When Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story dropped in 2020, it didn’t just trend; it lingered. The background score became a ringtone staple, dialogues turned into Instagram captions, and one performance quietly took over the conversation.

At the centre of it all was Pratik Gandhi, whose portrayal of stockbroker Harshad Mehta felt so effortless that many assumed he had always been part of mainstream cinema. But the truth behind that performance is far more layered — and far more grounded.

A Surat boy with an engineering degree

Pratik Gandhi wasn’t born into films or theatre circuits. He was born on 23 April 1980 in Surat, into a middle-class Gujarati family. His father and mother were teachers, a background that was rooted in stability rather than stardom.

He went on to study at North Maharashtra University, where he completed a degree in mechanical engineering and a bachelor’s degree in production. Like many middle-class graduates, his early career followed a predictable path — he took up a corporate job in Mumbai, working as an engineer to support himself and his family.

Acting, at that point, was not a career plan. It was simply something he loved.

Theatre, side gigs, and a........

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