Ashutosh Rana: Asked makers why they didn’t consider me for titular role

Wersquove often seen him as the tormenting antagonist on screen but having a conversation with the man who makes acting look like childrsquos play was a first On hearing Ashutosh Ranarsquos passion for his craft and the work he puts in to portray a character it made us wonder why we donrsquot see him more often on screen For now though the actor is only too happy to tell the story of Maharaja of Bundelkhand with MXPlayerrsquos Chhatrasal Rana talks about his love for history and portraying Aurangzeb despite being a ldquobhaktrdquo of the King of BundelkhandEdited excerpts from the interviewThis is your first web series Did you have any inhibitions before making your debutNot in the least I hail from Bundelkhand and if a series is being made on the King of Bundelkhand it was my desire to be part of that narrative It was a moment of pride and joy for me Some things that you love come to you much later in life After this series I am sure I will be offered more historical projectsWe hear that you had wished to play the titular roleOf course I am a bhakt of Maharaja Chhatrasal Bundela so I asked the makers why they didnrsquot consider me for that part In turn they asked me who would then play Aurangzeb On hearing this I fell silent In his lifetime the King of Bundelkhand ruled for 44 years and won 56 wars He then challenged Aurangzeb and freed Bundelkhand from his grip A hero emerges when he wins against a villain who is bigger and more powerful than him Thatrsquos what Maharaja Chhatrasal accomplished all his life It wouldrsquove been a delight to play such a phenomenal character but it is equally amazing to play AurangzebHow did you desist from portraying Aurangzeb as all blackThere are few rulers with his combination of traits While he was a powerful ruler he had a Sufi style to him Though he lived in a palace he lived as a fakir in it Despite it all he has been the most powerful ruler of the Mughal empire Without moving from the throne of Delhi he controlled almost all of India We didnrsquot explore the humane side of him in this seriesWhy do you think there werenrsquot any shows made about Maharaja Chhatrasal until nowThis was mainly due to the language barrier Bundelkhandi is a language that is mainly spoken in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and is not a popular dialect beyond that region That said his name is not lost in history because several Hindi poets have written about his bravery I had read the works of Kavi Bhushan His feats are recorded in history but since we didnrsquot learn about him in our history textbooks we believe he didnrsquot exist We may know the name of our father grandfather and at times even our greatgrandfather but can we name the generation before that That doesnrsquot mean they didnrsquot existAs an actor do you have a line that you would never crossI cannot take my or someone elsersquos clothes off on screen In Dushman 1998 I played a rapist But my character Gokul Pandit did not touch Naina or Sonia Kajolrsquos characters If Irsquom able to convey the fear of rape without touching I have achieved the goal Aesthetics is key even to showcase some of the most horrific acts Instead of being wild on screen I strive to create a wild imagination which is more impactful That is why people still remember me from Dushman and Sangharsh 1999 I play negative characters but with a positive attitudeAlso Read Witness the tale of Bundelkhandrsquos Warrior King with lsquoChhatrasalrsquo