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| Edited By: Shameem Khan |Source: |Updated: Nov 21, 2013, 01:44 PM IST
But still, after a 15 year struggle, Narendra Jha has landed the title role.
Premiering tonight is the mythological series ‘Raavan’ (Zee). Playing the lead part to the hilt is actor Narendra Jha. The actor has been in the entertainment industry for the last 15 years. “I was one of the 10 faces finalized by ABCL with Sharman Joshi and me topping the list,” he says.
He went on to do shows like ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’, the title role in ‘Thief of Baghdad’ (Zee), Sanjay Khan’s ‘Jai Hanuman’, amongst others.
‘Raavan’ almost didn’t happen. “When director Ranjan, with whom I had earlier worked in ‘Jai Hanuman’, called me up for this role I refused it outright. But he told me to listen to the narration because the presentation of the character was different from what was perceived. On hearing it, I instantly fell for the character.”
About his (in)famous character, he says, “Raavan, according to me, was a self-made man with no royal support to elevate him to the status he came to. He was a great strategist too. It will be challenging to play a learned man whose only sin was that he kidnapped Sita.”
How did he prepare for the role? “I have been gifted with a good personality. So I didn’t have to work on the physical aspect. Also, I had no problem with speaking Hindi since I hail from Bihar. But yes, I have tried to play the character without any pre-conceived notion of Ravan which is a difficult task by itself because just the mention of the name spells ‘negative’,” he signs off.
