How much do we know about Mahatma Gandhi’s life as a five-year-old? The play Mohan’s Masala takes a look at the life of a young Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi before he became Mahatma Gandhi. “When you are working on a play about Gandhiji, a lot of material and data available about his life. However, even in his autobiography, just a few pages are dedicated to his life between age five and 22. Even from the little information available, I felt that those founding years were key to developing the qualities that led him to become the Mahatma,” reasons director Manoj Shah. “For instance, we began with his life in Porbandar. The writer Ishan Doshi and I looked at all events that took place in Porbandar during that time including the opening of a canal. These cross-references helped us develop the story.

Pratik Gandhi in scenes from Mohan Masala which feature paintings by artist Atul Dodiya as the backdrop