Puneet Issar's epic journey continues as he moves from the Mahabharat to reinterpreting the Ramayan through the eyes of its formidable antagonist
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 22, 2016)


Almost a year ago, Puneet Issar who is still remembered as Duryodhan from BR Chopra's tele epic Mahabharat, was surprised by a call from Rahul Bhuchar who ran a theatre group in Delhi and said he had something which might interest him. Intrigued, Puneet invited him over, and Rahul with writer-director Atul Satya Koushik, took the 6 am flight to Mumbai and turned up with the script of Raavan Ki Ramayan. The veteran actor had never been on stage before but was fascinated by this play written in verse which interpreted the Ramayan from the perspective of its antagonist. At 50-plus, Puneet believed he was at the right age to play Raavan who'd always tantalised him with his complexities.

"I'd been reading up on him but none of the writings had done justice to this wise man born from the union of a Brahmin and an asura. Most focussed on his laugh to portray him as evil. This play offered new insights into Raavan's life and character. I learnt that his 10 heads were a gift from Shiva after he kept cutting off his head and offering it to the Lord every time he got it back. He did it 10 times," he informs.

Puneet was motivated by Atul's two-and-half-hour play into reading the Vedas and Puranas which made him realise that Raavan was not just a great warrior but a yogi and a gyaani too who had been invited by Ram to the inauguration of the bridge at Rameshwaram that would take him to Lanka and Sita's rescue. "Everyone tried to dissuade Raavan but he insisted it was his duty as a Brahmin to go and perform the pooja which demanded the presence of Ram's ardhangini. When it was pointed out to him that Sita was in his captivity, he brought her down for the rituals, then took her back with him, telling Ram that he'd have to fight for her," says Puneet who has contributed to the script with his own inputs.

Language wasn't a problem as he'd been a diction teacher at Roshan Taneja's acting school, Sanjay Dutt and Sunny Deol batch mate who'd taught Urdu and Hindi. But it took him months to memorise his lines, knowing he couldn't change a word without disturbing the metre. He also needed to be at his fittest to play Raavan and over eight months lost 15 kgs through three hours of weight-training and an hour of cardio daily, followed by a run and martial arts. "My wife also put me on a high-protein, no carbs, no milk, no sugar, oil-free diet which has helped me build my muscles and look 20 years younger," he beams.

The play premiered in Delhi on August 6. Among the guests were LK Advani and his daughter, Pratibha, and though initially everyone grumbled over the length, once the curtains went up, they were hooked. Advani admitted at the end that he'd been left speechless. "We begin the Mumbai run from September 1 at Rang Sharda," Puneet informs.

Prod him on what makes Raavan different from Duryodhan and he reasons that the eldest of Kauravas was an angry, impulsive, obstinate boy of 25 who'd cut his nose to spite himself. Raavan, in contrast, was a wise man of 50 who faltered. "He's the biggest antagonist we know and to understand him one needed to go into his heart because every antagonist in his heart is a protagonist," Puneet says.

And what differentiates the Ramayan from the Mahabharat? "Ramayan teaches us what to do while the Mahabharat teaches us kya nahin karna chahiye. For me 1988 belonged to Duryodhan and 2016 is for Raavan," he signs off.