about it. I don’t know who can answer this question. I just feel fortunate enough that I could do it.

With no reference point in Hindi cinema, how did you get into Phule’s shoes?

My biggest reference point was a detailed, well-researched script. The reforms Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule have done are so huge that it’s difficult to pin them down to 2 hours and 20 minutes. So one must read and research everything before compressing the character's life. That job was already done by Ananth Mahadevan and his co-writers. It gave me a complete idea of the world. Apart from that, I wanted to make sure I didn't make any mistakes in pronouncing Marathi. I also spoke to a lot of people who knew about his traits and qualities. That’s how I went beyond the script with my performance.

Do you think why Hindi cinema hasn't had a film on the Phules is because unlike Marathi cinema, it shies away from depiction of caste?

No, I think films have been made on this issue, in the black-and-white era and even after that. But off late, I think after the 1980s, cinema changed. We moved towards a more limited definition of entertainment. That must be a reason why people didn’t touch this topic or it was forgotten easily.