Pratik Gandhi on Ghamasaan: Hope people see me differently after this film

Actor Pratik Gandhi, who will next be seen playing IPS officer Aditya Singh in director Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Ghamasaan, says he does not want his cop to fit the conventional mould of an unblemished screen hero. Speaking exclusively to India Today, the actor noted that grey areas and imperfections are what make a character truly human and relatable.

Pratik also spoke about how his film Madgaon Express changed the industry perception about him.

Speaking about playing a heroic cop who also comes with his share of flaws, Pratik said the character was written with those contradictions deliberately. “It was written that way. The world of the film is such that it feels absolutely real. In the real world, nobody you meet is 100 per cent perfect, 100 per cent black or white. There is always a little grey side to everyone, whether you see it or not. That grey side is what makes a character human,” he said.

He highlighted that allowing those imperfections to remain was important for establishing a connection with the audience. “The more human a character is, the more relatable they become and the more strongly they connect with the audience. That’s what I feel because I also see myself as an audience member. Such characters work wonderfully for me when I watch a film or a story,” Pratik added.

The actor explained that his first responsibility was to stay true to the character as written before bringing his own interpretation to it.

“As an actor, my job was simply to be there and be available to create what was written first. Once I had absorbed the material — the text, dialogues and characterisation — I could then add a little bit of myself to it. That’s what I have tried to do,” he said.

The actor was asked whether playing the cop in Ghamasaan was challenging, particularly given the characters audiences have associated him with in the past.

Pratik said, "The only challenge is getting past that one particular mind block, whether the audience will accept me in this or not. It’s a notional thing that can play in anybody’s mind. I’m fortunate that it has never really worked that way for me, either in my earlier days or now. I don’t think about it."

For Pratik, the fact that he had not played a character like this before only made Ghamasaan more appealing. "I had never done something like this before, and that itself became the biggest reason to do it," he added.

Pratik became a household name following his portrayal of Harshad Mehta in Scam 1992. Asked whether he has managed to move past being identified with the character, the actor said he does not necessarily see such associations as something he needs to escape.

"I actually enjoy it when people know me by the characters I have played. Earlier, it was Harshad. Then another film came and people started calling me by that character’s name. Then Madgaon Express happened, and people started calling me by that name. Hopefully, with this film too, people will see me differently. That’s how it should work," he said.

Pratik also credited Madgaon Express for opening new avenues for him in the film industry. "It was a revelation for a lot of people — not just the audience, but makers, writers, directors, and producers as well. Everybody started seeing me differently, and that worked very positively for me because it opened up new avenues. People could now imagine me in characters like that too," he said.

He concluded, "I had done all of it before, physical humour, situational humour and slapstick humour — on stage. But Madgaon Express was the first time I got to do it on screen."

Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia, Ghamasaan stars Pratik Gandhi as IPS officer Aditya Singh and Arshad Warsi as Maharaj, a feared dacoit.

The film also features actors Ishita Dutta and Rajpal Yadav in key roles and will premiere on ZEE5 on September 11.