Exclusive: Ajinkya Deo auditioned for King Dashrath’s role in Ramayana now played by Arun Govil

Ajinkya Deo in Ramyana. Pics via Instagram

The Ramayana trailer, unveiled on July 30, has got everyone talking. Among the several conversations that the trailer has sparked, the casting has been widely discussed, especially after the glimpses hinted at the characters from the great epic being featured in the film. Actor Ajinkya Deo, who plays the role of Vishwamitra, a venerated sage who mentored Lord Rama, spoke to mid-day about his role in Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana.

Ajinkya Deo on auditioning for Dashrath

Ajinkya Deo tells us that he originally auditioned for the role of Lord Rama's father, King Dashrath, which is now played by veteran actor Arun Govil. He shared, "I was auditioned. But incidentally, when I was auditioned, it was for the role of Dasharath, and this was like three years ago. But as it went across and as things started moving, Arunji (Arun Govil) came along, which was the best thing that could have happened. He was the perfect Dasharath. And then they offered me Vishwamitra, which of course I lapped up because I know the gravitas of that role in Ramayana."

He went on to add, "And then we had a couple of look tests and everything, and it really shaped up very well. They were very happy to see me in that getup. And so it was a fantastic feeling to have been given this role. And as everybody said at the Pratham Sankalp trailer launch in Delhi, the main characters are chosen by the Lord himself."

"It just came to me. So as I said, I was auditioning for something else, and then I landed up playing this role, and I feel this was more apt for me in any case. It basically worked better for me because of my personality in general."

Ajinkya Deo on how he filmed his part

Talking about filming the sequences in the film, which would later be edited with special effects, Ajinkya said, "It was initially very difficult to adjust to that. If you ask me, it was difficult because there were certain points where there were markers on you. There were places where you had to stop exactly, because everything was designed for what was going to be seen later."

"That was an experience for me when my entire body was scanned by 150 cameras, because as we would be talking, my virtual self would be doing some fight somewhere. So, this was a very beautiful learning experience. And everything that has been done over there is Hollywood standard."

When asked if they had workshops for the same, "Yes, we did. But just once or twice, not too many times," he responds.