Pratik Gandhi: I am looking at the longevity of success and not resting on my laurel

With every project, it is not just the audiences but actor Pratik Gandhi himself too expects a lot from himself. The actor of Scam 1992 -fame was last seen in the anthology Modern Love: Mumbai (MLM) and got a positive response for his portrayal of a gay man.

With each project, Gandhi tries to make a mark and strives to do better. The actor is glad that he has one advantage over many others. “For me, being consistent is equivalent to success. I wanted to on the minds of makers and writers, so that they write parts for me and now it’s happening. But with each project, I will have to prove myself too, have the same passion and deliver results. The best part is that I don’t have any baggage so there is no pressure. I am looking at the longevity of success and not resting on my laurels. One shouldn’t think that ek baar hit hog aye toh ab sab set hai. This field is such that with each project I will have to prove myself and I enjoy the challenge.”

The Great Indian Murder actor has wrapped up three films Dedh Bigha Zameen, an untitled film with Vidya Balan and Ileana D’Cruz and Woh Ladki Hai Kahaan with Taapsee Pannu. Up next is a film on social reformer Jyotirao Govindrao Phule called Phule and he is looking forward to playing Mahatma Gandhi in a web series too.

Gandhi feels that while OTT has been a liberating process for long and short format, films and series as they have all found one space and audiences worldwide, “the power is with the public and we have to keep the bar high”. He adds, “The digital medium is still young and everyone is experimenting with different genres and stories. But when something is new or working, people try to derive a formula to replicate success which leads to chances of failure. That will lead to a phase of consolidation.”

Often with actors, once they deliver a hit, they are offered similar roles, but with Gandhi it was the opposite. He says, “I have been lucky in that sense as all of my projects have roles from different ethnicity, age groups, personalities and genres. If makers see you in such diverse roles, it is a boon for an actor. While Scam 1992’s success made him an overnight success, ask him how things have changed after MLM and Gandhi says, “After playing a hero and head-strong character in Scam, I enjoyed playing a vulnerable character in MLM. The response was encouraging, the show was made well and as an actor, I look for opportunities where I can play diverse roles.”

In the world of showbiz, while it is tough to be successful and crack the code, people feel it is tougher to maintain it and keep delivering. Gandhi admits it is not tough “but impossible”. He explains, “There are so many variables in each project and story. Content creation is a field of experiment and it is not necessary that the results are positive each time. When you deal with emotions and story means it is impossible to create the same bang every time. My passion for my craft brought me here and har project mein entertain karna ka intention hota hai.”