"I had never thought that I'll be a King ever again"-Sameer

Sameer Dharmadhikari, who garnered a lot of appreciation for his on-screen kingly avatar says, "I feel fortunate that this is the third time I am playing the role of a King. The very first time I essayed the character of King Gangadhar Rao was certainly a distinctive personality with a different temperament altogether. On the second occasion, I played a cameo for the upcoming show Mahabharat on Star Plus, wherein I'll be seen as Shantanu, King of Hastinapur. I shot for hardly 15 days for it as my character Shantanu basically introduces the show and makes an exit as soon as the show builds up its drama."

As Sameer will be seen as a King for the third time in the last three and a half years, he says, "I shot for Mahabharat way before I signed for Buddha. Frankly speaking, after Mahabharat, I had never thought that I will play the role of a king ever again."

When asked Sameer, does being typecast bothers him? The actor says, "I don't fear being typecast, in fact I enjoy playing good characters, and mostly the historical ones. Each and every character that I played had a different shade to it. That was the prime reason for me to put my soul into each one of them. Maharaja Gangadhar Rao had his own flavor while Shantanu for that matter was altogether different. It was difficult to play these different characters, as these ancient characters are larger than life."

Talking about his new show Buddha, which is a story to be told in 52 gripping episodes, the actor says, "If you know the complete story, you can give it a beautiful end. Following the same, Buddha falls under a complete different format, a tale of 52 hours of entertainment and an unusual story with a message after a period of time."

The actor who himself has been associated with popular historical shows, is religious in his personal life too. Says Sameer, "Being religious does not mean leaving all your work and remembering God throughout the day. I have never read Ramayan or Mahabharat in my life. What-so-ever I have seen on television, is what I know about our religion."

In a similar way, we all have a basic knowledge about Buddha and his history. Yet today, the youth of the world needs to be made aware of Buddha's story. "When narrated in a story form, the legendary tale gets registered in our minds. So it's a very responsible job of our entire team to showcase the story in a very subtle and interesting manner," says Sameer.

On being asked whether the actor follows any kind of teachings or disciplines in his own life, Sameer says, "Discipline is very important in an individual's life. I am disciplined in my own way and it does not keep on fluctuating. However, if the other person doesn't wishes to follow the same, I don't force them, be it my daughters - Saraswati and Parvati or my wife, Aparna."

Monica Varma