5 months ago
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Actor Nikitin Dheer, known for working with some of Bollywood’s biggest superstars, recently discussed his disappointing experience on the period epic Jodhaa Akbar. The film starred Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and was directed by Oscar nominee Ashutosh Gowariker. In the movie, Nikitin played the villain. In an interview, he opened up about his negative experience and addressed rumors that the director Ashutosh was upset with him for signing another project before Jodhaa Akbar’s release.
Nikitin Dheer opens up on working with Ashutosh Gowariker in Jodhaa Akbar
Speaking on Siddharth Kannan’s YouTube channel, Nikitin revealed that his experience on Jodhaa Akbar nearly made him quit acting. He felt disillusioned by the industry after the project. He expressed gratitude for being cast in Mission Istanbul, as it was a positive experience for him. However, his experience on Jodhaa Akbar, convinced him to never sign a project with people he doesn’t admire or like in real life.
“I worked very hard for the film, but things began going south after I signed on. As an artist, I didn’t have fun working on the film. It was a very bad experience for me, to the point that I told my father that I’d entered the wrong line and that I’d rethink my life,” Nikitin said. His father, veteran actor Pankaj Dheer, was friends with Ashutosh Gowariker but chose not to intervene. Pankaj was of the belief that his son, Nikitin should handle his professional challenges independently.
Nikitin detailed the struggles he faced, saying, “I worked on my physique for the film, I trained for months in Urdu. I shot for more than 100 days. For example, I specially flew back from Istanbul to dub for the film. I must’ve made 90 phone calls to figure out what the plan is, but nobody from the production answered my calls. On the third day, I was supposed to return to Istanbul, and that’s when I’m told that they’ve got somebody else to dub my part. It made me very angry. And there are so many incidents like this.”
Nikitin reveals regretting his decision
When asked if signing Mission Istanbul before Jodhaa Akbar’s release upset Ashutosh Gowariker, Nikitin denied this, saying, “I changed my look after finishing work on Jodhaa Akbar, and I started shooting for Mission Istanbul only after I was done with Jodhaa Akbar, so I haven’t heard this theory before. It’s important for an actor to keep moving from film to film, especially if you’re the villain, because there are no guarantees.”
He implied that he wasn’t given the opportunity to perform to his best ability in Jodhaa Akbar. “There were a lot of things that I’d been led to believe would happen, but during the shoot, I realised that it wasn’t going according to what I’d imagined,” he concluded.
