Actor Pratik Gandhi, who plays the role of a firefighter in "Agni", says when director Rahul Dholakia narrated the film's script to him, he grabbed the offer with both hands as it was a first-of-its-kind project.
Billed as India's first film on firefighters, the upcoming movie revolves around a fireman (Gandhi) and a policeman (Divyenndu) who investigate a mysterious surge in fire incidents in the city.
That Excel Entertainment, which backed 2024's buddy comedy film "Madgaon Express" starring Gandhi and Divyenndu, was producing "Agni" was another plus.
"Rahul Dholakia narrated the film and I had seen his work like 'Parzania'... When I met him, it gave me a lot of confidence about his vision and how he is looking at the film. This is a world we've never seen before.
"When we talk about cops, there’s a certain treatment that we’ve seen in many films. Rahul Dholakia was looking at the world of firefighters realistically and I wanted to be part of it. When Excel was backing up, it gave me more confidence. Every film for us is a less travelled world, we don’t know what will happen, it's an experiment," Gandhi told PTI in an interview.
The actor said it was fun to reunite with his "Madgaon Express" co-star Divyenndu.
"We did this film first and the characters we play in this film are different from 'Madgaon Express'. It (camaraderie) evolves with time and the more projects we do together, and that’s the beauty of this profession and medium.
"Divyenndu and I are friends now, every film that we’ve done or will do together, we can add even more emotions and layers to it. I love to play different characters with the same actors again and again," he added.
"Agni" also stars Saiyami Kher, Sai Tamhankar, Jitendra Joshi, Udit Arora and Kabir Shah in pivotal roles.
"Let's create a firefighters' world that's believable," was the brief every actor received from Dholakia, said Gandhi.
"I didn't interact with any firefighter with a six-pack and all, the courage and pride they have is something... They are also humans and it doesn't seem that they are different people. Since we were doing a film of this nature for the first time, it was easy for us to go with a certain perception," he said, adding that wearing a firefighter suit was a physically demanding task as it weighed 5-7 kg. The "Scam 1992" star said he underwent training for around 15 days at South Mumbai's Byculla fire station where he was taught basic firefighting skills, including how to handle a fire hose and a hammer.
Gandhi, who plays a fireman called Vitthal in "Agni", said the film integrates high-stakes action elements with the drama quotient.
"Drama is my favourite genre. This film has a lot of emotions and drama but the background is about firefighters. You have to perform keeping those characters and their emotional turmoil in mind. The firefighters are fighting fire in their regular life, but there's an internal fire that they're fighting.
"My character has this constant conflict to prove to his son that he is a hero, whereas his son looks up to a cop as his hero. So, there's an interesting layer of emotion that we've created, I hope it translates well." "Agni" will premiere on Prime Video on December 6.
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