TIFF 2025 | Applause Entertainment, Hansal Mehta's 'Gandhi' To Have World Premiere At Festival
Headlined by Pratik Gandhi, the show has become the first Indian series to be selected as part of TIFF’s Primetime Programme.
The stage is set for the next big global leap: Gandhi, the ambitious international series directed by acclaimed filmmaker Hansal Mehta and headlined by Pratik Gandhi, will have its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Produced by Applause Entertainment, the show has been selected as part of TIFF’s Primetime Programme, making it the first Indian series to be showcased in the section.
Adapted from the definitive biographies by historian Ramachandra Guha, Gandhi is billed as a sweeping, multi-season epic that reimagines the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, "not as the icon we remember, but as the young, flawed, ambitious man the world has yet to meet."
Sameer Nair, producer, managing director, Applause Entertainment, called the selection of Gandhi for TIFF’s Primetime showcase an honour and a moment of immense pride for Indian storytelling. Since its inception in 2015, TIFF Primetime has spotlighted auteur-driven series that push the boundaries of long-form storytelling, including Alfonso Cuarón's Disclaimer and All the Light We Cannot See from Shawn Levy and Steven Knight.
"Taking you up close and personal to the young Mohan way before he became the man history knows, this series is the culmination of deep research, creative development, and unwavering belief in the human story we wanted to tell. TIFF will be the first time our Gandhi will be seen by audiences. To begin that journey on a global platform of such import is the perfect start, and we can’t wait for the world to discover him," Nair said.
Mehta, director and showrunner of the show, dubbed Gandhi as the "most creatively challenging and soul-stirring journey" of his career.
The filmmaker, who reunites with the Scam 1992 and Modern Love Mumbai actor Pratik Gandhi, said that the show is not just a story from the past, but a "meditation on conscience, a portrait of a man in constant conflict with himself and his times."
"TIFF has previously been home to some of my most precious pieces of work, and to have perhaps the most ambitious story of my career premiering there is doubly special—particularly in TIFF’s 50th year. To share this journey at a festival that has embraced me over the years is both humbling and surreal. I hope it opens the door for more Indian series to find their place on the world stage," the filmmaker added.
Season one of the show, set between 1888 to 1915, traces Gandhi’s early journey from a curious adolescent in colonial India, to an awkward law student in London, to the young barrister who would spend 23 transformative years in South Africa.
Apart from Nair, Mehta and Gandhi, the TIFF premiere will see key members of the team in attendance, including Siddharth Khaitan, Tom Felton and Kabir Bedi.
Gandhi boasts music by AR Rahman and is written by Vaibhav Vishal, Karan Vyas, Felix von Stumm, Hema Gopinathan, Sehaj Kaur Maini, and Yashna Malhotra. Siddhartha Basu and Ramachandra Guha have been credited as script advisors, with casting led by Mukesh Chhabra (India) and Shakyra Dowling (International). The show's production design has been done by Shashank Tere, costumes by Pia Benegal, and cinematography by Pratham Mehta.