Pratik Gandhi, who has been performing Mohan No Masalo (Mohan’s Masala in English and Mohan Ka Masala in Hindi) since the last eight years, says that “playing Gandhi on stage has taught me a lot about life.” Pratik, who also found a place in the Limca Book Of Records for the play (for performing a monologue in three languages - Hindi, English and Gujarati - in a single day), will be performing the play (in Hindi) today in Ahmedabad.

He adds, “Every year, I try to make sure that I perform the play on Gandhi Jayanti. I started doing monologues with the play Hu Chandrakant Bakshi. One day, I told Manoj Shah (who eventually directed Mohan No Masalo) that Gandhi’s is a universal story and character, and it’s a subject that can still fascinate generations. A lot of people think Gandhi was a born ‘Mahatma’, but hardly anyone knows about him as a young guy, his fears, and his failures. I wanted to bring out those aspects which would really interest youngsters too. So, we roped in Ishan Doshi, a young writer who wrote the play (in English) and he has done a fabulous job. There’s no audio of Mahatma Gandhi in his native language (Gujarati). So, for the play’s Gujarati version, we explored his Kathiyawadi accent, kyun ki

unki boli mein there was that accent since he was from Porbandar.”

He adds, “Working with Hansal Mehta again for my upcoming web series on Mahatma Gandhi is the best thing that could have happened, and it will be the biggest project of my career. Even though a big film (Gandhi) was made on his life, it was an international project. Our project will cover his whole life and I am super excited.” Excerpts from a chat:

While preparing for this play, I read a lot of books on Gandhi and some of his quotes really stayed with me. I have seen a lot of Gandhian people in my family and their simple, minimalist lifestyle has inspired me. Initially, I thought the audience might find some of the dialogues cliched but once I started performing, I realised the power of those lines. Every time I perform this play, I learn something new.

I remember performing for the inmates of Sabarmati Jail and the entire stage was cordoned off. I felt they would be least interested in the play and initially, when I saw a few inmates going out or asking for a bathroom break, I thought it (performing there) was a wrong decision. But after my performance, one guy came, and he was crying like a child. He said that after watching the play, he felt ashamed to have let his mother down and promised that he would never do something that would land him in jail again. I have also performed at the Indian Army base camp in Leh Ladakh, for the Indian Navy and abroad. In Mumbai, once I was supposed to perform the play at a small black box theatre and apart from two foreigners, nobody turned up. But we still staged the play and they loved my performance. I have some unforgettable memories associated with this play. Through this play and while reading about him, I have realized that ahimsa isn’t a cowardly act; it’s the highest form of bravery. Non-violence is the strongest tool that anyone can have.

I will never forget my experience of performing the play in the USA because it was absolute madness, and one of the craziest moments of my career. We were invited by JAINA (Federation of Jain Associations in North America) and I was to perform in Hindi. There were 8,500 people in the audience and 15 minutes into the performance, I could hear a murmur, and Manoj bhai told me to change the language. So, I started performing in English but after a while, the same thing happened, and I switched to performing in Gujarati. Eventually, Manoj bhai asked me to mix all the languages and I had to do that! Later, I learnt that the audiences were fighting among themselves and so, Manoj bhai wanted to make sure that the situation was brought under control. As an actor, I was really irritated but after the play was over, I got a standing ovation. It was an experience of a lifetime.