Pratik Gandhi was hounded out of his wits by CBI officials in Scam 1992. Funny, then, that he now returns as an agency sleuth in The Great Indian Murder. Premiering on Disney+ Hotstar on February 4m, the nine-part series is adapted from Vikas Swarup’s book Six Suspects, published in 2008. Pratik is Suraj Yadav, a CBI investigator who joins Richa Chadha’s cop to solve a sensational murder. Their characters aren’t present in the original book; writer-director Tigmanshu Dhulia contrived them to frame his adaptation better.
“Suraj isn’t your typical investigator,” says Pratik, who’s seen rocking a black suit and glasses in the trailer. “He can’t fly planes or things like that. He is a flawed, human character, with his own complexes and politics.” Pratik had accepted the role before reading the script. He confesses to being a Tigmanshu Dhulia fan. “He creates these wonderful, earthy worlds. I’d loved his Paan Singh Tomar (2012).”
Karamchand, the carrot-munching detective played by Pankaj Kapur, is one of his favorite performances of all time, Pratik says. More recently, he enjoyed Benedict Cumberbatch in Dominic Cooke’s spy drama The Courier. “I like characters that are more grounded and complex,” he says.
The Great Indian Murder was shot across nine cities, including Delhi, Raipur, and Mumbai. Pratik enjoys the long haul—though, with projects piling up, it’s getting tougher for him. “Committing to any new project is getting difficult because of the timelines,” the actor shares.
He has four Hindi films in the offing—Atithi Bhooto Bhava, Dedh Bigha Zameen, Woh Ladki Hai Kahaan? and an untitled film with Vidya Balan. On the web, he’s boarded For Your Eyes Only, a large-canvas Netflix series set to roll this year. There is also talk of a Modern Love adaptation at Amazon.