On the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami, here's a look back at how, despite his selection for vidur, actor Nitish Bharadwaj was cast as Lord Krishna in BR Chopra's Mahabharat.
Many people associate Lord Krishna with Nitish Bharadwaj's face. When the part of Krishna in BR Chopra's renowned television programme Mahabharat was initially given to him, the veteran actor, who played Krishna in BR Chopra's iconic television show Mahabharat, turned it down. Here's a look back at the episode from the filming of the legendary TV programme on Krishna Janmashtami.
Bharadwaj was cast as Vidur at first, but he was replaced, and a lot happened after that. “I was cast as Vidur initially and was summoned to the Seth studios for the filming. Virendra Razdan walked over to me in the makeup area, dressed as Vidur, and said he was playing him. ‘How can you play Vidur?' I asked. They've asked me to join in the shoot.' I entered the building to meet Ravi ji (Ravi Chopra). ‘You're just 23-24,' he said. Vidur will be an elderly man in a few episodes. It isn't going to look right.' When Mahabharat was broadcast again during the epidemic in 2020, the actor commented, "I was jobless as far as Mahabharat was concerned.”
BR Chopra contacted Bharadwaj once more, this time to portray Nakul and Sahdev. However, the performer desired to play Abhimanyu. “I was familiar with the Mahabharat narrative and wanted to add something more. He asked me what I truly wanted to do before we packed up. “I told him I wanted to play Abhimanyu,” I said. BR Chopra told Bharadwaj that his team will consider his request.
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Lord Krishna's major part was eventually offered to Nitish Bharadwaj. He was shooting his second Marathi feature film in Kolhapur at the time, and he was gone for many days on an outside shoot. “When we used to come back to the hotel, we would only get messages via landlines.” He revealed that his mother had told him of Gufi Paintal's attempts to contact him. “They wanted to put me through a Krishna screening.”
Shakuni was also portrayed by Gufi Paintal, the casting director. “I urged my mum to say no because I didn't think I could do it. Bharadwaj said, "She used her wisdom and informed Gufi that I was filming in Kolhapur and that she would only be able to notify me about his offer when I returned.”
Upon his return, the actor did not contact BR Chopra and instead went on to his next project. But, as fate would have it, he subsequently ran across Chopra, who confronted him with declining his offer. “You need a more experienced individual, how can you have a new person playing the mahanayak (Krishna)?” I told him.
Bharadwaj agreed to “at least appear for the screen test” after being persuaded by BR Chopra, and ended up playing Lord Krishna for two years. Between 1988 and 1990, Doordarshan aired Mahabharat, which became one of the channel's most popular programmes.
Krishna Janmashtami, or simply Janmashtami, is a Hindu festival commemorating the birth of Lord Krishna, an avatar of Lord Vishnu, one of the sacred Hindu trinity's three gods, and one of his most important and beloved avatars. It is observed this year today, on Monday, August 30.
According to Indian mythology Lord Krishna was Lord Vishnu's eighth avatar, born in the Dvapara Yuga. Janmashtami is a significant Hindu festival celebrated in India and across the world, and the day itself is considered extremely auspicious.