B’Day Special: These giants were also in line to become Krishna of ‘Mahabharata’, but the producers were blown away by Nitish Bhardwaj’s smile

Nitish Bhardwaj is the name of the cine world, on hearing about which the first attention goes towards the iconic mythological show ‘Mahabharat’. Nitish Bhardwara got a lot of popularity from this show of BR Chopra. Nitish Bhardwaj has also shared many anecdotes related to his character of Shri Krishna in his interviews that when he used to come out after the shoot of Mahabharata or after it was over, people used to express such feelings after seeing him as if he is Lord Shri Krishna…

Today is Nitish Bhardwaj’s birthday. On the occasion of his birthday, we will share with you how Nitish Bhardwaj got the character of Shri Krishna in Mahabharata. In one of his interviews to Hindustan Times, Nitish once told that in fact, he did not want to do the role of Shri Krishna, because he was afraid of the screen test. He was offered the role of Vidur before this character.

The story from Vidur to the role of Shri Krishna

He had told that when I was first cast as Vidur, I was called to shoot at Seth Studio. I was in the makeup room. Virendra Razdan came in costume and said that he is playing the character of Vidur. I told him how can you do the role of Vidur? He has called me for a shoot. Virendra told me look at me, I am wearing a dress and going to give my shot.

After that I went inside to meet Ravi ji, because we already knew each other and we had done two ad films together. He (Ravi Chopra) asked me to wait till my lunch was over. After having lunch he told me that you are 23 to 24 years old. Vidur has to look old after a few episodes. He won’t look right on you. Hearing this, his hopes were shattered.

After this Nitish got a chance to be a part of Mahabharata once again. This time he was offered the role of Nakul and Sahdev, but he declined, as he was interested in the character of Abhimanyu. At that time Nitish was not completely unemployed. In those days he was also working in Marathi and Hindi films. BR Chopra persuaded Nitish a lot to play the role of Nakul or Sahdev, but he did not agree.

About 55 actors gave a screen test

The casting was going on that in the meantime Nitish was offered the role of Shri Krishna, but he refused saying that the producers needed an experienced artist for this. In fact, in a later report, he had told that he did not want to give a screen test, so he did not play the role of Krishna. After Nitish refused, about 55 actors gave a screen test. It also featured Gajendra Chauhan, who later played Yudhishthira. Apart from Gajendra, Rishabh Shukla also gave a screen test for the role of Shri Krishna, but he too was not selected. However, he got a chance to play the role of Shantanu.

When none was found, Ravi Chopra again approached Nitish Bhardwaj and asked him to give a screen test once. He told Nitish that if you want a good character, you will have to give a screen test once. After this Nitish gave a screen test and he got the role of Shri Krishna. Actually, he got this role because Ravi Chopra was impressed by his smile. Ravi Chopra felt that this smile of his would suit the person playing the role of Shri Krishna.