Actor Tarun Khanna, who has been the face of many mythological shows on the small screen, will soon be seen in Colors’ mythological shows Shiv Shakti Tap Tyag and Tandav. Excerpts from Urmila Kori’s conversation on the challenge and career associated with this new mythological show….
What was the biggest challenge this serial faced you?
The biggest challenge was that I am playing the role of Indra, who is said to be the king of heaven, but at some point he is seen as a villain, whatever we hear about him. In reality he is also a hero. Indra is Devraj, it needs to be thought that there must be something positive in him, that he has got this title and Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh these three who are our Tridev have always supported him, so there must be some specialty. Bringing that positivity in one’s character is a big challenge in itself, although this serial story is about Shiva and Shakti and their love, but yes, Indra’s role is very important in this.
Have you done shows with Siddharth Tiwari, the producer of this show before?
I am doing this show only because of Siddharth Tiwari. If this was a show of any other company other than Siddharth Tiwari, then maybe he would not have done it either. I had refused this character thrice earlier, but they have been persuading. We have celebrated Diwali together for many years. Celebrated birthdays together. Parties of five hundred episodes of some or the other shows have been celebrated together. Not only us, our families are also closely related, they got married in front of me. We have each other’s friendship at this level. You consider such people more as family and family relations are less. I also know that if he calls me for a role, he will not let me go.
What was the reason for rejecting this show thrice?
Indra was also negative in the beginning, so I decided not to do it, but then Siddharth explained to me that we will show Indra properly as Devraj for the first time. Devraj no one can become extravagant. Then I also thought that Devraj cannot be a light man. In the story of Ahilya, I believe that Indra became bad, but he became bad because only because of his act, the importance of Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, can be shown. This show will introduce you to many such aspects.
You have been a part of mythology show continuously, how has it changed in you
Yes it has brought a lot of changes in me. With this, you get more connected with your culture. Western culture itself is running with the help of crutches and we Indians whose civilization and culture are thousands of years old, our children blindly follow western culture, which feels bad. These shows have reborn me.
Most of your mythological shows are shot away from Mumbai in Umargaon, so how did you manage your family life in Mumbai?
I would like to give full credit for this to my wife. I keep shooting in Umar village. She also manages the children and the house alone in Mumbai. Along with this, she also pays full attention to the fact that she comes to meet me along with the children on my shooting sets. For the last ten years, my birthday is being celebrated in Umargaon itself and my wife comes to meet with the children. Sometimes it also happens that he himself celebrates my birthday by cutting a cake at his Mumbai home.
Don’t have a web series on your wishlist?
I want to do it, but it is not possible. During the shooting of Radha Krishna, I had said yes to a web series Kashibai. Kashibai was shot in Karjat and Radha Krishna in Umargaon. It used to take me six and a half hours to come and go. For six months my life was in trouble. Could hardly sleep for two hours.
What is the reason for the distance from reality shows?
Big Boss I don’t think I will be able to do. I can’t live in front of anyone for 24 hours, I am an actor. I can bring out other people’s characters. I do not like to put on my exhibition. I am very private type. I like Khatron Ke Khiladi, but it was never offered. Big Boss has been offered once or twice, but his question was again that you have done any controversy. Means it was not even there.
