Mahabharat's Pankaj Dheer talks about Karna; says 'I played it with massive restraint'

Recently, BR Chopra's Mahabharat actor Pankaj Dheer, who played Karna, opened up about his character and how he got into the skin of it. In his interview with a leading news portal, he shared the preparation of Karna in detail. While talking about the show, he also revealed an interesting anecdote from the shooting days of Mahabharat.

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Pankaj Dheer talks about Karna and Mahabharat

Interestingly, Pankaj Dheer said that he essayed the character of Karna with massive restraint that worked out for him. Elaborating about the same, he added that Karna had two dramatic characters, Duryodhan and Shakuni, and between them, if he would be melodramatic, it would be odd. And, that's why he underplayed Karna. Adding further, he said that there was a healthy competition on the sets of Mahabharat. 

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As the conversation progressed, Pankaj Dheer spoke about the preparation of Karna. He said that the team of Mahabharat did not have any reference for Karna. He added that there was only one film that was made on Mahabharat before the series was shot, and in the two-hour film an inconsequential actor played Karna. So, how would Karna walk, talk or sit, was something they did not know, added the 63-year-old actor. All these things were discovered by Pankaj as an actor using his intellect. 

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Recalling the shooting days, Pankaj Dheer talked about how the character Samay was created. While spilling the beans, he said that it was Dr Rahi Masoom Raza, the writer of Mahabharat, who took the call. The makers were considering a lot of other actors as the narrator, but they could not decide on whether to have a narrator in the physical form. And later, Rahi Masson Raza came up with the idea of Samay (time) as the narrator and it played the trump card. Calling it a great idea he concluded saying that it was a brilliant move to have an interesting voice play the role of time.

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For the unversed, Mahabharat is a TV series based on the ancient Sanskrit epic of the same name. The series started its run in 1988 on Doordarshan. It was bankrolled by B R Chopra, and his son Ravi Chopra donned the hat of the director. Reportedly, it is one of the most successful series ever produced for television. After the announcement of the nationwide lockdown, Doordarshan announced the re-run of Mahabharat and in May 2020, the series completed its run. But, on public demand, it started re-airing again on Colors TV.