On Sunday mornings, there was a quiet urgency in Indian homes. Children were nudged awake earlier than usual, elders adjusted the antenna and families gravitated towards the television set placed in the living room. People would jump forward to sit closer, as if proximity might deepen the experience. The moment the familiar strains of the Mahabharat (1988-90) title music filled the air, conversations stopped.
When Dr Nitish Bharadwaj, who was previously a veterinarian surgeon, appeared on screen as the crowned and radiant Krishna, there was a stillness in the presence. His calm eyes and unhurried gaze seemed to carry both compassion and detachment. With the same grace, the actor recently performed at the Prestige Centre for Performing Arts, bringing to stage his play Chakravyuh, which traces the Abhimanyu episode from the epic Mahabharat. The event, held on Sunday, was part of a multi-city outreach programme supporting the construction of the Shri Salasar Balaji temple at Ranka Colony.
Fast forward to now – a former member of the Lok Sabha, the actor who was also in the 2025 web series Kesariya@100 – viewers still speak of his character with reverence, as if he were a presence that once entered their homes and never quite left. For Bharadwaj, however, the role was never about bearing a divine burden. “I’m a Saraswat Brahmin who follows the Adi Shankara Parampara. We were brought up in the Nishkama Karma Yoga philosophy. We are taught to do our karma to the best of our ability and not worry about anything else,” he says. That grounding ensured he was never anxious about audience reaction or success.
Ironically, Krishna’s first appearance in Mahabharat was met with criticism. The actor recalls that after the initial episode aired, reactions were unexpectedly harsh. BR Chopra, the TV serial creator, called him in, unsettled by the feedback. “He said there were negative reactions. He asked, ‘What do you have to say?’, I said, ‘You are the director. People have only seen one episode, which is the entry of Krishna at Sandipani Ashram. You have shot seven or eight more episodes with me and you have okayed all my shots. I trust your judgment as an experienced director,” he reminisces. His faith in the process was absolute. “The Krishna I understood through my reading of the Mahabharat and the Bhagavad Gita is what I brought to the screen. I told Chopra ji that I have given my best and the rest is in Krishna’s hands,” the 62-year-old actor shares and remembers Chopra replying, ‘This is exactly what I wanted to hear.’
He also articulated a thought that would eventually shape how audiences came to understand the portrayal. “Krishna is loved so much by people that they expect everything to be seen in one episode. To use a metaphor from the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna is likened to a lotus flower. The layers open one after the other. Similarly, Krishna reveals layers of his personality, intelligence and wisdom,” the actor, who was also part of the iconic mythological TV series Vishnupuran, explains.
The most intimate response to his portrayal of Krishna came from within his own home. His mother, a deeply spiritual woman, once approached him with a confession that startled him: ‘Whenever I’m praying to Krishna, it is your face that comes to my mind’. His response reflected the very philosophy she had instilled in him. “I told her, ‘You taught me the journey from sagun sakar to nirgun nirakar. Now, you have to execute that journey in your life. You have to go beyond my face and look at the Krishna tattva, the essence of his character,’” he laughs as he recalls the incident.
There was also an uncanny moment that seemed to affirm the role. He shares meeting veteran actor Shahu Modak, who asked for his horoscope and revealed a note written in advance that read, ‘Vrishabha rashi, Rohini nakshatra’ – the constellation believed to mark Lord Krishna’s birth and shared by Bharadwaj, Modak and Tollywood stalwart NT Rama Rao, all of whom who had played Krishna on the screens.