Chirag Vohra in Freedom at Midnight and Pratik Gandhi in Gandhi share emotional and physical demands of playing Mahatma Gandhi

SonyLIV is gearing up for two period drama series set against the backdrop of India's freedom struggle. One is Nikkhil Advani's Freedom at Midnight, which is based on the book of the same name by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins. On the other hand, Hansal Mehta is adapting Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World and Gandhi Before India by Ramachandra Guha into a biographical series. In both series, Chirag Vohra and Pratik Gandhi will be portraying the roles of Mahatma Gandhi, respectively. 

Chirag Vohra on portraying Mahatma Gandhi in Freedom at Midnight

Now, during an interaction with HT City, Vohra spoke about playing the role of the Father of the Nation in Freedom at Midnight. The actor stated that it is an enormous undertaking to essay Gandhiji's role. He did his best to embody the iconic figure honestly in Freedom at Midnight. Numerous obstacles awaited Vohra as he prepared himself for the role. The actor had to shed 14 kg for the part and another two for the sequences showing his final days and his fasting, just to look the part. He read Gandhi's autobiography Satyana Prayogo Athva Atmkatha and viewed old footage of him to get a feel for his speaking pattern and body language to help him prepare for the role.

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Pratik Gandhi on his approach to playing Mahatma Gandhi

On the other hand, Pratik shared that as an actor, it is fulfilling to portray a character like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whose life witnessed so many ups and downs and emotional turmoil. Sure, the expectations and pressures are high, but he has always focused on exploring his journey from a neutral point of view and showcasing himself as a human being. That was the actor's approach when he portrayed Gandhi for the first time on stage in the 2015 Gujarati one-man play, Mohan No Masalo. That's what he's doing in Hansal Mehta's series. 

Freedom at Midnight and Gandhi are yet to get a streaming date on SonyLIV (OTTplay Premium).

ALSO READ: Gandhi - Hansal Mehta begins filming for Pratik Gandhi-starrer series; here are the shoot and release details