Mukesh Khanna, most popular for playing Shaktimaan and Bheeshma in 80s serial Mahabharat, has long been in the news for his strong views on Shaktimaan adaptation. A few years ago, the project was reported to be in development with Ranveer Singh in lead before Mukesh Khanna rejected the Dhurandhar actor. In a recent interview, the veteran actor again addressed the subject, also revealing that he once even refused a cheque worth crores of rupees for the project.
In an interview with Subhojit Ghosh, Mukesh Khanna said about Ranveer Singh’s aptness for the role, “He will play Dhurandhar, Gully boy or Khilji, but not Shaktimaan. For that, we need the right image and face, something he doesn’t have. He has a mischievous face, a scheming face. Shaktimaan has to be very positive, very positive.”
The Shaktimaan actor also shared how how he has kept massive cheques on hold, purely on basis of his conviction. “No doubt, commercially, I am behaving like a stupid person. I have held back a cheque worth crores, not lakhs, crores. People in my own office told me, ‘Sir, take the cheque. You can fight later.’ I said, ‘I don’t want to do it.’ Money does not come before principles. I said, ‘Suppose I take the money, and then there is drama over it?’ I have to preserve Shaktimaan’s legacy,” he added.
Naming Sony Pictures International, the studio that had first announced the Shaktimaan project in October 2022, in association with Brewing Thoughts Pictures and Mukesh’ Bheeshm International, the actor added, “I had taken the first one, but I stopped the second cheque. I said, ‘I had told you that you would make Shaktimaan only after consulting me.’ Now they have put in a condition saying, ‘No, sir, we will consult you, but we will do things our own way.’ I said, ‘That is not done. Tomorrow, you’ll show him dancing in a disco. Tomorrow, you’ll make him do something else’.”
In the past, Mukesh Khanna has spoken on many occasions about having discussions with Ranveer Singh for the project, and why he wants to have creative control on the subject.