Pankaj has ‘epic’ tales to tell

Manika Ahuja

Epic, for him, is more than a fascination—it is a way of life. But mind you, don’t let his fondness for historical tales fool you, for actor Pankaj Dheer, the original Karna from the epic TV series, B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharata, believes in ‘moving with time.’ The times, which he rues, cannot match pace with the old world charm in more aspects than one.

As intriguing as that sounds, one cannot quite contain the urge to ask the versatile actor, the positives and the negatives of the times we live in. And pat comes the unabashed response— “Content is the greatest sufferer!”

Moments of silence give way to prudent commentary, “It is more of a circus today. The content has gone for an absolute toss, it is jarringly porous.”

Virtues and vices

Critics and movie connoisseurs would know that unlike the yesteryear, wherein, to quote Dheer— “we had specialised persons who were masters of their game, , today, the hero is doing everything.”

So, what is to blame, is it the fad for grey characters, with an amalgamation of virtues and vices? “Yes indeed. As for the degrading quality, the ‘brand culture’ is to blame. And so are the content writers, I’d say. A handful of ‘bigwig’ actors are reigning supreme. Regardless of what he comes out with, Salman Khan’s movies end up being blockbusters,” he smiles.

Antagonist for life? Not really!

Dheer makes a poignant observation when he points out that whatever the medium is, actors always run the risk of being stereotyped. “People are short-sighted. They do not mind dismissing an artiste as ‘perfect only as a villain or a hero.’ But then there have been actors such as Amrish Puri and Pran, who have executed both, negative and positive charac Dheer is currently seen as Kailash Nath Trivedi on Life OK’s television series—Rishton Ka Saudagar – Baazigar. So, what made him accept it? “It speaks for women empowerment, which concurs with my view that men and women should be treated equally,” he signs off.