Nikitin Dheer: Couldn’t have asked for a better Lanka

With his imposing build and mild manners Nikitin Dheer is the classic example of a gentle giant Since his Chennai Express 2013 days the actor has been trying to break away from negative roles He hopes that some day directors will look past the surface and cast him in a romantic role For now Dheer is set to play Raavan on Sony TVrsquos upcoming show Shrimad Ramayan In conversation with midday the actor talks about the multiple interpretations of the Ramayana on screen how he manifested the role and moreEdited excerpts from the interviewThe Ramayana has been explored umpteen times on screen Why take up Shrimad RamayanThatrsquos exactly what I asked Siddharth Kumar Tewary producer when he offered me the role Over 25 actors have portrayed the character of Raavan on television movies and OTT Wersquove even seen some distasteful interpretations of the Ramayana He explained that despite so many versions even today people remember Ramanand Sagarrsquos Ramayan 1987 The idea was to bring forth the story so that the youth can connect with it in 2024 The show will also be streamed on the app thus it will be there for posterityWhat is unique about Raavanrsquos character in the showFrom what Irsquove observed in the earlier versions of Ramayana including Ramanand Sagarrsquos every character was unidimensional They were either good or bad especially Raavan In Shrimad Ramayan we show Raavan at a much earlier stage While people may have heard stories about his journey most have not experienced it on screen The role is multidimensionalSujoy Reu as Ram Prachi Bansal as Sita Nirbhay Wadhwa as Lord Hanuman and Basant Bhatt as Lakshman in Shrimad RamayanDo you believe the new generation is interested in the RamayanaRamayana is history You will be surprised to know the number of youngsters who have an inclination towards knowing the history of India they are wellversed with Indian culture They are looking for the right kind of content to view Every year when Ram Leela plays happen during Navratri crores of people watch it Secondly new technology helps us present this in a spectacular way on television I think long after wersquore gone the Ramayana will be relevant just as it has been over thousands of yearsHow did you make your role distinct from all those who have essayed Raavan beforeI consider myself a small bhakt of Lord Shiva Raavan was also considered a devotee of Mahadev That intrigue led me to read up a lot on him way before I got the role I always prayed to get the opportunity to portray a role like Raavan Plus Irsquove wanted to get a tattoo of Mahadev for over 15 years Coincidentally I got one 15 days before the show was offered to me I felt itrsquos his blessing in a way Apart from what I read we followed writer Anand Neelakantanrsquos vision for the show His knowledge on the subject is vast We also have Vinod Sharma on board who is a mahapandit on Hindu history So whenever I had questions and I had quite a few of them I would turn to them Knowledge enables you to prepare better for a characterWhat kind of questions came to your mindI would question the scenes the reactions the when why and how of it all For example I asked them why the show was called Shrimad Ramayan The makers then told me that the first versions of the Ramayana as per shastra were narrated to Maa Parvati by Mahadev himself Since the retelling comes through him wersquove called the show Shrimad RamayanHow grand is the set especially Raavanrsquos chambersIn this genre Siddharth is the best in the business His and his teamrsquos passion is unparalleled Words fall short for me to explain what my mahal looks like The first day I saw it my jaw dropped seeing the expanse and the level of detail that has gone into making the show Itrsquos the best stimulus an actor needs to bring forth his character in all his glory I couldnrsquot have asked for a better Lanka for myself