Actor Mukesh Khanna, who remains best known for playing Bhishma on the popular television adaptation of the Mahabharat, and the titular character on the superhero show Shaktimaan, spoke poorly about his co-stars on the mythological drama series, which aired on Doordarshan for nearly 100 episodes. Mahabharat ran from 1988 to 1990, and was created by BR Chopra, who also directed the series alongside his son, Ravi Chopra. Mahabharat debuted a year after Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan. In a new interview, Mukesh Khanna said that his Mahabharat co-stars were mostly ‘chhichhoras’, and recalled that Ravi Chopra once declared that a man’s worth should be gauged on the number of affairs he has had.
Appearing on the VTV Gujarat YouTube channel, he said that Indian culture is being eroded. Speaking about adultery and a lack of commitment in relationships, he continued, “I am more comfortable with my work than with affairs. I still remember something that Ravi Chopra said… I laugh about it, I’m not bothered by it… The entire cast of Mahabharat, forgive me, was filled with ‘chhichhoras’. Arjun, Duryodhan, you name them… I was the odd one out. Ravi Chopra would say, ‘The man who has the most affairs is a real man’. The number of affairs you have doesn’t define you as a man. A real man is someone who takes care of his family.”
He said that the team behind the show gradually understood that he wasn’t going to align with their views. He continued, “A Gujarati actress who worked on Mahabharat was once asked about her co-stars, and she said, ‘Mukesh Khanna is a prince among frogs’.”
He was then asked about the final day of filming, when the cast broke down in tears and hugged each other. Behind-the-scenes visuals from set have been circulated online. Mukesh Khanna mocked actors Nitish Bharadwaj and Firoz Khan for weeping on set, and said, “You can see in the video as well that I am keeping my distance. They were crying and wiping each other’s tears, but I was amused. My shoot had ended a little earlier…” But he admitted that everyone was emotional because the experience had forged a bond between them.
Previously, Mukesh had declined to appear on a Mahabharat reunion episode of Kapil Sharma’s show. He has had beef with both Kapil, who slighted him at an event, and with Yudhishtir actor Gajendra Chauhan, with whom he has had a public war of words in the past. “Bhishma Pitamah ke bina Mahabharat kahaan hoti hai? (Mahabharat is incomplete without Bhishma Pitamah). Arjun, Krishna, Duryodhana went, everybody went. Yudhistira also went and somewhere he gave a statement that, ‘Mukesh ji ko toh bulaya hi nahi tha (Mukesh ji was not invited), they needed people who have a sense of humour,’ I said, ‘Oye, when these cricketers come, are they asked if they have a sense of humour? They are treated as VIPs, as if they have done someone a favour by appearing on his show,” he told Siddharth Kannan.
