Mukesh Khanna Says Late Pankaj Dheer Never Read The 'Real' Mahabharat, Calls Him A 'Convent Pandava'

Pankaj Dheer, who portrayed Karna in BR Chopra's Mahabharat, died on Wednesday. His co-star Mukesh Khanna also recounted his moments with the late actor as condolences came in from fans and colleagues in the film industry. The veteran actor talked about his experience working with Pankaj Dheer on the sets of the BR Chopra show in a YouTube video.Mukesh Khanna said in the video that Pankaj Dheer's demise 'was a sudden one.'

Mukesh Khanna remembered doing an interview with the actor approximately a year ago for his show. The seasoned actor recalled that Pankaj Dheer wasn't interested to 'talk about the past and Mahabharat' at the time, so the Shaktiman actor had to persuade him to come speak in the podcast.

Mukesh Khanna further disclosed that he ultimately chose to portray Bhisma Pitamah even though his first intention was to play Karna or Arjuna. "God gave me the role of Bhishma and then Pankaj came to me as Karna."

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Mukesh Khanna disclosed that Pankaj Dheer began his career on my first movie, Roohi, as an assistant director. He disclosed that he only received 300 rupees per month. He said, "He worked with my utmost honesty and hard work. His manner of speaking was very distinctive and stylish. Later, we worked together on films like Saugandh and Pandav. He used to call me 'MK,' he loved good food, and he always dressed well."

Mukesh Khanna Claims Pankaj Dheer NEVER Read Mahabharat

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Mukesh Khanna stated that Pankaj's father toiled and succeeded on his own, despite working in the film industry. "In recent years, many of our Mahabharata actors like Goofy Paintal (Shakuni) and Praveen Kumar (Bheem) have passed away, and now Pankaj Dheer is gone too."

Mukesh Khanna shared, "Pankaj had never read the original Mahabharat. He had only read a book called 'Mrityunjaya,' which was written from Karna perspective. Because of this, he often felt that that Mahabharata was missing many scenes that he had read in that book."

Mukesh Khannada added, "I used to jokingly call him the 'convent Pandava' because he hadn't read the orignal Mahabharat. But his performance was so brilliant that everyone remembers him as Karna to this day."