Becoming Bharat

Addinath Kothare opens up on playing  Lord Ram’s half-brother in Ramayana

Kabir Singh Bhandari : 

Ramayana is touted as the most ambitious and expensive telling of the epic, and Addinath Kothare is part of it, playing the role of Bharat. In an exclusive interaction with The Free Press Journal, he tells us about auditioning for the role, working with Ranbir Kapoor and the rest of the cast, his beginning as a child artist and more. Excerpts: 

How did you become part of Ramayana?

I had auditioned for one of Nitesh Tiwari sir’s earlier projects, Tarla, and was shortlisted for it. Although that film didn’t happen for me, I believe Nitesh sir had seen my work during that process. Later, I auditioned for the role of Lakshman in Ramayana, and eventually, I was offered the role of Bharat.

Tell us about working with the following, and your experience or any anecdotes that you can share.

Ranbir Kapoor: I remember an interesting moment from my very first day of shooting. We were filming the swayamvar sequence, and I had an idea about how I wanted to approach a particular moment. Since it was my first day and such an important sequence, I wasn’t entirely sure whether I should experiment with it. Ranbir came up to me, tapped me on the shoulder and suggested that I try something different. I followed his suggestion, and Nitesh sir really liked it. I remember telling him that the idea had actually come from Ranbir!

Sai Pallavi: Sai brings a certain honesty and sincerity to everything she does on screen. What makes her special is that she doesn’t seem to be trying too hard; her performances are very instinctive and effortless.

Tell us about shooting within the Ramayana sets and the VFX process you may have gotten a glimpse of.

The experience was absolutely surreal. I remember my first day of shooting in Ayodhya. I was standing there with Ranbir, Sai, Ravie (Dubey) and so many incredible artists, recreating a world that we have grown up imagining. As an actor, your job is to remain truthful to the character and the situation, even when you know that certain elements will eventually be enhanced through VFX. You have to trust the vision of the filmmaker and the team working behind the scenes.

Can you share your memories from Majha Chakula, the film where you debuted as a child artist?

Majha Chakula (1994) will always hold an extremely special place in my heart because that is where my journey as an actor began. I was barely seven or eight years old when I worked on the film, and looking back, it is quite incredible to think about how early this journey started.

The film was directed and produced by my father, Mahesh Kothare, so it was also a very special family experience. I had the opportunity to work with some wonderful artists like Laxmikant Berde, Pooja Pawar and Nivedita Joshi-Saraf.

There is one incident from the shoot that I still remember very vividly. There was a scene in which Nivedita ji, who played my mother, had to scold me, and I was supposed to cry. But every time we attempted the scene, I would start laughing instead of crying! My father eventually lost his patience and genuinely scolded me. I started crying for real, and they immediately shot the scene.