Actor Krishna Bharadwaj, who played the title role in show Tenali Rama is on the verge of breaking that image. The actor is not only working on his look but also his body before he signs up a new project.
In an exclusive video chat with us, Krishna not only revealed his plans with us but also mentioned the kind of roles he is craving to play on screen. Excerpts from our conversation below:
Do people still recognise you as Tenali Rama?
People have stopped recognising me as Tenali Rama and that's a good thing for me. With my bald look people used to easily recognise me but now when my hair has grown and I have worked a little bit on my look, so they are unable to do that. Although, those who know me are liking this new look of mine. I am breaking the image of Tenali Rama which has been very prominent. So, I am happy to have my hair back.
What have you been busy doing since the show went off air?
I have worked for three and half years continuously for Tenali Rama. So I couldn't sleep as I had to travel for shooting. So I am sleeping a lot. After my shoot got over, I also travelled a lot. I went to my hometown and spent time with my family. I am gymming a lot and focusing on my physic now as I really need to break my image of Tenali Rama.
Is it getting difficult for you to break that image?
I think that's when an artist's skill comes into the picture. Actually I have forgotten myself completely and I lived as Tenali Rama for three and half years. I was living the character. Now, suddenly I have to audition for new things in the new look and all. So, it's very difficult for you to come out of character which you have been living from so long. But I am a theatre actor and I have my techniques to get into new characters and come out from the previous one and I am already using it. We are actors 24/7 mentally and physically. So bahut mushkil hota hai, mujhe Tenali Rama se nikalne bhi bhaut time laga. But now I am out of it. The best thing is the moment your look changes from your previous character, half of the battle is won.
Was that the reason you chose to not audition in your bald look?
So I was getting calls for the auditions in the same look. I was growing my hair and they used to say it's ok itna baal mein chalega aap aajaiye. So, I used to tell them no, I want to grow my hair at full length like I previously had and after that only I will start auditioning. They were ready to accept me as an actor with whatever look I had at that time. But I wasn't okay as I wanted to come with a fresh look.
What sort of characters are you looking for now?
I am tempted for something really very different from Tenali Rama, who was a cute boy next door. I want to do something more intense and passionate. May be a negative or a psychotic character. As I have to show different sides of my acting skill. What I showed in Tenali Rama was all a slice of life. I experienced a lot of variety of emotions in that. And now I am looking for that one expression or emotion that an actor holds in a character in a daily soap or a web series. I am majorly focussing on the OTT space and films.
Image source: Instagram/kriish_bhardwaj