Playing a lawyer on Guilty Minds felt close to home, says Pranay Pachauri

Pranay Pachauri didn’t have to look far for inspiration while preparing for his role as a lawyer, Shubhrat Khanna, in Amazon Prime Video's upcoming series Guilt Minds (2022). The actor comes from a family of legal practitioners.

In the legal drama, the young actor’s character is a sharp attorney, who is very driven, ambitious and protective of his family’s legacy. He stars alongside Shriya Pilganokar and Varun Mitra and other artistes Namrata Sheth, Sugandha Garg, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Satish Kaushik, who make up the cast of Guilty Minds.

Guilty Minds trailer: Two young lawyers usually find themselves on opposite sides of the law

Speaking about how he landed the part, Pachauri said, “I got a call from [casting director] Gautam Kishanchandani sir’s office for the audition and I had only a couple of hours to prepare. It was pretty much spontaneous and I was instantly chosen to play Shubhrat Khanna.”

He revealed, “My maternal and paternal grandparents are lawyers, and law seems to be pretty much in my genes; it felt close to home. It was equally challenging yet fun to play this character on screen. I did to some extent grow up in a family surrounded by lawyers, so I was well acquainted with the mannerisms.”

The courtroom drama has been created and directed by Shefali Bhushan and co-directed by Jayant Digambar. The young actor opened up about his learning experience on the set of Guilty Minds. “Shefali ma’am and Jayant sir have been my mentors,” he said. “I had a lot within me for this role and they brought it out effortlessly. The role feels almost like following in my family’s footsteps.

“Somewhere deep down they perhaps wanted me to be a lawyer; the universe has a strange way of manifesting deep desires,” he continued. “I think I have grown as an actor and as a person as well after this experience. Actors, I believe, are given many more opportunities to grow because you draw and internalize so much from your characters. It's a unique profession in more than ways you can imagine.”

Guilty Minds will be premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 22 April.