Janmashtami Exclusive: Nitish Bharadwaj on playing Lord Krishna in ‘Mahabharat’

When we think of Lord Krishnarsquos portrayal on the screen our mind instantly comes up with the image of renowned actor Nitish Bharadwaj in BR Choprarsquos lsquoMahabharatrsquo On Janmashtami 2024 the thespian speaks exclusively to Middaycom on taking up the iconic role his stance on the current outrage around womenrsquos safety and morePlaying Lord Krishna in MahabharatNitish recalls that it was Ravi Chopra who believed that he had the necessary elements of the deity to perform the role It was he and writer Rahi Masoom Raza who insisted that Nitish do a screen test after which he was immediately selected Sharing an interesting anecdote from the sets the actor reveals ldquoI remember the day Roopa Ganguly walked onto the set most actors on the set had decided to impress this gorgeous lady as she was already a heartthrob of young men I was sitting in one corner reading the scene but after exchanging pleasantries with those actors she straight walked up to me and said that she wanted to discuss the KrishnaDraupadi relationship with me which she had read in a Bengali book titled PanchaJanyo That day I saw many actors spewing angry gazes at me We discussed the topic the whole day but there we made a strong and healthy bond of SakhaSakhi relationship We are good friends even todayrdquoGetting into the character was more than just a dressup game for Nitish He maintains ldquoTransforming into Lord Krishna is not only wearing clothes it is a much deeper understanding of what he stood for and I am still learning to be like him from my own life experiences Life is putting me through such strong ups and downs that I seek refuge in his Geeta philosophy and am trying to celebrate every emotion that life throws at memdashboth happy and sad Krishna celebrated life as Utsav I am learning to do so with detachment from both happiness and sorrowrdquoIf Lord Krishna came to every womanrsquos aid todayhellipAmid the ongoing outrage following the horrific rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata sexual assault of minors in Badlapur Maharashtra Nitish says ldquoI feel shameful to call myself a lsquopurushrsquo man Gods and goddesses gave physical strength to men over women generally to protect the weak and needy but the recent two barbaric incidents force me to say Ban social media for 10 years it is only inciting the lsquovikritirsquo or perversion in man Bring back stronger punishments like in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharajrsquos laws Barbaricsounding punishments for barbaric crimes Shivaji Maharaj once cut off the hands and limbs of a rapist Such demons donrsquot deserve mercy and democratic merciful laws Such strong punishments given publicly will instill fear in more perverted criminals before they victimize a woman or a child Start one year of compulsory military education for all citizens at the age of 15 everyone irrespective of whether they are in schools or notrdquoMessage for fans on Janmashtami 2024Nitish explains that our country is going through an extremely tumultuous time from the points of view of religious uprisings economy geopolitics of the Indian subcontinent foreign powers working to defeat our rise as a nation and the overall ageold tradition of spreading world peace Herersquos what he expects from his fans and followers ldquoIt is not enough to watch the serial be fans of Lord RamKrishna and take selfies with me Todayrsquos youth must understand what Krishna stood for he was a social reformer political maverick and a great spiritual master who left the legacy of the Bhagavad Gita which is a timeless philosophy to help us become human beings but also fight the evil if and when required The Gita is the ultimate book of nondual Vedanta philosophy which the youth should learn from the age of 12ndash13 so that they make better decisions to steer their lives to prosperity balanced with inner joy satisfaction and peacerdquo