'Harry Potter' star Tom Felton to feature in new series on Gandhi

With Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar creating tidal waves upon its release, the next eight-part web series emerging out of India will turn its attention to the life of Mahatma Gandhi before he catapulted to fame. Billed as Gandhi’s “origin story”, Deadline reported that Gandhi is currently in production, and will zero in on the politician's earlier adult years in London and South Africa.  

The show, planned as a multi-series run, is being directed by Hansal Mehta and executively produced by Sameer Nair under the banner of Applause Entertainment. Indian actor Pratik Gandhi of Scam 1992 has been cast as the eponymous Gandhi. He will be joined by Harry Potter star Tom Felton playing the role of Josiah Oldfield, who formed a long-standing friendship with Gandhi in London. 

“We are chasing a story of discovery,” said director Mehta. “We often forget the importance of self-introspection and reflection, and learning lessons from your flaws. That is the bigger story from Gandhi’s first 30 years.”

In a similar vein, Nair added that while many elements of Gandhi’s life have already been well catalogued, there is a lot left to explore that is “important to history.” “Richard Attenborough’s [1982] movie covers [his life] in 15 minutes, and we’re doing an eight-part series,” he said. 

As an Indian, Nair hinted that the team felt duty-bound to convey Gandhi’s life in a manner that hadn't been seen before onscreen. “This is the first time we’re doing something as big and complicated as a filmmaking nation,” he remarked. “It’s a really important story to tell – Gandhi is the most important Indian. We have an advantage of name recognition, but we have to tell the origin story [of] Superman.”

In line with the business model followed by Applause Entertainment, there is currently no streaming platform or network attached to the production. However, Nair revealed that he has taken early footage to studios, streamers and networks in the US, which is not a step the company has taken before. “A lot of them gave us written feedback, which was really useful,” he said. 

Known predominantly for his role as Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, Felton added that he was excited to be coming on board the production. Speaking about his character, Felton said, “It was a short-term relief that Gandhi found someone that cared about vegetarianism as much as he did. They shared a close relationship as friends and people with the same ideals.”

Meanwhile, Gandhi shared that after years of portraying his namesake on stage, he was honoured to be selected for the role in a series. “It’s a dream, both on stage and screen,” he stated. “I keep saying I’ve been practising this role on stage for years.” According to Pinkvilla, Gandhi will be joined by his wife and fellow actor Bhamini Oza, who will take up the mantle of his onscreen wife, Kasturba. 

Season one of the show is based on Indian historian and journalist Ramachandra Guha’s non-fiction book Gandhi Before India. Seasons two and three will be based on Guha’s second Gandhi book, Gandhi – The Years that Changed the World, which explores his life up to his assassination in 1948. Nair noted a third Guha book, India After Gandhi, could provide further material, but added that Applause Entertainment has not yet acquired rights to the story.

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