Pankaj Dheer reveals BR Chopra kicked him out of Mahabharat after he refused to shave his moustache for Arjuna’s role

Veteran actor Pankaj Dheer, who played the role of Karna in BR Chopra’s 1988 television series Mahabharat, shared an interesting anecdote about the iconic TV series and revealed how BR Chopra asked him to ‘get out’ of his office after he refused to shave off his moustache to play the role Arjuna in the show. Pankaj shared that he was the first choice to play Arjuna’s role but was kicked out of the show after he refused to shave off his moustache for the role.

Speaking to Lehren Retro, Pankaj recalled the incident and said, “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. 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. 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.'”

Pankaj admitted that giving up Arjuna’s role for a moustache was ‘stupidity’ but destiny had other plans for the actor. He went on to say, “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. 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.”

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Mahabharat along with Ramayan (1987), became one of the most successful television series based on an epic in Indian television history. Pankaj Dheer received immense popularity by playing the role of Karna. His pictures were even used in textbooks as reference to Karna.