Praveen Kumar Sobti, Known For Playing Bheem On Mahabharat, Dies At 74

Avijit Ghosh (THE TIMES OF INDIA; February 9, 2022)

New Delhi: Olympian Praveen Kumar, who hurled his way to two gold medals in discus at the Asian Games and later drew instant recognition nationwide playing Bheem in ‘Mahabharat’ on television, passed away on Monday following a cardiac arrest at his Ashok Vihar residence. He was 74.

Built like a fort and an imposing six feet, six inches in height, Praveen Kumar Sobti had the power, coordination and body-size to excel in both discuss and hammer events. “If he had received the kind of training and other facilities available today, an Olympic medal would have been within his grasp,” Olympian and Asian Games gold medalist shot-putter Bahadur Singh told TOI.

When his stellar athletics career was on the wane in the 1980s, Bollywood stepped in. Ravi Tandon’s ‘Raksha’ (1982) marked his celluloid debut. He acted in about 50 films, notably ‘Meri Awaaz Suno’, ‘Khudgarz’ and ‘Shahenshah’. ‘Mahabharat’ (1988) changed his life and Bheem became one of the most-loved characters of the serial.
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Puneet Issar, who played Duryodhan, talks about their friendship over the years
Tanvi Trivedi (BOMBAY TIMES; February 9, 2022)

Actor and four-times Asian Games medallist, Praveen Kumar Sobti, who played the iconic role of Bheem in Mahabharat, passed away yesterday at his Delhi residence.

Puneet Issar, who played the role of Duryodhan in Mahabharat, recalled how Praveen Kumar Sobti was Praveen paaji for him. Sharing an interesting story about how Kumar was cast as Bheem, Issar said, “B R Chopra, the producer of Mahabharat, wanted me to play the role of Bheem. But I had made up my mind that I would play Duryodhan. My physique and wrestler body suited the role of Bheem, so Chopra sir felt that I should be Bheem. But I was adamant to play Duryodhan and it became a task to find someone even stronger than Duryodhan to be cast in the show. Then I suggested Praveen Kumar’s name because he was an international athlete, 6 feet 8 inches tall, much taller than me. Praveenji agreed and the rest is history.”

Recounting the rapport they shared, Issar said, “I always called or met him when I visited Delhi. He had a great sense of humour. We had fight scenes in Mahabharat and looking at the promos, I remember how my daughter got terrified of Praveen ji bashing me up. He then came home and spoke to my daughter and made her feel comfortable. He was constantly cracking jokes and though we were enemies in reel life, we were like brothers in real life. In the past few years, he stayed at home and enjoyed his life peacefully.”

Issar also shared how the last scene in Mahabharat, where he had to fight Bheem, was one of the most remembered scenes from the show. He said, “I had to keep saying, ‘My body is now even stronger Bheem, come on, hit me’. And Bheem had to fight with me. It was one of the most challenging scenes we performed in our lives.”

HE WAS A MAN FILLED WITH GRATITUDE FOR LIFE: NITISH BHARADWAJ
Nitish Bharadwaj, who played Krishna in Mahabharata , says Praveen Kumar “was a man filled with gratitude for life. After he acted in Mahabharat and a few Bollywood films, he became a recluse and decided to live peacefully in Delhi. He was quite content with life. He was a man filled with a great sense of humour and never spoke bad about anyone. He suited the character of Bheem perfectly. When you thought of Bheem, only Praveen’s persona came to mind. No wonder he was known as the Gadadhari Bheem of Mahabharat.”