"Mahabharat has really given me a creative challenge" - Praneet Bhatt

The talented actor Praneet Bhatt, who was earlier seen in the show Geet Hui Sabse Parayi which aired on Star One, is now seen playing the role of Shakuni in Producer Siddharth Kumar Tiwary's mythological show Mahabharat on Star Plus. Praneet started his career in acting through theatre and then moved a step ahead and tried his luck into television.

We got in touch with Praneet to know more about his career, on how life has changed being a part of the mythological show Mahabharat, the difference between acting in Theatre and Television and much more...

Here it is what Praneet shared with us...

When asked him about how it feels to be a part of the show Mahabharat, Praneet says, "I am really happy to be a part of this show. Mahabharat has really given me a creative challenge and helped me polish my acting skills, which has been of great help. This show has brought me into the limelight of television with the character of Shakuni, I have got a lot of recognition through this show and I am very happy with this fact."

We quizzed him over the question on how he bagged the role of Shakuni. Here it is what Praneet said, "I was called for the audition of a mythological show for which I happily went. I gave my screen test and I was offered two positive roles, but I was very much adamant on taking up a negative role, I wanted to play the role of Shakuni. Later, I was finally signed for the role of Shakuni and that's how this show and the role happened to me."

Praneet finds the producer of the show extremely hardworking and he is encouraged by working along with him, "Siddharth Kumat Tewaryji is a man of his words, extremely hardworking and walks with a clear vision. I have learnt from him that one must really work hard in order to achieve a great success in life. He is very encouraging and I am inspired by him," says Praneet.

The character of Shakuni does not have one eye, hence Praneet is always supposed to keep his one eye closed while acting. We asked him on how difficult is that to do and he says, "It is all the practice of being into the character that comes to me from my theatre background. I was given the choice to wear the one eye cloth over or stick something over my eyes, but I chose to close my one eye instead of wearing an eye cloth. It actually adds a lot of reality to the character too."

When we asked Praneet on has the theatre background helped him getting into television and the difference he finds between acting in television shows and doing plays? He says, "The depth and the intensity of the characters and roles that you do on television is easy to portray because theatre trains you in polishing your acting skills. So yes, definitely the theatre background has really helped me into television shows."

Further he elaborated saying, "Acting in Theatre is quite different than acting in television shows. In theatre you have no re-takes happening as everything is live and depends all on your confidence, everything just ends in one take, but in television we have re-takes and have to manage our hectic shooting schedule."

We wish Praneet Bhatt all the very best for his future endeavors.

Krishma Solanki