HUSTLING THROUGH LIFE

Raghuvendra Singh talks to Scam 1992 fame actor Pratik Gandhi, who is winning accolades for his stunning portrayal of Harshad Mehta

- ​​​​​​​Raghuvendra Singh

He was in class 6 when Pratik Gandhi first faced the camera for one of the shows on Doordarshan. It actually didn’t register with him that what he was doing was being captured on camera. Cut to 2006 then, and he first faced the camera for a crossover film called Yours Emotionally, directed by Sridhar Rangayan. It was a LGBTQ film aimed at festivals and didn’t release in theatres. He didn’t have a clue about the gay culture and the film proved to be an eyeopener indeed. He was always good in studies. After doing a diploma in engineering, he realised that it wasn’t enough and studied for a degree as well. His job took him to Mumbai. At that point of time, he didn’t have the courage to go into acting full time and hence kept his passion alive by doing Gujarati theatre. He became an expert at juggling deadlines in office on the one hand and theatre practice on the other. It was a hectic existence but Pratik says he enjoyed it. He got a chance to play an important character in the play Aa Paar Ke Pele Paar, working with celebrated Gujarati actors like Firoz Bhagat, Apara Mehta and Vipra Rawal. The venture proved to be commercially successful. His other important plays include Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon, Hu Chandrakant Bakshi, Ame Badha Sathe To Duniya Laiye Mathe, in which he played multiple roles. He was included in the Limca Book of Records for his play Mohan’s Masala; a monologue about Mahatma Gandhi’s early years performed in three languages, English, Hindi and Gujarati on the same day.