<p><img title="Sachin Tendulkar and Mikail Gandhi" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2017/may/SachinMakhial.jpg" alt="Sachin Tendulkar and Mikail Gandhi" /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><strong>Sachin Tendulkar and Mikail Gandhi</strong></em></span></p>
<p>Little Mikail Gandhi tiptoes out of his bath when we visit him at his Andheri flat on a cloudy Tuesday afternoon. His hair is wet and rather blanket straight, hardly showing any hint of his natural curls.</p>
<p>He greets us with a smile so disarming and words so warm that it was hard to fight the urge to pull his cheeks. We settle for a slight pat on his back. "It feels really nice when everyone comes and congratulates me," gushes the eight-year-old, currently enjoying his summer vacation and newfound success as a school-going Sachin Tendulkar in the docu-drama, Sachin: A Billion Dreams.</p>
<p>The movie was not Mikail's first tryst with acting; he has faced the camera several times for desi commercials, as well as a few in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. He also featured in a 2016 Telugu film titled Supreme.<br /> <br />Before Mikail landed the role, neither he or his parents were aware that he was auditioning to play a younger version of the cricket legend. His mother Yasmeen says, "We got a call from a casting agent who didn't inform us anything about the film he was supposed to audition for." A week after his screen test, they were informed about a workshop that Mikail had to attend. "When we reached there, I found out he'd bagged the role for this film [Sachin: A Billion Dreams]. Almost 300 kids had auditioned for the role," she beams with joy.</p>
<p>While his mother talks to us, Mikail quickly fetches an iPad from his parents' room. Busy playing a game on it, he chips in to say he met <a title="Sachin Tendulkar " href="http://www.mid-day.com/search/sachin-tendulkar-all" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Sachin Tendulkar</strong> </span></a>for the first time at the film's premiere last week. "I was able to click a picture with him. He is very nice."</p>
<p>In a second, he jumps to the topic of the film, saying, "When I saw myself on the big screen, it was the happiest day of my life so far."</p>
<p>Incidentally, Mikail, who idolises screen stars <a title="Amitabh Bachchan" href="http://www.mid-day.com/search/amitabh-bachchan-all" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Amitabh Bachchan</strong></span></a>, <a title="Shah Rukh Khan" href="http://www.mid-day.com/search/shah-rukh-khan-all" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Shah Rukh Khan</strong></span></a> and<a title=" Aishwarya Rai Bachchan" href="http://www.mid-day.com/search/aishwarya-rai-bachchan-all" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong> Aishwarya Rai Bachchan</strong></span></a>, is also a budding cricketer. "I love cricket and Sachin. I also like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina." Describing a typical non-school day, he adds he goes for swimming, plays Lego and watches Cartoon Network.</p>
<p>Though young, Mikail has his priorities set. The class 4 student of Juhu's Maneckji Cooper says he wants to focus on studies while pursuing acting. "My school allows me to go for shoots, which is really nice. I love studying geography. Classes resume next week, but I am not sure if I want to go to school; my new class teacher is very strict," he says innocently.</p>
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Eight-year-old Mumbai boy Mikail Gandhi talks about watching himself play little Sachin Tendulkar in cricketer's biopic 'Sachin: A Billion Dreams' and how he met his idol for the first time last week

Meet the 8-year-old Mumbai boy who brought young Sachin to life

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Meet the 8-year-old Mumbai boy who brought young Sachin to life

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