EXCLUSIVE: Gandhi, the Indian period drama series currently in production, will reveal “the origin of Superman,” according to its makers.
In a series of exclusive interviews, stars Pratik Gandhi and Tom Felton, director Hansal Mehta and executive producer Sameer Nair revealed the latest on the show, which is being billed as one of the biggest to ever come out of India.
The show will tell the story of Mahatma Gandhi’s earlier adult years before becoming a political icon and nonviolence protest pioneer, in particular his time spent in London and South Africa.
“There are almost 45 years of life before the moment he becomes the Mahatma,” said Nair, CEO of Gandhi producer Applause Entertainment. “Of that, a large part was spent in London before he spent 23 in South Africa. There are a lot of elements of that story that are not known but are important to the history. Richard Attenborough’s [1982] movie covers it in 15 minutes, and we’re doing an eight-part series. This is the making of the man, compared with the great man.”
“This is the first time we’re doing something as big and complicated as a filmmaking nation, and we’re happy to do that,” he added. “It’s a really important story to tell – Gandhi is the most important Indian. We have an advantage of name recognition, but we have to tell the origin story to Superman.”
Applause is producing and financing the show without a commissioning streamer or network attached, in line with its usual business model. Nair revealed he has taken early footage of the production to studios, streamers and networks in the U.S. — something the Scam 1992 company has not done before. “A lot of them gave us written feedback, which was really useful. Once it’s ready, we’ll go back and show it to them. I’m looking forwards to that.”
Earlier today, we revealed Tom Felton has been cast as Josiah Oldfield, who helped Gandhi find his way when he was living and studying law in London. The paired bonded over their vegetarianism and went on to have a long friendship.
“It was a short-term relief that Gandhi found someone that cared about vegetarianism as much as he did,” said Felton. “They shared a close relationship as friends and people with the same ideals.”
Felton said he had developed his character with director Mehta, who also lensed SonyLIV’s Scam 1992 and 2003 series, is behind 2023 film The Buckingham Murders and Netflix’s Indian series Scoop. “It was less about being historically perfectly accurate but more about representing what that time of both of their lives was,” said Felton.
“We are chasing a story of discovery,” said Mehta. “We often forget the importance of self-introspection and reflection, and learning lessons from your flaws. That is the bigger story from Gandhi’s first 30 years.
“He was someone who stumbled and those lessons became the backbone of the freedom struggle in India, and the backbone of non-violent freedom struggles around the world. Those formative years created those ideas.”
Pratik Gandhi (no relation), who plays the lead after years performing a related Gandhi monologue on stage, also addressed his approach to the show, calling his relationship with the late icon a “strange, happy coincidence.”
“We have the same surname and I come from the same cast as him,” he added. “Ever since childhood I have seen Gandhi’s approach and lifestyle in my family – that minimalism and respect for everything around you.
“Cut to 2016, and I started performing Gandhi on stage in a play about his early life, which ends when he was thrown out of the first-class compartment in South Africa. However, I had no idea I would perform Gandhi in a longer-form series. It’s a dream, both on stage and screen. I keep saying I’ve been practising this role on stage for years.”
Season 1 of the show, planned for a multi-series run, is based on Indian historian and journalist Ramachandra Guha’s non-fiction book Gandhi Before India. Seasons 2 and 3 will be based on Guha’s second Gandhi book, Gandhi – The Years that Changed the World, which explores his life up to his assassination in 1948.
Nair noted a third Guha book, India After Gandhi, could provide further material but Applause has not yet acquired rights to the story.
