In an exclusive interview with Lehren, Pankaj Dheer opens up about the incident when B.R. Chopra angrily kicked him out of his office. Watch the video to discover the full story behind this unforgettable moment.#pankajdheer #mahabharat #karna #arjun
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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.