Pratik Gandhi remembers balancing his corporate career with the shooting: It was a practical problem

Following his lead part in the SonyLIV series Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, Pratik Gandhi became a well-known actor across the country. Nevertheless, despite what it might look like, success didn't follow the actor immediately after his debut Pratik spent many years performing on stage, and although he was still employed by a corporation, he landed his first breakthrough in Gujarati cinema.

During the interview for Mashable India's Bombay Journey programme, Pratik recounted how he managed to fit in time to take part in conference calls and powerpoint presentations during shooting Bey Yaar.

Even though he had taken a 22-day leave of absence to concentrate on the movie, he continued to work at his regular job when it became successful and he received offers for a few parts. According to him, having a security net was necessary because the work was crucial and his family's status was unstable. He informed the creators that they'd need to wait two years to cast him in their movie since that is when he would next take an extended sabbatical. He continued, “It was a practical problem, I wasn’t going to get leaves immediately, whatever was going to happen would have to wait for two years.”

However, he said that Pratik was doing well at work, “My CTC at the time was Rs 18 lakh per annum. I joined as an assistant manager, and precisely every three years I got a promotion. So, when I resigned in 2016, when Wrong Side Raju was about to be released, my CTC was Rs 25 lakh. The film was released in September, and my last day in office was August 26. But I thought, this is it.”

In contrast, Pratik had just bought a new house with a debt of Rs 60 lakh, him and his wife also welcomed a new baby. Whereas his father was critically ill. He remarked, “The journey after that was amazing. I did eight back-to-back Gujarati films, so many plays.”

Pratik's recently appeared on the ZEE5 movie Atiti Bhooto Bhava. Additionally, he is working on two television shows, one of which features him in the lead character and is based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi.