While the rest of us are celebrating Navratri, Puneet Issar lords it on stage every year for nine days, and on Dussehra till Ravan Dahan, as Lankapati. In between hectic rehearsals, the actor opens up about his journey.
Excerpts from the interview:
When was the first time you played Ravan?
It was in 1992. After the successful run of BR Chopra’s epic serial Mahabharat on Doordarshan, I got a call one day from Hyderabad. A man in a soft-spoken voice introduced himself as Bapu Garu and told me that Usha Kiran Movies was making a devotional show titled Sri Bhagavatam on the 10 avatars of Vishnu and wanted me to play all the negative characters. When I realised he was my idol Bapu, the director of the 1976 Telugu mythological Seetha Kalyanam and the Hindi film Hum Paanch, I was overjoyed.
Over the next two years, I was among the first actors to shoot at Ramoji Rao Studio which was still being built, bringing to life Bapu sir’s vision. I played, among others, Jay and Vijay, gatekeepers of the Vaikuntha, who after being cursed are born as Hiraneyaksha and Hiranyakashipu in the Satya Yug, as Ravan and Kumbhakarna in Treta Yug, and Shishupal and Dantavakra at the end of the Dwapara Yug before being finally liberated.
Reportedly, BR Chopra had offered you the role of Bheem in his epic serial?
That’s right. After the unfortunate accident on the first day’s shoot of my debut film Coolie, which resulted in Amitji (Amitabh Bachchan) being gravely injured, I earned the reputation of a Black Belt martial arts fighter and was offered only inconsequential roles as the antagonist’s henchman. Even Palay Khan, in which I had a good role for a change, didn’t work, and 1982 to 1988, was a period of great churning and learning.
When I heard that Chopra saab was making Mahabharat and wanted actors who could give bulk dates, I figured this was my chance to break out of the rut and went to meet him.
At six-feet-three-inches, with a physique to match and a husky voice, I was immediately offered the role of Bheem. When I told him I had come to audition for the role of Duryodhan, his writer, Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza, exclaimed incredulously, “We are offering you the role of a hero and you want to play the villain!”
Siddharth Kannan Reveals How Pandemic Transformed His Career Path
And why did you want to play Duryodhan?
I had read the Mahabharat and while each character is distinct, I wanted to make a career as a villain. As Bheem, I would have been just one of the five Pandavas, as Duryodhan, I would be taking them all on.
Chopra saab cautioned me, saying, “Beta, as Duryodhan, you will have to act and deliver long dialogues too.” I knew Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s epic poem Rashmirathi and Maithili Sharan Gupt’s maha kavya Jayadrath Vadh verbatim. I recited verses from the latter, and impressing everyone present, ended up playing Duryodhan which made me a household name.
How different is Duryodhan from Ravan?
Duryodhan is an obstinate brat, kaan aur akal ka kachcha, who often reacts without thinking. He is venomous and vindictive with his cousins, but Karan ke liye jaan bhi haazir hai. Even after he is dead, when Yudhishtir sees him on the way to heaven and asks him to forget their enmity, he roars, “I’m waiting to be reborn so I can fight for my rights.”
Ravan, on the other hand, is a learned and wise man. He tore his veins to make the veena, got a boon from Shiva by cutting his head and presenting it to him, invented chess so he could play the game with his wife who always beat him. He was angry and arrogant too, but was never influenced by what others said. He consciously did what he thought was right, and while not repentant for having kidnapped Sita for his sister’s honour, regretted betraying her in the saffron robes of a rishi (mendicant) thereby breaking the trust people repose in mendicants. For committing this maha paap, he believed that death was his only punishment.
If you had to choose between the two, who would you opt to play?
It’s impossible to choose, I’ve played Duryodhan in Chopra saab’s Mahabharat and my play Mahabharat: An Epic Tale. I’m playing Ravan on stage in Jai Shri Ram. Both are uniquely different.
What can we learn from them in these turbulent times?
Ramayan shows us kya hona chahiye aur humein kya karna chahiye (what should be and what we should do). Mahabharat underlines what should not be and what we should not do. None of the characters in the Mahabharat are completely white or black, but have shades of grey, and even Krishna does some chal kapat. For that matter, all the other avatars of Vishnu use their godly powers to vanquish evil, but not Ram even when confronted by the omnipotent Ravan. There’s a lesson to be learnt here. We human beings have great powers, if we put them to good use, nothing is impossible!
What’s next in this epic journey?
I have played both epics, on stage and on television. Now, I’d like to be a part of an epic extravaganza on screen, helmed by a director like SS Rajamouli.