Pankaj Dheer dies: Actor was offered Arjuna’s role in Mahabharat; BR Chopra threw him out after he refused to shave moustache

Pankaj Dheer dies: The actor became a household name for playing Karna in BR Chopra’s Mahabharat, but not many know that he was initially offered the role of Arjuna that he refused to do.

By: Entertainment Desk

Chennai | October 15, 2025 03:00 PM IST

3 min read

Pankaj Dheer dies at 68: He was thrown out of Mahabharat cast due to his stubbornness, but was later called back to play Karna.

Pankaj Dheer, best known for his iconic portrayal of Karna in BR Chopra’s Mahabharat, passed away on Wednesday after a long battle with cancer. He was 68. While Pankaj became a household name for playing Karna, not many know that he was initially offered the role of Arjuna. However, his stubbornness led BR Chopra to throw him out of his office — only to later call him back to play Karna.

In an old interaction with Lehren Retro, Pankaj had recalled the incident and shared how the makers loved his audition and offered him the role of Arjuna. He shared, “When I gave my audition, dialogue writers Rahi Masoom Raza, Bhring Tupkari sahab and Pandit Narendra Sharma ji had a panel together. They all thought that I would suit the role of Arjuna well. We shook hands on that and I signed the contract.”

The trouble started when BR Chopra asked Pankaj to shave off his moustache as he was required to play Brihannala (the eunuch form of Arjuna). “Then BR Chopra called me and told me that since I would also have to play the role of Brihannala (the eunuch form of Arjuna) and for that you would need to shave off your moustache.”

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Shaving off his moustache was unacceptable to Pankaj and his refusal rubbed BR Chopra the wrong way. “I was like, ‘No, I can’t do that.’ I told him that my face’s balance is such that if I shave off my moustache, I won’t look good. He told me, ‘Are you an actor or what? You are leaving such a big role because of a moustache. I can’t understand this.’”

Calling his stubbornness ‘stupidity,’ he said, “It was my big stupidity but at that time, I could understand only this much. Chopra sahab told me, ‘Get out of this door and don’t come back.’ He threw me out of his office. My contract was torn and for six months I kept roaming around and doing dubbing.”

But fate works in mysterious ways and Pankaj was called back by Chopra — this time to play the role of Karna, for which he would be known all his life. “Chopra sir called me again and this is what I call destiny. He asked me if I could do Karna’s role. I asked him, ‘Sir I don’t have to shave off my moustache right?’ He said no. It was destiny that I got Karna’s role. This history, people gave me so much love. In fact, in history books they have my face as Karna,” he said.

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