Sharat Saxena's old interview goes viral, talks about getting ignored, typecast for 30 years in movies

Many times, several character actors who often become the backbone of the films go unnoticed or doesn't get their due credit. A throwback interview of Sharat Saxena has now gone viral on the Internet in which he spoke at length about getting ignored for about 30 years and being looked at as a junior artist. The veteran actor was interviewed by actor Ajay Bhargav for CINTAA (Cine & TV Artists Association) back in 2018.

In the interview, Sharat is heard saying, "Back in those days, in our whole country, whoever had muscles or someone who looked like a bodybuilder, that person was put under ‘labour class’. He was not considered worthy of fine arts, finer feelings. He could not be an actor, a writer or anything. He could only be a fighter."

Talking about the stereotypical dialogues given to him, Saxena went on to say, "Unfortunately, when I came to Mumbai, I was quite fit. My father used to be an athlete at Allahabad University. We got inspired by him and worked out. When Bombay’s producers or directors used to look at me, they never saw an actor but only a fighter or a junior artist. So for 30 years, I only did the action. When it came to acting, I was given dialogues such as ‘Yes boss, no boss, very sorry boss, maaf kar dijiye boss (please forgive me, boss)."

In the interview, Sharat also spoke about getting his due with his role in Saathiya wherein he played the role of Rani Mukerji's onscreen father. The actor shared, "There is a director called Shaad Ali. He gave me the father of the heroine’s role in Saathiya. The film released and the role was very small, but people really liked it. After that role, I was finally classified from fighter to actor. It took 30 years for that to happen."