Pratik on 'Gandhi', 'Saare Jahan Se Accha': Both ideologies are trying to keep the country safe

Mumbai, Aug 9 (IANS) Actor Pratik Gandhi has talked about the interesting parallels between his two roles from the series “Gandhi” and “Saare Jahan Se Accha”. He noted that while their ideologies appear opposite, both characters strive for a safe and peaceful country.

Talking about how his characters of Mahatma Gandhi from the upcoming series “Gandhi” and Vishnu in “Saare Jahan Se Accha” represent a complete dichotomy of ideologies, Pratik told IANS: “Both the ideologies are opposite to each other but at the same time both the ideologies are trying to keep the country safe, avoid wars.”

“So that way I know I can draw parallels to these two characters.”

The acclaimed star highlighted the contrast between playing a historical figure like Gandhi, whose inner thoughts are open to interpretation, and a completely fictional character like Vishnu, which allows for full creative freedom.

“His name was Mohan and his name is Vishnu…. Both are Vishnu’s names. So, that way if I see there are a lot of parallels. But Gandhi is a biopic and Vishnu is completely a fictional character. So that way I find that fun is that maybe ideology is different but it is a little same somewhere.”

“But there are so many things that are different in their lives. We all know almost everything about Gandhi’s life apart from his early days, like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's life. But it is still open for interpretation what was happening in his mind when he was taking those decisions. What was he thinking? Nobody knows that.”

“Everyone around him has written books, they've written this and that. But what was going on in his mind, nobody knows. So, that's what I explore when I create that character.”

“Whereas Vishnu, you know, right from start to finish everything, we fictionalize and we create it. So, as an actor I got two extremely different characters.”

“Saare Jahan Se Accha” follows the gripping journey of RAW agent Vishnu Shankar, who is assigned a dangerous mission deep inside Pakistan.

Set against the tense backdrop of the 1970s, a time when every strategic move risked igniting a global nuclear conflict, the show captures the fierce intelligence war between India’s RAW and Pakistan’s ISI.

The series also stars Suhail Nayyar, Kritika Kamra, Tillotama Shome, Rajat Kapoor, and Anup Soni.

Created by Gaurav Shukla and produced by Bombay Fables, with Bhavesh Mandalia as creative producer, “Saare Jahan Se Accha” will premiere ahead of Independence Day on August 13 on Netflix.

Meanwhile, “Gandhi” will have its world premiere at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival 2025.

Backed by the Applause Entertainment banner, "Gandhi" is a cinematic adaptation of the books 'Gandhi Before India' and 'Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World' by Ramachandra Guha.

It is believed that the highly-anticipated series will cover significant aspects of Mahatma Gandhi's life - spanning from his early work in South Africa, to his role as the Father of the Nation in India's independence movement.

While Pratik plays the titular role as Mahatma Gandhi, the project will also see Bhamini Oza as Kasturba Gandhi, Tom Felton as Josiah Oldfield, and Jaival Pathak as young Harilal Gandhi, along with Amar, Upadhyay, Libby Mai, Harry Mckeown, R Badree, Molly Wright, Ralph Adeniyi, James Murray, Lindon Alexander, Ramdas (Priyansh Bajaj), Jonno Davies, and Simon Lennon in key roles.

--IANS

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