His portrayal of lord Krishna remains one of the most memorable roles on television but actor Nitish Bharadwaj, who is all set to make a comeback after 20 years with "Mohenjo Daro", says he is keen to explore modern stories with challenging roles.
Nitish became a household name after playing Krishna in BR Chopra's "Mahabharat" and he says while he enjoyed his stint in mythological dramas, he is equally comfortable with commercial movies.
"I want to explore modern stories. I am open to the characters that are interesting to play and challenge me as an actor. I'm ready to accept challenging human emotions after having dealt with divine ones," the actor told PTI.
A trained theatre director, Nitish made his directional debut with feature film "Pitruroon". He has returned to the silver screen after a long gap, in Ashutosh Gowariker's movie.
He will play an indigo farmer Durjan in the Hrithik Roshan-starrer.
"It was challenging for me after having done Krishna and mythical TV show "VishnuPuran" and other similar characters. Playing mere mortal is a challenge when you are doing lord who is above all the human emotions," he joked.
Throwing more light on his role of Durjan Kaka, Nitish said, "This character has certain amount of mystery around him. He is not too straight a character, which is interesting."
When asked about his long gap from the industry, the TV star said, "I was looking out for different kind of role which would not be anywhere identical to Krishna and also television kept me busy."
Nitish says Gowariker has known him for a long time and perhaps trusted him with the character, who is crucial part of the story.
"Ashu (Ashutosh) knows me since my theatre days even before 'Krishna'. He probably trusted my ability to perform a very different roles than what popularly people know me for. So, it is his trust in me as an actor that made him approach me. He thought I'll do justice to the part," he said.
The actor is excited to enter Bollywood at this stage
where he thinks he will find more real roles to play as the industry has started innovating with stories with films like "Kapoor and Sons", "Dum Laga Ke Haisha".
"I'm quite excited to be in Bollywood at this enterprising time when I'm sure to do more realistic roles. It's a welcome change in Bollywood now," he said.
When asked whether he has ever understood what made his portrayal of 'Krishna' so popular, the actor said it probably had to do with his deeper understanding of the character.
"You cannot do Krishna overnight that's my belief. It has to come from within you. Seeing great thespians of Marathi theatre act as Krishna and wonderful literature written in Marathi plays, gave me a very deeper understanding of Krishna as a character. But I did not know that I will get to play this role in future," he added.
He also confirmed that he will be directing a period drama soon. The script-writing is in process which he hopes to do in Hindi.
