“Three decades on, when one recalls the onscreen Krishnas, I am blessed to be one of the names that comes up,” says Swwapnil Joshi, who played the role of a young Krishna in Ramanand Sagar’s TV show Shri Krishna. The actor adds, “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Ramanand Sagar made Shri Krishna after the success of Ramayan, and I got an offer to play the central character. It couldn’t have gotten bigger than that. It was an absolute no-brainer (to take up the role).”

The actor reveals that it was also a chance for him to re-associate with Ramanand Sagar after his turn as Kush (of Lav-Kush) in Uttar Ramayan. “I played an interesting part of Krishna’s lifetime. There was the romance with Radha, then Kans vadh, so I played some important milestones in Krishna’s life. I was honoured that Dr Sagar thought of me for the role back then,” he adds. Excerpts:

I was 16, young and naïve. And most of my prep was done by Dr Sagar. Right from conceptualization and storytelling to dialogues and picturization – it was his brainchild. All we did as actors was surrender to his vision. So, if you loved me as Krishna, the first credit goes to Him (Krishna) for inspiring me to act well, and the rest goes to Dr Sagar.

Every character takes a part of you and every character gives a part of itself to you. So, the fact that it’s been 30 years, and that there have been other actors who’ve played Krishna in 10 other bigger shows, if I am still remembered as Krishna then I’ve definitely given something to the character. I think I gave an innocence to the character and a certain cuteness to it. I want to believe that I’ve given something to the character that it has stayed with people.

I think my middle class upbringing helped me stay grounded despite all the adulation that came my way while playing Krishna. I used to live in a chawl in Gujarat. And the love of fans was surreal. Playing the character taught me to live in the moment. The second thing it taught me was: ‘Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma Phaleshu Kadachana’ (Perform your deeds without any expectation of the fruit).

If I choose to take up the role of Krishna again, it’d depend on who’s making the show. It cannot be made as a film project or a web series with a balance sheet in mind, the makers need to understand the sanctity of it. With the right kind of people with the right setup, why not!