'They are clueless about the man on the currency notes.'
'They have been fed with WhatsApp forwards, so either Gandhi is vilified or deified. There's nothing in between.'
Hansal Mehta has made a career out of directing biopics and true stories, sharing the narratives of the likes of Shahid Azmi (Shahid), Ramchandra Siras (Aligarh) and Harshad Mehta (Scam 1992).
So it was natural for Producer Sameer Nair to bring Mehta on board for an epic three season long series on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
The first season of the series, called Mohan, is based on Ramchandra Guha's 2013 book Gandhi Before India. The second two seasons will be based on Guha's second book on Gandhi, Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World.
Mehta and Nair premiered the first two episodes of the show at the Toronto International Film Festival.
It's a terrific production, epic in every sense, and examines the life of Gandhi as a human being, with heartwarming performances by Pratik Gandhi (who plays the title character) and a remarkable supporting cast. It is beautifully shot, gorgeously lit, with superb costumes designed by Pia Benegal.
The first season should be available for audiences early next year.
Aseem Chhabra spoke to Hansal Mehta, Sameer Nair, Pratik Gandhi and his actress wife Bhamini Oza, who plays Kasturba Gandhi in the show. The conversation took place in Toronto after the show's premiere.
The first of a two-part interview:
Hansal, why do you think India and the world needed another show or film on Gandhi?
Hansal: I think it's the right time to narrate Gandhi's story, especially now that the long format exists. When Attenborough made Gandhi, at that time, feature films were the only way.
The series allows you a possibility of exploring the character.
The problem with the other films was that all of them were about the Mahatma.
But where is Mohan?
In Mohan's journey, you will not only find the Mahatma in him, but you will also find the Mahatma within yourself. So it's a journey of discovery and confronting your own contradictions.
A long time ago, I read his autobiography My Experiments with Truth, where I think he wrote about his failures.
Yes, but in hindsight.
This journey is about finding his failures and looking at his reflections. Guha's books are written in a matter-of-fact way, with no judgements.
Sameer, I know you guys have had a good working relationship. But this is such a massive undertaking, quite a challenge for a producer. Did you say yes immediately?
Hansal: Well, actually, I had to say yes. He was already doing it.
Sameer: I wanted to do this. I like contemporary history. We recently did Black Warrant and The Hunt, both are contemporary histories.
I am keen on stories about regular humans, the flesh-and-blood kind of history.
I wondered what big story should come out of India. Gandhi is the most famous person of the 20th century across the world.
Although completely misunderstood now.
Sameer: That's okay. It's a story about a human being, and you keep revisiting all of these things in hindsight and interpret it in different ways.
As Guha writes in his book, a lot of My Experiments with Truth is Gandhi, as the Mahatma, reflecting on his own life and therefore probably looking from a different lens. It's not about leading your life. It's about looking back and saying, 'Yeah, you know, I would have done that differently.'
We approached Ram Guha in 2019 to get the book rights. He heard me out. He then sent me back to do homework and asked me to re-read the books again.
But then he turned us down. He said it was his life's work, and he was not sure how somebody would make a series out of it.
Then COVID happened.
We were busy completing Scam 1992. Scam released in October 2020 and became a big hit.
I approached Ram Guha again in 2021 and asked if there was any change of heart. He said, 'Yes, maybe we can talk now.'
I told him we want to do three seasons, eight episodes each.
One would be Gandhi before India, and the next two seasons would be 1915 to 1932 and then 1932 to 1948.
That's the broad, approximate plot.
From that moment on, one thing that kept playing in our head was that we must cast Gandhi. Because the minute you say we are going to make Gandhi, it gets into this big debate about who's going to play Gandhi. So there was this young Mr Gandhi (He points to Pratik Gandhi).
You had cast young Mr Gandhi, before...
Sameer: Pratik had been playing Gandhi in a play for 10 years.
What is the play called?
Pratik: It's a monologue called Mohan No Masalo: Mohan Ka Masala. It's in Gujarati and Hindi.
Sameer: One of the first questions Pratik asked was who will direct the series? But without finalising that, we decided to announce we had the rights to Ram Guha's books.
Hansal saw the post on Instagram and immediately called me and asked: 'Mujhe kyon nahin bulaya? What are you doing?' So I told him 'Aap aa jao wapis.'
Hansal, you get jobs from Insta posts?
Hansal: (Laughs) I was in San Francisco when I saw the post and called him. He suggested, let's talk when you are back.
Sameer: All three of us met at the Sony party to celebrate Scam 1992. We hadn't had a Scam party, since the show was released during COVID.
Pratik, I understand you had been performing the play. But by now, you had become a star. This is such a challenging role. Was there any hesitation to take on this role?
Pratik: There was no hesitation, especially once I got to know Hansal sir was directing it.
I was clear that nobody was seeing this as the story of the Mahatma or the Father of the Nation. And this is my fifth project with Hansal sir.
Right from the time we worked on Scam 1992, I knew about his eye for the human drama. So all my questions were put to rest and I knew we were going to start with a story of a young 18-year-old Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
Along the way, people told me that because of Ben Kingsley, I had big shoes to fill in.
Hansal, the thought crossed my mind that good actors have this plasticity in them. You can mold them into anything. You did that with Rajkummar Rao also.
Hansal: Pratik does that.
There's a film that we made together, and he had just done another film where he had muscled up.
I said, 'Pratik, how will you shrink your body?'
But he wore the costume, and suddenly I felt that he had lost his muscle.
Somehow he had shrunk. I don't know what happened.
Did you go on a diet?
Pratik: No, it was just a little change in the body language and shoulder position. It can actually make you look different.
Hansal: He looked completely different. The character changed.
All of us thought that's what a good actor does.
You have to trust that, and then you don't need to worry about Ben Kingsley.
I suppose it was easy to cast Bhamini as Kastur. I realised watching the show that her name was not Kasturba.
Hansal: No, she went through four or five auditions. The burden of being Pratik Gandhi's wife weighed heavily on the casting choice.
We didn't want people to feel that we are saving money on a hotel room (laughs).
Everybody, who's seen her on stage, has said she's brilliant, like fire on stage.
Her auditions were fantastic.
But I just wanted to make sure there was no bias creeping in.
We kept watching other auditions, and every time we would go back and say, 'Bhamini is the best for this part.'
As the series progresses, you will realise how she is transformed from a meek little friend of Mohan to a mother, to a woman, almost a feminist, a leader.
She has a fascinating journey, the world is going to discover.
So the 'Ba' name was given to her later.
Pratik: Bapu aur ba.
Hansal: Hamein bhi problem ho raha tha. Hum bar, bar Kasturba kehte the.
I was in an Uber five-six years ago, going to Connaught Place in Delhi. We were on Kasturba Gandhi Marg. My 20-something driver asked 'Yeh kaun thi? Bahut famous hongi ki road unke naam par hai.' Even after I told him Kasturba was Mahatma Gandhi's wife, he seemed to have no idea. It's scary how people are clueless about India's history.
Hansal: They are clueless about the man on the currency notes.
Pratik: Multiple generations have no idea about them.
Hansal: They are one-dimensional. They have been fed with WhatsApp forwards, so either Gandhi is vilified or deified. There's nothing in between.
Sameer: Our show looks at Gandhi in between.
Hansal: We are just exploring. People know him either as villain or as hero. He was human. That particular part has been forgotten.
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