Pratik Gandhi says Bollywood directors hesitated to cast him in lead roles, told him he was 'not a saleable face’

Scam 1992 and Modern Love: Mumbai actor Pratik Gandhi recalled picking up supporting roles to get into mainstream Bollywood films. He also said that while Gujarati industry appreciated him, Bollywood directors hesitated to offer him lead roles.

Actor Pratik Gandhi of Scam 1992-fame, is currently flying high in the success of Modern Love: Mumbai. The actor recently opened up about his work experience across industries in Indian cinema. He shared that while he earned praises from the Gujarati industry, the Bollywood filmmakers were initially hesitant to cast him in lead roles.

Pratik Gandhi.

Pratik Gandhi primarily started his acting career in Gujarati theatre. In 2014, he starred in his first Gujarati film, Bey Yaar. While he appeared in Hindi films like 68 Pages, Mitron, and Love Yatri, he rose to fame as Harshad Mehta in the 2020 web series, Scam 1992.

Talking about his career so far, Pratik told Bombay Times, “After doing theatre in regional language, I took a plunge into Gujarati movies. By god’s grace, my work received a lot of appreciation there. When it came to working in Hindi cinema, I could see that filmmakers were hesitant to cast me in lead roles.”

While Pratik appeared in many supporting roles in Hindi films, he played his first lead role in a Hindi film with Bhavai, a year after the success of Scam 1992. “People did approach me, but for supporting characters. Producers and directors here thought that yes I was a good actor, but not a saleable face in Bollywood. So they offered supporting roles saying, ‘your character can cushion the main character and this way people will take notice of you as an actor’,” he added.

Pratik also said that, like many other newbies of the industry, he too thought that supporting roles could help him to fetch lead roles in mainstream Bollywood films.

Pratik will be next seen in Woh Ladki Hai Kahaan alongside Taapsee Pannu. He is set to play the lead in Mahatma Phule's biopic, Phule. The film also stars Patralekhaa as Savitribai Phule. Apart from this, he also has a Netflix project in his pipeline.