When Pankaj Dheer Refused To Shave Moustache To Play Arjun In Mahabharata And Was 'Thrown Out' By BR Chopra; Later Become Karna

Pankaj Dheer immortalised the character of Karna in BR Chopra's classic Mahabharat. The actor, who died at the age of 68 after battling cancer on October 15, has left an imprint in our hearts with his righteous, courageous character. But, not many know that it wasn't Karna, but Dheer was Chopra's first choice to play the character of Arjun.ALSO READ: Mahabharat Actor Pankaj Dheer, Father Of Nikitin Dheer, Dies Of CancerIn an interview with Lehren Retro dated 2023, Dheer had revealed how he lost on playing Arjun due to his "moustache". He 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."

BR Chopra threw him out!

He further shared that tables turned when BR Chopra came in the picture. "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.'"

Karna came calling

Dheer agreed that leaving Arjun's role just for a moustache was indeed a "stupidity" but he didn't know what destiny had in store for him. "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."Pankaj Dheer played Karna from 1988-1990. Until his demise, he continued to be called Indian television's original "Surya putra."