Pratik Gandhi recently led the patriotic series Saare Jahan Se Accha, which released around the Independence Day and focused on a spy’s story during the Indo-Pak tensions in the ‘70s. The show came on the heels of the India-Pakistan war earlier this year and the actor agrees it made the promotions a bit challenging.
“We were very clear when we shot that it's not about jingoism. But the concern was definitely there when we started promoting it. When we got to know the release date, and whatever happened in the recent past, the context changed into the audience's mind,” he says, adding, “That's when you have to be very careful when you talk about your project because you know that you have not shot it this way, you know that there is no agenda, propaganda or any jingoism involved in it. But how do you communicate it to the audience who is set there with a different mindset right now?”
The show’s producer Sejal Shah agrees that while the war did impact the viewer’s perception, they tried their best to not fuel any agenda. “The story telling in the show was always about the emotions of everybody involved. It was a story about love for the country and what people have to sacrifice for that. The goal in the story was not to kill somebody or attack, it was very peaceful–to stop a war. All stories should not just be about how to take revenge, but how to make sure that something bad doesn't happen.”
Pratik asserts that they deliberately decided not to go with chest-thumping patriotism in the show. “There is a fine line between patriotism and jingoism and we were very clear that we are not making it the latter way. In today's world of this hyperactive social media, if you keep saying the same things 10000 times, you tend to believe it. So, in that entire chaos, we wanted to make a story which is not doing it this loudly. I understand that patriotism is an emotion that you carry within and there are multiple ways to show it and the easiest way is to shout about it. But the moment you add a layer to it, which makes it interesting, intriguing and relatable, that's when the difference comes in,” he says.
{{/usCountry}}Pratik asserts that they deliberately decided not to go with chest-thumping patriotism in the show. “There is a fine line between patriotism and jingoism and we were very clear that we are not making it the latter way. In today's world of this hyperactive social media, if you keep saying the same things 10000 times, you tend to believe it. So, in that entire chaos, we wanted to make a story which is not doing it this loudly. I understand that patriotism is an emotion that you carry within and there are multiple ways to show it and the easiest way is to shout about it. But the moment you add a layer to it, which makes it interesting, intriguing and relatable, that's when the difference comes in,” he says.
{{/usCountry}}The actor adds, “When you feel ‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’, just communicate it, and screaming it is not communicating. Without you saying these words, I should feel that oh my God, this guy feels a lot about his country.”