'Mahabharat': Nitish Bharadwaj reveals why he first rejected the role of Lord Krishna

Not many would have expected that Doordarshan, which was among the few channels once upon a time, and the most-watched too, would get the 'most-watched' title once again. However, thanks to shows like Ramayan and Mahabharat, the channel has witnessed a jump of 40,000 per cent in ratings within a few days. As much as viewers are enjoying the iconic shows, the stars of the show too have shot to the limelight once again.

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Ramayan’s Ram and Sita, played by Arun Govil and Dipika Chikhalia, and Mahabharat’s Krishna, played by Nitish Bharadwaj, have been some of those who’ve been basking in the success again. Bharadwaj recently even joined Instagram, where he received love for sharing videos of his experiences on the show.

The actor’s statements on interviews are also going viral. In one such interview with an entertainment portal, the actor opened up on how he was never too keen to play the role of Lord Krishna in the BR Chopra show.

He was quoted as saying that he was first cast in the role of Vidur, but he was replaced one fine day. Since he had worked with Ravi Chopra, he asked the reason and the director told him that it won’t suit him since Vidur gets old after some episodes and he was just only 23-24 at that time.

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The actor revealed that he was without a job after this, but then he was offered the part of Nakul. Nitish Bharadwaj said he refused the role because he was keen to play the role of Abhimanyu, and told Ravi Chopra about it. While the director agreed to consider it, he later offered Nitish Bhardwaj the role of Krishna.

However, he rejected that offer too, as he felt the role of a great man should not be done by a newcomer like him. The director told him to do a screen test, because he was keen to do a good role. The screen test went fine and he was cast as Lord Krishna and the rest, as they say, is history.

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Nitish Bhardwaj went to feature in numerous other serials and films after that, even in languages like Marathi. He was seen in films like Mohenjo Daro and Kedarnath in recent years. He was also a Member of Parliament in the late ‘90s.

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