Actor Pratik Gandhi says writer-director Kunal Kemmu had a clear idea about how he wanted to shape "Madgaon Express", in which he plays a meek mama's boy who transforms into a confident person and starts behaving like a lion after accidentally consuming drugs.

The road trip drama marks Kemmu's directorial debut and was a box office and critical success. Also starring Divyenndu and Avinash Tiwari, the story revolves around three childhood friends whose long-planned Goa trip goes awry when they cross paths with drug lords and gun-toting goons.

Gandhi, a Gujarati theatre and film star who shot to national fame with "Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story", said Kemmu added the lion's roar in the post-production stage to enhance the impact. "Kunal had a crystal clear idea in his mind that 'Let's approach it this way'... The lion thing was already there in the lines (dialogues), 'I feel like a lion, I feel like a man!' Kunal added the entire roar of the lion in post production. I'm sure in post also, he must have tried multiple things and then decided that this one works best," Gandhi told PTI in an interview.

The 44-year-old actor said every time he turned into his 'lion-like persona', the cast and crew would go crazy on the sets.

But that alarmed Gandhi as he was worried whether the jokes would have a similar impact in theatre.

"...It has to translate well in a bigger scheme of things. You have to immediately become objective and think that even if I have to do it 10 times, it (the joke) must land," said Gandhi, who has roots in theatre.

Next up for the actor is an intense drama in "Dedh Bigha Zameen", which will stream on JioCinema Premium from Friday.

In the north India-set film, Gandhi plays Anil Singh, a common man who is trying to sell his father's land to arrange dowry for his soon-to-be-married sister.

"I have loved the layers of this character and the simplicity of the story. The kinds of situations he faces, there are so many parallels in life and the people we see around us." The film, written and directed by Pulkit, was supposed to be released before "Madgaon Express", he added.

According to the actor, language and diction played a huge role in creating Anil Singh.

"He comes from the Hindi heartland. Apart from that, the kind of emotions, the life he leads, the difficult situations he is facing, is all somewhere telling us about the region and story. Creating Anil Singh in flesh and blood, from paper to screen, was an interesting journey for me as an actor." The actor had back to back success in "Madgaon Express" and "Do Aur Do Pyaar", where he was paired opposite Vidya Balan. The urban relationship comedy revolved around a cheating couple that rediscovers love in their marriage. Gandhi said he is currently in a happy space thanks to the way his characters have been received by the audiences.

"This is something I always wanted, which is to explore different genres, styles of storytelling and characters. I'm happy I'm getting to do this. That's the reason I could put myself out there for the audience to judge and to even experiment... I'm happy it has been received well, translated well.

"I would love to continue this way. I don't want to put myself in one particular zone or box where people can feel that 'If this has Pratik, then it would be this way'. I'd rather want to be in a space where people feel 'We don't know what to expect when it's him'. That's a happy place, the most comfortable place for an actor to be in," he added.

Gandhi said he caught the acting bug quite early.

"I stepped on stage when I was in Class 4... As far as I remember, there was no particular day when I decided to be an actor. It has become a second nature. Growing up, I loved creating characters, telling stories and having a lot of fun with different aspects and mediums of storytelling and I still want to keep exploring these formats." Asked if there are any projects in the works in the south film industry, the actor said nothing as yet but hopefully in future.

"I am really fascinated by the grammar of performance in different languages and regions. India is a diverse country. Being an Indian, if I don't do this here, then what's the point?" he said.

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