Gagan Malik’s new role in life
Gagan Malik exudes an almost regal aura as he greets us at the Cinnamon Lakeside lobby after a hearty Sri Lankan breakfast. The handsome, six foot tall actor is dressed in a rich emerald-hued kurta and looks as if he had stepped straight out of an Indian epic.
A devout Buddhist – he discovered Buddhism when he came over to play the Buddha in the film Sri Siddhartha Gautama in 2013, he is here this time with the initial batch of pilgrims from India he is taking to see our ruined cities and Buddhist shrines. He is also now busy with the Gagan Malik Foundation which aims to propagate Buddhism, help the needy, and foster Buddhist ties between India and Lanka.
Gagan Malik: Back in Sri Lanka which has a special place in his heart. Pic by Priyanka Samaraweera
Curiously, as a child in Delhi, Gagan was the follower of Rama, playing the part of the Hindu god in the annual Dussehra festival when people gather to celebrate the triumph of good over evil and Rama’s victory over the ‘demon king’ Ravana.
Growing up in a business family, Gagan went into modelling and made his name with the classic TV series Ramayan where he played Ram. His first “stellar moment” he recalls was when he was mobbed by fans when they took a break after three long months in dusty Gujarat, where all shooting happened, to go to a mall.
As often happens in India, Gagan was hero-worshipped because he played Ram. He was called Prabhu (lord) on the set even by his fellow actors, and the response was overwhelming from viewers from many parts of the globe. It was all very intoxicating, he admits, but also a responsibility to act always in a behoving manner.
It was with Sri Siddhartha Gautama however that Gagan was to reach the pivot point. It made him pick up the book Old Path White Clouds by Thich Nhat Hanh- a biography of the Buddha just as cursory prep. It was to upend his life.
Talking about the lessons of impermanence and the path to nirvana he found in the pages describing the Teacher and the doctrine, he says, “Here was the treasure; the real, the practical, the easy to understand; maybe not easy to follow- but easy to understand…”
“It changed my mind 360 degrees. The beauty I exult in now and fame – all this will go away. What I’m happy about now – my car, my house, my fame, all this is not happiness, it is suffering.”
His primary goal in life thus became to propagate Buddhism, to pass on the ‘treasure’ of wisdom.
Gagan, who formally became a Buddhist in 2014 on a Poson poya day at Mihintale, says his parents (especially his devout Hindu mother who wrote the name Ram ‘two crore times’ in her diary) were actually delighted when he announced his decision.
“They told me ‘Gagan, learn Buddhism in depth so we also can (learn from you)’.”
Asked how Buddhism transformed his life, Gagan says it makes one “loving, compassionate, calm, intelligent – and most importantly mindful.” He recalls a Zen story by Thich Nhat Hanh which points out how a stone thrown into a river will be submerged, but if you fill a boat with a hundred stones, none of them will drown.
“The ‘stones’ are the sufferings, the struggles we face and ‘the boat’ is mindfulness. If you are mindful in every moment of your life, you will never drown but float freely and have the power to face suffering.”
In 2022 he withstood the austerities of monkhood for four months in Thailand but his career as an actor demands much of his time now with three new productions in the offing; a TV series titled Kashi Vishwanath on the life of Lord Shiva; a documentary shot in Thailand on his own quest charting through the eddies of life to find a mooring-post in Dhamma; and the much-awaited second part of the film Sri Siddhartha Gautama.
The Gagan Malik Foundation, meanwhile, is on its own ‘yatra’ fostering the education of needy children and helping the handicapped. Central is Gagan’s belief that every true Buddhist must propagate the religion, and as Sri Lanka has a very special place in his heart (the place where he discovered Buddhism) he wants to foster ties between the two countries.
With the producer of Sri Siddhartha Gautama, Navin Gooneratne, ‘Navin sir’ to whom Gagan says he will always be indebted (having chosen him for the role of Siddhartha) he is also planning a cultural exchange between the two countries. Here in Sri Lanka, Samanmali Ratnayake has been another stalwart who has stood by him since that fateful day at Mihintale where he became a Buddhist.
Gagan lives in his native Delhi with wife Pooja and enjoys playing first class cricket back home.
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