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Pankaj Dheer Reveals Why B.R. Chopra Kicked Him Out Of His Office In Anger | Arjun | Karna | Mahabharat
LehrenDotCom
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1/16/2025
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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00:00
There is a saying that if you want to play the role of Brahm Nalla, you have to shave your moustache.
00:05
I said, no sir, I won't shave my moustache.
00:07
He said, that's the door, get out of there and never come back here again.
00:10
Sagar sir made Ramayana and Chopra sir made Mahabharata.
00:13
The content was so good that people still remember it even after 40 years.
00:21
I didn't have any information. I was a boy from Bombay.
00:24
I was an English medium student. I didn't know a word of Sanskrit.
00:27
When the dialogue was given for the first time, I started sweating.
00:31
Many people may not know my real name.
00:33
But they will definitely say that this is Karan.
00:36
This impact is not there in today's date.
00:49
When Mahabharata sir was offered to you, you were given the role of Arjun.
00:54
You made that role because of the sprain.
00:58
When I gave my audition, Rahim Masoom Raza, who was a dialogue writer at that time,
01:06
Bhring Tupkari and Pandit Narendra Sharma ji, they all had a big panel.
01:12
They all thought that I will look very good as Arjun.
01:15
So they said, sir, you become Arjun.
01:17
We shook hands and became a contract.
01:19
I got all the praises.
01:21
In 2-3 months, I kept roaming around as Arjun in Bombay.
01:25
In the third month, Mr. Chopra called me to his office and said,
01:29
Mr. Bharkhodar, the thing is that if you want to play the role of Mr. Brannalla,
01:34
you will have to shave your moustache.
01:36
I said, sir, I can't do that.
01:38
He said, why?
01:40
I said, sir, my face balance is such that if I shave my moustache, it won't look good.
01:46
He said, are you an actor?
01:48
I said, no, sir, I won't shave my moustache.
01:54
He was very disappointed.
01:56
It was a big foolishness on my part.
02:00
As an actor, what is a moustache?
02:04
But at that time, I was understanding that.
02:07
He said, that's the door, get out of there and never come back.
02:10
He threw me out of the office.
02:12
As soon as I got out of the office, everyone started asking me,
02:16
what are you doing?
02:18
It's just a matter of 15-20 days and then you will get a moustache.
02:23
I said, no, I won't do it.
02:25
I was thrown out of the office for 6 months.
02:28
My contract was terminated.
02:30
I kept roaming around as Arjun in Bombay.
02:32
Then I kept dubbing.
02:34
Now, this is the destiny.
02:36
Mr. Chopra called me again and asked me to come to his office and play the role of Mr. Karan.
02:42
I said, sir, will I have to shave my moustache?
02:44
He said, no.
02:46
I said, sir, I will definitely do it.
02:48
It was my destiny to play the role of Karan.
02:51
And it's history.
02:53
Till date, people have given so much love that
02:57
the children's school books,
02:59
in which there is a chapter on Karan,
03:01
my face is shown.
03:03
What could be a bigger thing than this?
03:05
You were at the forefront of popularity at that time.
03:08
Yes.
03:09
When Mahabharata came,
03:11
I still remember,
03:13
there used to be a popularity poll in those days.
03:15
In that, Rajiv Gandhi,
03:17
Amitabh Bachchan,
03:19
my third name used to be there.
03:21
In the whole village,
03:23
if I go to any corner of India,
03:25
people used to love me a lot.
03:27
I have seen that time too.
03:29
It was great.
03:31
How do you see that era, sir?
03:33
Like the first Ramayan came,
03:35
it was seen on TV.
03:37
The two texts,
03:39
Ramayan and Mahabharata,
03:41
are the foundation of our cultural heritage.
03:46
It is the base of our culture.
03:48
If we talk about this country,
03:50
it was very important that
03:52
these texts come forward.
03:54
Films used to be made earlier.
03:56
But when Sagar sir made Ramayan
03:58
and Chopra sir made Mahabharata,
04:00
the content was so good
04:02
that even after 40 years,
04:04
people still remember it.
04:06
Many people may not know
04:08
my real name,
04:10
but they will definitely say
04:12
that it is Karan.
04:14
This impact is not there
04:16
in today's date.
04:18
Because it is difficult
04:20
to get this content.
04:22
And I will say that
04:24
our heritage,
04:26
our culture,
04:28
our history,
04:30
there are so many stories
04:32
in it.
04:34
Even today,
04:36
it can be world class.
04:38
But these days,
04:40
we are making strange shows.
04:42
No one understands what is happening.
04:44
I am not complaining.
04:46
But the environment is strange.
04:48
Yes.
04:50
The environment of TV has become
04:52
very bad.
04:54
OTT had come.
04:56
I thought it would be good.
04:59
But there is no need
05:01
to make a scene
05:03
where people abuse each other.
05:05
When you were playing
05:07
the character of Karan,
05:09
did you have that much
05:11
knowledge about him?
05:13
Or did you realize
05:15
later that this character
05:17
is the most powerful?
05:19
No, I didn't have that much knowledge.
05:21
I was a boy from Bombay.
05:23
I was a student of English medium.
05:25
I didn't know a word of Sanskrit.
05:27
When I was given a dialogue
05:29
for the first time,
05:31
I started sweating.
05:33
I went to Mr. Rai.
05:35
He asked me
05:37
to read the Hindi paper
05:39
of Bharat Times.
05:41
He asked me to read it
05:43
so that I could
05:45
practice the words.
05:47
I started reading it.
05:49
There were some books
05:51
like Rashmi Rathee
05:53
and
05:55
Mrityunjaya
05:57
of Shivaji Sawant.
05:59
He asked me to read it.
06:01
I read it.
06:03
After reading it,
06:05
I thought
06:07
that
06:09
now I have to paint
06:11
the character.
06:13
How will he walk?
06:15
How will he stand?
06:17
How will he sit among people?
06:19
How will he talk?
06:21
We had
06:23
no abs.
06:25
There were no
06:27
gyms in those days.
06:29
We used to go
06:31
to the wrestling arenas.
06:33
You might not have noticed
06:35
a couple of things.
06:37
If you watch Mahabharat,
06:39
I have never
06:41
shown my face
06:43
when I played the role of Karan.
06:45
One of the reasons was that
06:47
Karan was the son of a rich man.
06:49
He belonged to a low caste.
06:51
If he sat among the kings,
06:53
he would be very conscious.
06:55
If he was conscious,
06:57
he would not blink.
06:59
It was a very impactful
07:01
physical thing for me
07:03
as an actor.
07:05
On the other hand,
07:07
there were very loud characters
07:09
like Duryodhan and Shaguni.
07:11
They used to shout so loudly
07:13
that I thought
07:15
that if I also shout,
07:17
it will become a market.
07:20
By underplaying,
07:22
the role became popular
07:24
and people started
07:26
sympathizing with me.
07:28
I did such things
07:30
on my own.
07:32
I can very proudly say
07:34
that it was my contribution
07:36
as an actor.
07:38
You played the character
07:40
with great intensity
07:42
and people loved it.
07:44
It is said that when
07:46
the scene of Karan's death was
07:48
shot, you were also
07:50
invited to MP.
07:52
How did it happen?
07:54
When Karan's character
07:56
was about to die,
07:58
the Chief Minister
08:00
of Madhya Pradesh,
08:02
Arjun Singh,
08:04
desperately called
08:06
Mr. Chopra
08:08
and asked him
08:10
where Karan was.
08:12
He said that
08:14
he was in Bastar district
08:16
of Madhya Pradesh
08:18
where Adivasis live.
08:20
He had to send Karan there.
08:22
I was sent to Bhopal
08:24
by helicopter.
08:26
When I reached there,
08:28
I saw that
08:30
at least 5000-7000 people
08:32
were lying on the ground
08:34
and everyone cut their hair.
08:36
Karan died.
08:38
I was shivering
08:40
thinking that
08:42
this also happens in our country.
08:44
At that time,
08:46
they weighed me in silver
08:48
and asked me
08:50
to keep looking at him.
08:52
I said that I am fine.
08:54
He died in a serial.
08:56
You can watch it.
08:58
He calmed down again.
09:00
These are the things
09:02
that happened in those days.
09:04
Karan also built a temple
09:06
in some places.
09:08
Yes, he built a temple.
09:10
When something works,
09:12
a lot of things get connected.
09:14
But
09:16
that was a time.
09:18
Now this is also a time.
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