Pratik Gandhi rocked the show at the Bollywood Hungama OTT India Fest and India Entertainment Awards 2025. On the first day, he attended an interesting panel called ‘The Screen Wizard: Art Of Bewitching The Audience!’ during the award ceremony on day 2, he won the Best Actor – Male [Original Series; People’s Choice] for Saare Jahaan Se Accha. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama conducted at the BH OTT India Fest 2025, the dashing and talented actor spoke exclusively about his OTT journey and a lot more. He began his career in Gujarati films and this year, the regional industry has had a historic run. Pratik Gandhi spoke about this aspect as well.
This year, the Gujarati film industry created history as the total collections of all films of 2025 first crossed the Rs. 100 crore mark and in a month’s time, also collected more than Rs. 200 crores. How does it feel to see Gujarati cinema becoming so big compared to the time when you started?
It’s very heartening. I am so happy for Gujarati cinema. All the people of the industry are trying their best, despite the limitations in terms of resources, money and avenues. Gujarati cinema doesn't get good OTT or satellite deals. So, the avenues are limited and yet, they are churning out films after films. It’s something we should ponder about – how to improve the style of storytelling and scale? I mean scale not just in terms of money but in terms of stories.
A film like Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahaayate has proved that a pure story coming out of your heart will reach a larger audience.
Did you get a chance to watch Laalo – Krishna Sada Sahaayate?
I have yet to watch it, but all my friends have worked on it. Its director, Ankit Sakhiya, was a clapper boy in one of my films, Luv Ni Love Storys (2020). Laalo is his first film as a director. The lead actress of the film is Reeva Rachh; her father, Viral Rachh, is an acclaimed theatre artist in Jamnagar. I have even directed Reeva in one of the plays. I have known Shruhad Goswami since he used to do theatre. He had done a remarkable play called Taj Mahal Ka Tender. He is amazing on stage; his comic timing is impeccable. I did not know (lead actor) Karan Joshi, though.
What are your thoughts on its box office success?
Laalo is the first ever film to cross Rs. 100 crores at the box office. It’s so great and I am so happy for the whole team.
The way the film began and the way it is performing at present, many are claiming that its divine intervention…
Yes, that’s what it seems like (smiles).
When you started, was it a challenge for Gujarati films to find cinemas?
Yes, indeed. Bey Yaar (2014) was the first film to get shows in multiplexes! Prior to this film, no multiplex used to screen Gujarati films. Bey Yaar worked very well with the audience and also its music became a rage. Young kids and college students began listening to Gujarati songs. These changes, however, were sporadic and did not happen with all films that were coming out at that time.
I worked in Wrong Side Raju (2016), which won the National Award. It helped Gujarati cinema bag a National Award after almost 30 years. That also brought upon a change and so did Hellaro (2019).
The bottomline is that though we are churning out a lot of films, not all of them are the best or even good. Hopefully, this will change in the future.
Mujhe toh bahut mazaa aata hai! And gradually, it has become such a cult track. That’s what happens with songs. Once it becomes a part of your memory, recall value happens easily.
However, Wrong Side Raju has an underrated song which is close to my heart. It’s called ‘Katputhla’.
One improvement for Gujarati cinema, in my opinion, is that there’s a need to attract those who don’t understand the language. Today, when you go to cinemas to watch a Malayalam film, nearly 20 to 40% of the audience are the ones who don’t understand the language. I believe the Gujarati cinema should also try to aim for it…
It (non-Gujarati audience watching Gujarati films) happens, but not at the rate that it happens for Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. The biggest advantage is that the Gujarati language is very close to Hindi. Even if you don’t speak Gujarati, you can very well understand, as Gujarati and Hindi are offshoots of Devanagari. Despite this advantage, we are still struggling on that front. We need to reach out to the larger audience.
There are no subtitles either in several Gujarati cinemas. This should be looked into, urgently…
Yes, I know and I hope something is done in that regard soon.
Any plans to return to Gujarati cinema?
It’s not like I had stopped doing Gujarati films. I was not getting interesting scripts. Personally, I want to do more experiments in Gujarati. I want to get the younger audience excited by watching different kinds of cinema in their language. The Gujarati language has a very rich literature. Somehow, we haven’t tapped into it. That should happen soon.
You have directed plans. Any plans to direct films? I am sure the thought must have crossed your mind…
For sure. But when it comes to technicalities, I have not gone to any film school. Hence, I feel that I should learn the technicalities a little more. But some people have a different view on this topic. They feel that, for technicalities, they are experts who can guide you. They insist that one can still direct if their strength is storytelling. So, I have to cross that line and be ready with a story, after which I’ll hopefully direct.
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