Pratik Gandhi: Hero no longer the guy with great physique

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When we sit down for an interview with Pratik Gandhi for Do Aur Do Pyaar, it's hard to not open our chat with the crackling Madgaon Express. The comedy is running in theatres weeks after its release, despite competition from recent offerings. "It's all Kunal [Kemmu]," says Gandhi, crediting the director for giving Bollywood a smartly written comedy. "I've always wanted to do good comedy. Physical humour is tricky, but you have to do it with people who understand it. Kunal knows all sub-genres of comedy, and he is brilliant at them."

With Do Aur Do Pyaar, Gandhi is moving on to a different kind of comedy, rom-com. Shirsha Guha Thakurta's directorial venture sees the actor and Vidya Balan play a couple whose marriage has long lost its spark. Gandhi says it is among the six releases he has lined up, and with each project, his attempt is to show his versatility. "Scam 1992 [The Harshad Mehta Story, 2020] changed everything for me. In the last two-and-a-half years, I have shot non-stop. With the audience's love, I am getting more confident about my work and my choices. Do Aur Do Pyaar is poles apart [from my last film]. My character is goofy, vulnerable, and avoids confrontations. In the first narration, I was surprised by the story - the characters are cheating [on their spouse] and then, they cheat on their lovers [with their spouse]."

Rom-coms are all about good chemistry. The script, he says, elevated his chemistry with Balan and Ileana D'Cruz. "We have no method to crack chemistry. We stayed true to the script and let the magic happen. We did a lot of reading, did the next day's scenes before going home. That said, I don't have a process. Art is not mathematics. I have to feel the emotions."

For Hindi film fans, Shah Rukh Khan was the poster boy for romance. Even as he moved to age-appropriate roles, there remained a set image of a romantic hero - someone who is swoon-worthy enough to sweep women off their feet. That mould has broken in the past few years. He shares, "The definition of a romantic hero has changed. He is not the guy with great physique and [bouncy] hair. A hero is anybody who can make you fall in love with the character and his emotions. I'm fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. People are now ready to see actors creating characters."