A story of a cop chasing a dacoit is not new. But when Ghamasaan came Pratik Gandhi’s way, he knew he had to front it because of the man at the helm — Tigmanshu Dhulia. “When you know that Tigmanshu Dhulia is making it, a director who has mastered the art of telling a story in the most rooted way, you want to be a part of that world,” beamed the actor.

The crime drama, which sees Arshad Warsi as a dreaded dacoit, marks Gandhi’s second collaboration with Dhulia after The Great Indian Murder (2022). Interestingly, in both offerings, the actor played a cop. “Here, I’m playing an STF [Special Task Force] officer who’s chasing this dacoit. He wants to safeguard the system from the dacoit, and ends up understanding that the system created him and is protecting him.” 

Did working with Dhulia turn out to be as enriching an experience as he had expected? More, said Gandhi. “Tishu sir is a passion-driven director. If you are equally passionate about something, [his enthusiasm] rubs off on you. He is a deadly combination of a writer, actor, and director. So, he challenges you to another level. With him, you can’t give an okay performance. You can’t sleepwalk any simple scene,” he grinned.

If Ghamasaan sees Gandhi take on an intense story, a madcap comedy awaits him in 2027. mid-day recently reported that director Kunal Kemmu was set to take Madgaon Express’ (2024) sequel on floors (Go Goa, going, Sept 1). Confirming the news, Gandhi shared, “I’m excited to go back to that world. It’s a mad script. We’ll go on floors around March 2027.”