Scam 1992 Actor Pratik Gandhi Reveals How He Juggled Work And Acting, Says He Was In Tears After Shabana Azmi Praised Him

For Pratik Gandhi, the road to Bollywood and stardom had been quite long. The 36-year-old recently became a household name with his performance in hansel Mehta directed web-series, Scam 1992 where he played Harshad Mehta. His performance was loved by one and all and looks like he has already been signed as the lead in three more projects- two films and another web series. Now, in a Humans Of Bombay post, he has opened up about his journey, and his struggle to reach where he is now.

In the post, he mentions that his tryst with acting begun at the age of 4. He said, “I was in the 4th grade when I first performed on stage. It was just a 5 minute skit, but the thundering claps I received stayed with me. That’s when my tryst with acting began–soon, my teachers cast me in more plays.
But we were middle class; Papa was supportive but he’d say, ‘Pehle degree lo, phir jo karna hai karo.’ So I opted for engineering. Still, I’d do small plays–ishq toh acting se hi tha.
After graduating, I moved to Bombay–for 4 years I worked on a project basis so that I could act. But there’d be months with no income. So, I did odd jobs like installing TV towers & anchoring."

Tragedy struck when the Surat floods took away his native home. He added, "My family came to Bombay & the 4 of us stayed in a 1RK; after I got married, 5 of us were in that tiny space. So I took up a full-time job. Still, I’d rehearse for 2 hours before work & after, I’d do plays. I did this for 6 years.
Then finally, I got a role in a Gujarati film! So, I took a 22-day leave from work for the shoot. At times, right after my shot, I’d get on a work call. After the shoot, I went back to work. I wasn’t even there for the promotions.
Fortunately, ‘Bey Yaar’ was a hit; overnight, I became a mainstream Gujarati actor. So the next time I got a film offer, I took the risk & at 36, I quit my job! Although I had a house loan, & a toddler, it felt right."

Then, Scam 1992 happened, and there was no looking back! "I did some Hindi films & web series, but I got my big break when I got a call from Hansal Mehta’s team. I was shortlisted for Harshad Mehta’s role in SonyLIV’s Scam 1992!
I jumped in feet first–from watching older news clippings of him to studying the stock market, I did it all. And then, the show released…
But at the time, I didn’t realize it’d become this huge! It was so overwhelming. And when Shabana Azmi Ma’am told me it was the best performance she’d seen in 20 years, I was in tears. My wife was ecstatic! And when my parents saw me win an IIFA, they were so moved.
It’s been 5 months since Scam’s release & my life has taken a 180° turn! People see me as a ‘lead actor’ now. Zindagi ne jaise ek dum se raftar pakad li hai. But all of this happened because at 36, instead of getting comfortable, I decided to take a risk kyun ki… risk hai toh ishq hai!,” he quipped. See the post here:

Well, when one works hard, as Pratik did, one is destined to succeed. Pratik has already signed a film called Atithi Bhooto Bhava. He will also be sharing the screen with Yami Gautam for another one. Apart from these, he will be seen in a web series based on Six Suspects alongside Richa Chadha.