Be open to work with new talent, take risks: Hansal Mehta, Pratik Gandhi at CIFF
Chandigarh, Mar 22 (PTI) Taking a chance on new talent is a small risk that comes with many benefits but the industry has closed that route in the name of safety, filmmaker Hansal Mehta said on Friday at the second edition of the Cinevesture International Film Festival here.
Both Mehta and his “Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story” star Pratik Gandhi spoke about the importance of introducing new talent during a session on the relationship between directors and actors.
Mehta, who in a recent post on X had spoken about the topic, said in the 2000s, there were studios like UTV who promoted newcomers. Applause Entertainment, according to Mehta, is doing something similar by backing people like Gandhi, Zahan Kapoor and Gaggan Dev Rial and making a success out of it.
“We are at an inflection point where there is a lot of talent but they are not getting a chance. That pipeline is closed in the name of safety.
“It’s a proof of concept that it can work. The big guys that you keep giving chances to, how many times have they failed? What’s their success percentage? When they fail, they actually sink you. If you take a small risk (casting new talent), you will suffer less but the advantages are many,” he added.
Gandhi, a Gujarati theatre and film artist who broke out in a big way with Mehta’s “Scam” series and has been a part of many great projects, urged producers and directors to be more open to working with newcomers.
“Be open to work with new talent. It is shrinking (the space for newcomers) everywhere and you are working only with a certain set of people. When you talk to people everyone is like, ‘There are no good actors? There are so many actors who are waiting (for their chance). This gap can be filled only by directors and producers,” the actor said.
Gandhi is also part of Mehta’s ambitious series on Mahatma Gandhi and said they have developed an understanding in the five years that they have worked together on projects. His film “Ghamasaan” with filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia premiered at the festival on Friday.
The actor said there is a lot of freedom and discipline on Mehta’s sets.
“I used to push him that we should do some reading on our first project, ‘Scam 1992’. I used to constantly call him, ‘Sir, let’s read it. I want to show you how to do it or this is how I’m thinking.’ And his simple answer was, ‘You do it your way and we’ll see’.”
Mehta joked that it was all lazy casting because he trusts Gandhi’s calibre to deliver a great performance.
“I think it’s a privilege that you get to work with an actor of Pratik’s calibre and that you get people to back that talent, somebody who gives everything to that part, to that moment, which you create on set. Somebody you can trust to do that and it is created without any ego.
“I’m always on the search for an ego-less actor… And I’m fortunate that I found Rajkummar (Rao), Pratik and so many people that I’ve come across in my career, it’s just a privilege,” Mehta said.
He also praised Zahan Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor’s grandson, for his critically-acclaimed turn in Vikramaditya Motwane’s “Black Warrant”. Zahan made his debut with Mehta’s film “Faraaz”.
“He (Zahan) came into this film for a debut. In this film, the bigger role was of the villain, played by Aditya Rawal. But he surrendered to his character being dominated by that person. By doing that, he made his mark. If he had tried to overshadow him or anything, it would’ve looked odd. So, I’m fortunate that I’m able to find these people. And you get producers to back that.”
The festival, which opened with South Korean film “A Normal Family” on Thursday, hosted sessions with film personalities such as Vikramaditya Motwane, Nandita Das, Abhishek Chaubey and Honey Trehan.
