Once aspiring to bag the role of Ram for the television series, Neil is more than happy to have been cast as Ram’s celebrated brother Lakshman and here`s why.
Written By Resham Sengar|Last Updated: Oct 19, 2012, 02:44 PM IST|Source: Exclusive
Resham Sengar
Talk to Neil Bhatt about playing Lakshman in Zee TV’s epic show ‘Ramayan’ and the actor makes it evident through his enthusiastic words that he is playing a role of a lifetime. Once aspiring to bag the role of Ram for the television series, Neil is more than happy to have been cast as Ram’s celebrated brother Lakshman.
While giving a telephonic interview from his current shooting location in Baroda, which also happens to be his home town, Neil revealed the most memorable scene that he has done till date was while filming for Sita’s swayamvar. Even though he cherishes the memory, he admits he was quite nervous while filming the scene. The down to earth actor explains that the scene is close to his heart because this is where he felt Lakshman’s character comes out. “This is where I had put my heart and soul. I made sure that the audience connects with this Lakshman by doing the act in my own different way,” says Neil.
Ask him of his favourite characters from the epic and Neil replies, “Apart from Ram and Raavan, I like Lakshman.” Raavan seems to be quite an unusual preference but the actor firmly defends his choice and says, “Raavan is the most enigmatic character of ‘Ramayan’. He is very magnetic, versatile and very well-rounded character. He was so intelligent and arrogant at the same time. So playing such a character could be very challenging and interesting.”
During the conversation, Zee TV’s Lakshman also shared his views on the bonding he shares with the channel with which he also did ‘12/24 Karol Bagh’ two years ago. Neil said, “Zee is like my other home. I am treated like a family member here. You can talk to the people here freely about your problems and the channel is also very open to suggestions. The channel considers everyone’s inputs if they are viable and tries to see things from others’ perspective also.”
Like any ambitious actor, Neil too dreams to enter filmdom some day but currently his focus remains on his TV commitments which are proving to be fruitful to him in terms of the amount of appreciation he is getting from the viewers. The actor signed off by dropping a word about his plans of watching ‘Oh My God’ (the subject truly interests him) and his new found hobby of composing background music. But Neil is quick to add that he intends to keep it as hobby only and not take it up as a profession.
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