2 days ago
Pratik Gandhi Says He Doesn't Pick Roles To Avoid Controversy: 'Anything Can Hurt…'
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Pratik Gandhi, whose film Phule faced backlash for its caste and political themes, now stars in the Netflix spy thriller Saare Jahan Se Accha.
Fresh off the release of Phule, which courted backlash over its political undertones from certain quarters and had its own run-ins with the CBFC, Pratik Gandhi is stepping into trickier territory with his latest outing — spy thriller Saare Jahan Se Accha on Netflix. In the new series, he plays a covert spy navigating a charged India-Pakistan backdrop — a subgenre that has seen a deluge of titles in recent years, making it tougher to stand out.
In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Pratik set the records straight. 'I enjoy the complexities of characters and the stories and all. It challenges me as an actor. I get to dig deeper inside and create something, find newer ways to reach the same emotion. And that is very exciting. It fascinates me as an actor."
When asked if controversies now dictate how he chooses his roles, Pratik said that it is always an artistic discretion. He said, 'No, I just go with my gut feeling. Because, on what basis do I decide what will create a controversy? Today, the scenario is such that anything can hurt anyone and people can react in any way. I mean, somebody might have an issue with somebody's name. But what do you do about it? You can't guess that in advance. So if my name is Ramesh and if I do something wrong in the film, all the Rameshs of the country can say, 'We are offended'."
When asked whether, as actors, they believe audiences today are more drawn to the human side of an India-Pakistan story rather than its politics, Pratik said, 'We have always been interested in human stories. That's how our culture is, ever since childhood, the kind of stories that we all have heard, be it any story, Raja Rani ki kahaani ho, chahe kisi gaon ki kahani ho, any story that we heard was always rooted in human aspect of it."
He went on to add that as a country, Indians are very 'human' in their emotions. He explained, 'That's the reason people say all over the world that Indians are very loud! But, we are full of emotions. And we want to celebrate each and every part of human emotions. This is something that has always resonated with people and across the border also. They were always part of us."
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