Mumbai: After mocking Sonakshi Sinha, veteran actor Mukesh Khanna has targeted Ranbir Kapoor for portraying the character of Ram in ‘Ramayana.’
Taking a dig at Ranbir, Mukesh said that any actor who plays the role of Ram shouldn’t be allowed to party and drink. He went to on to say that if any actor has a playboy image in real life, it will reflect on screen also.
During an interview with Midday, the ‘Shaktimaan’ actor expressed that the negativity surrounding Ranbir’s last film ‘Animal’ might have an adverse impact on his upcoming film ‘Ramayana.’
Referring to Arun Govil, who played ‘Ram’ in the popular television series Ramayana, Mukesh said, “I won’t say anything about this, if I do, they’ll accuse me of commenting about everyone and everything. They’ve ruined my reputation. I recently commented about Jackie Shroff’s son… I’m not rude, but I speak my mind. If they’re making a Ramayana, comparisons with Arun Govil will be inevitable.”
Stating that the person playing Ram shouldn’t look like Ravana, Mukesh continued, “They are a lampat chhichhora (lewd hooligan) in real life, then it will show on screen.”
Talking about the failure of Prabhas’ ‘Adipurush’, Mukesh said he wasn’t accepted by the public, despite being such a huge star.
“Not because he’s (Prabhas) a bad actor, but because he doesn’t look like Ram… The actor playing Ram now is the beacon of the Kapoor family. He’s a fine actor… But I will look at his face, and he should look like Ram. He’s just done Animal, and his negative personality was highlighted in that movie. I hope that doesn’t disturb this.”
A leaked picture from the set of ‘Ramayana’ shows Ranbir as Ram and Sai as Sita. Yash will be portraying the character of Ravana, Lara Dutta will play Kaikeyi, Sunny Deol will play Hanuman and Sheeba Chaddha will play Manthara.
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the film will be released in two parts. Part One will hit the theatres in 2026 and Part Two in 2027.
Ranbir, talking about his role as Ram, told Deadline, “I am currently working on a film called Ramayan, which is India’s greatest story. It’s being produced by Namit Malhotra…It’s got artists, creators and different crew members from all around the world. It’s made over two parts. It’s the story of Lord Ram and Raavan and it’s India’s greatest story. And to say it to this new generation with the kind of technology that we have it’s a very exciting and very gratifying opportunity for me as an actor, especially to play the part of Lord Ram.”