Mukesh Khanna claims Pankaj Dheer never read ‘real’ Mahabharat: ‘I used to call him convent Pandav’

Speaking about Mahabharat days, Mukesh admitted that he was interested in playing the Karna role that eventually went to Pankaj. “I had initially thought that I would play the role of Karna or Arjun, but God left me to play Bhishma where I saw ‘Ayushman Bhava’ all the time and I am living with that image till now, and then Pankaj came in front of me with the role of Karna.”

Recalling how Pankaj began his career as an AD on the sets of his debut film, Mukesh said, “Pankaj Dheer began his career as an assistant director on my first film Roohi, earning just Rs 300 a month at the time as an assistant director. I remember him working very honestly and energetically on set of the film. His way of speaking was also very good, he spoke in a very stylised way. I worked with him again in Saugandh and Pandav. He used to call me MK, he loved food and he spoke very nicely. He also dressed very well.”

Mukesh shared that despite Pankaj’s father being from the film industry, the actor went through a lot of hardships. “Although his father was also associated with the film industry, Pankaj has struggled in the industry. He faced many hardships,” he said, adding, “Over time, many of our Mahabharat co-stars — like Gufi Paintal (Shakuni) and Praveen Kumar (Bheem) — have passed away. And now, Pankaj Dheer too.”

Mukesh also said that Pankaj never read the real Mahabharat. “The most remarkable thing was that he had never actually read the Mahabharat.” He went on to say, “He hadn’t read the real Mahabharat, he had read Mrityunjay, which was from the point of view of Karna. So, he found many scenes missing in the BR Chopra’s Mahabharat according to what he had read. He often felt like he didn’t get this scene or that scene.” He added, “I used jokingly call him convent Pandav because he hadn’t read the real Mahabharat. But his performance was so brilliant.”