The Coronavirus lockdown has brought a lot of things to stand still but here's the bright side, people across the country are getting to re-live the epic Mahabharat and Ramayan days on Doordarshan. It goes without saying that mythological shows have brought back so many memories. Well, that's the reason why their re-airing has been successful and the massive TRP ratings are proof. Interestingly, a lot of people are also digging some old facts in regards to the shows' cast. So, here's presenting one from BR Chopra's Mahabharat and its Arjun AKA Firoz Khan.
It turns out that Firoz decided to forever use Arjun as his screen name after a recommendation from Mr Chopra and the show's writer. In an interview with Hindustan Times, Firoz recalled the time when he first went to give audition for Arjun’s role, “I went in and saw actors like Deepak Parashar, Raj Babbar and Govinda, among others there. The auditions for Mahabharat were going on and Govinda told me to give it a shot. I was given two pages of dialogues in Hindi. I told him to read out the lines in Hindi so that I could rewrite them in English.”
The actor added how he was chosen to play the part, which was initially supposed to be portrayed by Jackie Shroff. Elaborating further on why he decided to choose Arjun as his name professionally, Firoz said, “Whenever I used to call up a producer, they would think that I'm Feroz Khan. When I would explain to them who I was, they would ask me to call back later and I felt insulted. Chopra Saab and Dr Raza recommended that Arjun should be my new name. It went on to give me everything that I dreamed of. And even my mother began to address me as Arjun eventually.”
Well, with his spectacular performance as Arjun, Firoz became a household name and went onto star in some iconic films like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Swayam Krushi, Aa Gale Lag Jaa and Mohabbat among others. (ALSO READ - Mahabharat Rerun: THEN AND NOW Pictures Of Mukesh Khanna, Nitish Bharadwaj, Roopa Ganguly)
हे कृष्ण हे कृष्ण हे कृष्ण #महाभारत #Mahabharat pic.twitter.com/RE0TJSmek3
— Roopa Ganguly (@RoopaSpeaks) April 20, 2020
image source: twitter