00:00There is a saying that if you want to play the role of Brahm Nalla, you have to shave your moustache.
00:05I said, no sir, I won't shave my moustache.
00:07He said, that's the door, get out of there and never come back here again.
00:10Sagar sir made Ramayana and Chopra sir made Mahabharata.
00:13The content was so good that people still remember it even after 40 years.
00:21I didn't have any information. I was a boy from Bombay.
00:24I was an English medium student. I didn't know a word of Sanskrit.
00:27When the dialogue was given for the first time, I started sweating.
00:31Many people may not know my real name.
00:33But they will definitely say that this is Karan.
00:36This impact is not there in today's date.
00:49When Mahabharata sir was offered to you, you were given the role of Arjun.
00:54You made that role because of the sprain.
00:58When I gave my audition, Rahim Masoom Raza, who was a dialogue writer at that time,
01:06Bhring Tupkari and Pandit Narendra Sharma ji, they all had a big panel.
01:12They all thought that I will look very good as Arjun.
01:15So they said, sir, you become Arjun.
01:17We shook hands and became a contract.
01:19I got all the praises.
01:21In 2-3 months, I kept roaming around as Arjun in Bombay.
01:25In the third month, Mr. Chopra called me to his office and said,
01:29Mr. Bharkhodar, the thing is that if you want to play the role of Mr. Brannalla,
01:34you will have to shave your moustache.
01:36I said, sir, I can't do that.
01:38He said, why?
01:40I said, sir, my face balance is such that if I shave my moustache, it won't look good.
01:46He said, are you an actor?
01:48I said, no, sir, I won't shave my moustache.
01:54He was very disappointed.
01:56It was a big foolishness on my part.
02:00As an actor, what is a moustache?
02:04But at that time, I was understanding that.
02:07He said, that's the door, get out of there and never come back.
02:10He threw me out of the office.
02:12As soon as I got out of the office, everyone started asking me,
02:16what are you doing?
02:18It's just a matter of 15-20 days and then you will get a moustache.
02:23I said, no, I won't do it.
02:25I was thrown out of the office for 6 months.
02:28My contract was terminated.
02:30I kept roaming around as Arjun in Bombay.
02:32Then I kept dubbing.
02:34Now, this is the destiny.
02:36Mr. Chopra called me again and asked me to come to his office and play the role of Mr. Karan.
02:42I said, sir, will I have to shave my moustache?
02:44He said, no.
02:46I said, sir, I will definitely do it.
02:48It was my destiny to play the role of Karan.
02:51And it's history.
02:53Till date, people have given so much love that
02:57the children's school books,
02:59in which there is a chapter on Karan,
03:01my face is shown.
03:03What could be a bigger thing than this?
03:05You were at the forefront of popularity at that time.
03:08Yes.
03:09When Mahabharata came,
03:11I still remember,
03:13there used to be a popularity poll in those days.
03:15In that, Rajiv Gandhi,
03:17Amitabh Bachchan,
03:19my third name used to be there.
03:21In the whole village,
03:23if I go to any corner of India,
03:25people used to love me a lot.
03:27I have seen that time too.
03:29It was great.
03:31How do you see that era, sir?
03:33Like the first Ramayan came,
03:35it was seen on TV.
03:37The two texts,
03:39Ramayan and Mahabharata,
03:41are the foundation of our cultural heritage.
03:46It is the base of our culture.
03:48If we talk about this country,
03:50it was very important that
03:52these texts come forward.
03:54Films used to be made earlier.
03:56But when Sagar sir made Ramayan
03:58and Chopra sir made Mahabharata,
04:00the content was so good
04:02that even after 40 years,
04:04people still remember it.
04:06Many people may not know
04:08my real name,
04:10but they will definitely say
04:12that it is Karan.
04:14This impact is not there
04:16in today's date.
04:18Because it is difficult
04:20to get this content.
04:22And I will say that
04:24our heritage,
04:26our culture,
04:28our history,
04:30there are so many stories
04:32in it.
04:34Even today,
04:36it can be world class.
04:38But these days,
04:40we are making strange shows.
04:42No one understands what is happening.
04:44I am not complaining.
04:46But the environment is strange.
04:48Yes.
04:50The environment of TV has become
04:52very bad.
04:54OTT had come.
04:56I thought it would be good.
04:59But there is no need
05:01to make a scene
05:03where people abuse each other.
05:05When you were playing
05:07the character of Karan,
05:09did you have that much
05:11knowledge about him?
05:13Or did you realize
05:15later that this character
05:17is the most powerful?
05:19No, I didn't have that much knowledge.
05:21I was a boy from Bombay.
05:23I was a student of English medium.
05:25I didn't know a word of Sanskrit.
05:27When I was given a dialogue
05:29for the first time,
05:31I started sweating.
05:33I went to Mr. Rai.
05:35He asked me
05:37to read the Hindi paper
05:39of Bharat Times.
05:41He asked me to read it
05:43so that I could
05:45practice the words.
05:47I started reading it.
05:49There were some books
05:51like Rashmi Rathee
05:53and
05:55Mrityunjaya
05:57of Shivaji Sawant.
05:59He asked me to read it.
06:01I read it.
06:03After reading it,
06:05I thought
06:07that
06:09now I have to paint
06:11the character.
06:13How will he walk?
06:15How will he stand?
06:17How will he sit among people?
06:19How will he talk?
06:21We had
06:23no abs.
06:25There were no
06:27gyms in those days.
06:29We used to go
06:31to the wrestling arenas.
06:33You might not have noticed
06:35a couple of things.
06:37If you watch Mahabharat,
06:39I have never
06:41shown my face
06:43when I played the role of Karan.
06:45One of the reasons was that
06:47Karan was the son of a rich man.
06:49He belonged to a low caste.
06:51If he sat among the kings,
06:53he would be very conscious.
06:55If he was conscious,
06:57he would not blink.
06:59It was a very impactful
07:01physical thing for me
07:03as an actor.
07:05On the other hand,
07:07there were very loud characters
07:09like Duryodhan and Shaguni.
07:11They used to shout so loudly
07:13that I thought
07:15that if I also shout,
07:17it will become a market.
07:20By underplaying,
07:22the role became popular
07:24and people started
07:26sympathizing with me.
07:28I did such things
07:30on my own.
07:32I can very proudly say
07:34that it was my contribution
07:36as an actor.
07:38You played the character
07:40with great intensity
07:42and people loved it.
07:44It is said that when
07:46the scene of Karan's death was
07:48shot, you were also
07:50invited to MP.
07:52How did it happen?
07:54When Karan's character
07:56was about to die,
07:58the Chief Minister
08:00of Madhya Pradesh,
08:02Arjun Singh,
08:04desperately called
08:06Mr. Chopra
08:08and asked him
08:10where Karan was.
08:12He said that
08:14he was in Bastar district
08:16of Madhya Pradesh
08:18where Adivasis live.
08:20He had to send Karan there.
08:22I was sent to Bhopal
08:24by helicopter.
08:26When I reached there,
08:28I saw that
08:30at least 5000-7000 people
08:32were lying on the ground
08:34and everyone cut their hair.
08:36Karan died.
08:38I was shivering
08:40thinking that
08:42this also happens in our country.
08:44At that time,
08:46they weighed me in silver
08:48and asked me
08:50to keep looking at him.
08:52I said that I am fine.
08:54He died in a serial.
08:56You can watch it.
08:58He calmed down again.
09:00These are the things
09:02that happened in those days.
09:04Karan also built a temple
09:06in some places.
09:08Yes, he built a temple.
09:10When something works,
09:12a lot of things get connected.
09:14But
09:16that was a time.
09:18Now this is also a time.
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