The association of Pratik Gandhi to playing Mahatma Gandhi across mediums is nothing less than an enigma. He has played the Father of The Nation for years on stage, and even has a web series coming up named Gandhi where he plays him. And to add to the coincidence, he is also performing a stage play today on Gandhi Jayanti, where he plays him yet again.

Mention all this and Pratik Gandhi quips, “Me playing Gandhi was written the day I was born in a Gandhi family. When I was given the Gandhi surname, I was destined to do it.” The actor adds that bringing Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s life alive has been a privilege for him. “Gandhi is more relevant in these times than he was ever before for the whole world. We need over a thousand Gandhis in this world today, considering everything that we see. And what a coincidence it is that this year, Gandhi Jayanti is on the day of Dussehra. There are so many raavans that we need to burn and kill within ourselves with the Gandhian approach,” he says.

Ask him about the qualities that he has imbibed from Mahatma Gandhi’s life and he says it’s simplicity and self belief. “Achieving simplicity in today’s complex and hyperdigital world, is a virtue and a privilege to a lot of people. Gandhi ji also said that true strength does not come from physical power, it comes from indomitable will. After performing the character for a long time, I actually understand where it comes from,” he says.

Addressing all the times he has got to play Mahatma Gandhi’s character, Pratik insists, “When I started working on stage as Mohan, I never thought that I’ll get a chance to create the same character on screen, that too for a longer format. It is beyond my dreams. It has been extremely important, poignant, rewarding and an enriching experience in itself.”