Duryodhana Turns Into Jarasandh

Turning the clock back 22 years to those days of good versus evil,battlefields and betrayal,actor Puneet Issar,who

essayed the evil character,says,“People would wake up early,take a bath,wipe off the dust settled over the week on their

television sets and sit on the floor before the telecast started — with their heads covered and shoes off. Mahabharata,for them,was a sort of direct connection with their gods and perhaps,it still is.”

After Mahabharata,Issar went on to direct Hema Malini’s television serial Jai Mata Ki in 2001 and also played Ravana down South. Now,he returns to the small screen as Jarasandh in Imagine’s Dwarkadheesh: Bhagwaan Shree Krishn . “The makers were looking for someone with a powerful personality and voice,” he says. He is also wrapping up his film I Am Singh,which releases in September.

“I find the character of Jarasandh,the King of Magadha,challenging since he was invincible. He was born half-and-half to two mothers,and both disowned him. Later,he was united as one whole human being by Jara (a demoness),and hence he was known as Jarasandh. Interestingly,the character has a dual personality — one aggressive and the other almost cowardly,” says Issar about his role.

He is aware that every other role he plays will be measured against Duryodhana of Mahabharata. “I remember once when we were in Jaipur,a rich Marwari family invited the whole crew for dinner. The ladies of the house were serving all of us. They would happily serve the actors who were playing Krishna,Karan,Arjun and the other Pandavas,but they would avoid me. When I asked them the reason,they said ‘you are dusht (evil),’” he says with a laugh.

He also narrates how a 70-year-old man once begged him to return the five villages to the Pandavas! “Such is the impact of mythology,and it’s good to be back,” he says as he signs off.