Mukesh Khanna is known for his on-screen portrayal of India’s first superhero, ‘Shaktimaan’. After the announcement of a larger-than-life motion picture on the people’s superhero, fans were excited about who would be playing the protagonist. The veteran actor has now shared a YouTube video and an Instagram post, where he has denied reports about Ranveer Singh being cast as Shaktimaan.
He took to his Instagram handle and shared a collage picture of himself and Ranveer Singh. He wrote: “There are rumors on social media that Ranveer Singh would portray Shaktimaan. And everyone was angry about it. I remained silent. But when channels started announcing that Ranveer has been signed, then I had to speak up. And I have said that no matter how big a star he is, a person with such kind of image can never become Shaktimaan. I have put my foot down. Now let’s see what happens next.”
Mukesh also posted a video on his YouTube channel where he criticized Ranveer’s nude photoshoot for Paper magazine. Bashing the actor, Mukesh said such acts are against Indian culture. He took potshots at Ranveer, and said, “If he feels comfortable with nudity then he should go to countries where he can do nude scenes any every third scene.”
The veteran actor also added, “I have told the producers, that your competition is not with Spider-Man, Batman, Captain Planet. Shaktimaan is not just a superhero, he has also become a super teacher. Now, the actor who takes on the role should have the quality that when he speaks, people will listen. There are big actors, but their image comes in the middle.”
Mukesh Khanna shot to fame with BR Chopra’s 1988 television show ‘Mahabharat’ where he portrayed Bhishma Pitamah. He worked in both TV and films simultaneously as a character artist. His popular works include ‘Saudagar’, ‘Chandrakanta’, ‘The Great Maratha’, ‘Guddu’, ‘Barsaat’ and ‘International Khiladi’ among others.
