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The season 2 of the super hit show Tenali Rama is all set to entertain us all once again and we cannot wait to watch it. Season 1 of the show ran for three years and went off-air in the year 2020. Now, after a gap of four years, once again Tenali Rama is going to amaze us with his wit and wisdom. Actor Krishna Bharadwaj who plays the titular role in the show has gone bald yet again for his character and in an Exclusive interview with JustShowBiz, Krishna shared his thoughts on the same, on how Tenali has helped him in his personal growth, his memorable fan interaction and much more.
 
 
Excerpts –
 

So first of all I would like to know what made you say yes to this show? What really excited you about the script in the second season?

See, Tenali had always been a brand for the channel. And, it’s a huge brand. It’s a big brand which has always worked and we had very good popularity in the first season. In the last episode of the first season we had announced that we will come back for the second season but, the channel’s strategy changed and they went on the drama based show and not comedy or slice of life. So now I guess the new team is managing the channel and the strategy has changed back to comedy and slice of life. I was always very happy about playing the character of Tenali Rama because it’s an iconic character. People know me, still know me as Tenali. And it’s a brand which I never want to lose on to. When they told me the new story, I was very happy about it. This time the character is richer, it’s more emotional, there’s way more drama than before and of course, comedy, drama and a portion of emotional part which was a big reason for me to say yes to this show. So I guess the story, the newness, the novelty factor, the freshness and overall, it’s like coming back home and back to Tenali. So it’s a comfort zone. I know the characters. So that’s what made me say yes to the second season.
 
 
 
 
 
How has playing Tenali Rama shaped your career and personal growth over the years?
 
Yes, it has helped me in my personal growth a lot because I am a happier person after playing Tenali Rama. Before Tenali Rama started, I wasn’t. We all struggle. We act as we go through our struggle part and all. And I was also going through a bad struggle where I had no work and all. But when Tenali happened, I was not in a very good mental state. And, suddenly I was thrown into this comedy zone, even if you’re not mentally happy or mentally satisfied or at peace but, gradually after playing Tenali, I started realizing that I’m becoming a happier person because when you play the character of a happy person with a happy team, seven days of a week, it affects you psychologically somewhere and playing Tenali Rama affected me psychologically and made me a way happier person which I used to be before. So personal growth is the best contribution of Tenali in my life. Secondly, the intelligence of this character and, few of the religious stuff that we incorporated in the story. I remember one of the Reel which went really viral was about 33 koti devi devta, the facts about Sanatan Dharma, So all these facts, it made me a better knowledgeable person. It made me a happier person and it made me an intelligent person. That’s how it helped me in my personal growth.
 
 
Tenali Rama’s bald look has actually become very iconic. No actor would go through this for just a character and that too twice at the gap of four years. So how did you feel when it first became a part of your image? And how do you embrace it now?
 
Actually, the first condition when I got the character was that you have to go bald for the show and as actors, we love ourselves, you know, we sell ourselves, that we look good, we are crazy about hair and our look and our style and everything and if you have to go bald for a film, it’s a small project, the film gets complete in six months, three months, four months but, daily soap is a longer commitment so that was a task in the first season but, gradually I got comfortable with it and once the show went off-air, I grew back my hair. I love to see myself in hair, I don’t like myself in  the bald look. So this time it was actually a task that I had to go bald again. My first reaction was, yaar mujhe phir se takla nahi hona yaar.. and these days everybody is losing hair and we spend so much money on our hair.. to take care of our looks and I have spent a lot of money to maintain my hair but I don’t know every time I get paid to get bald in life so, I go bald. ( Laughs ) No complaints because this image of Tenali, it has always given me, has never taken away anything. It has given me a lot of name, fame, money, popularity, fandom, so I have received so much because of this image and, I would like to be in this image till the time I am able to play the character properly. As an actor, I do feel that I should do something different, I want to change the image but I guess, Tenali’s image has been so strong with people that something drastic would be needed to change this image, till then I am happy to play Tenali.
 
 
 
As you said, Tenali has given you so much in life, and you are very popular as Tenali .. how do you maintain a balance between your on-screen persona and real life identity?
 
That’s a very nice question. Actually, I am drastically different from what Tenali Rama is. Krishna Bharadwaj is a quiet, reserved, silent person who doesn’t talk that much, who doesn’t go to parties, who doesn’t have so many friends. I stay alone and I enjoy my peace and seclusiveness but, Tenali Rama as a character is so energetic, so full of activity and lot of action that it actually takes a toll on my psychology so, it’s very difficult to maintain my peace of mind during playing this character so, I make sure that  I meditate when I am playing Tenali Rama because that’s a big helping point for me because playing a character which is so drastically opposite to your own personal image does take a toll on your mental health. It happened in the last season also but this time I am way more prepared that what all I have to do for my sanity. I have to exercise well, I need to meditate well to keep my sanity and not let this character affect my  psychology and my peace of mind. In daily soaps, most of the time we cast the actors who are similar to the character but in my case, I have got a character that is just not me at all. I am not this active person in real life. In real life, I am very lethargic, lazy, and very laid back. I am very happy with myself, I don’t meet people, I don’t need a lot of activities in my life but, Tenali Rama is way opposite and somehow I have been able to maintain my peace and my sanity in my personal life through meditation.
 
 
What keeps you grounded? How do you handle fame?
 
It doesn’t go on my head actually. In the first season of Tenali Rama, the holdings were up and all and my set was in Naigaon and life was between Naigaon and Malad and vice versa so there was nothing to experience personally. I was not meeting people, wasn’t going out at all.. one day, the channel girl came and told me, you have no idea how big a star you have become and I realised, okay, I am a star now. These are her words not mine, I don’t consider myself as a star or even a celebrity. I am just a normal actor, I love acting, acting is a healing process to me and I enjoy my art. The skill of acting satisfies me and as I mention again, it heals me and I never see it as name, fame, popularity.. it’s just my work, it’s like any other profession and this is my profession and it makes me really happy so, I guess.. My happiness keeps me grounded. When I am in front of the camera, I am a totally different person and in real life, I am a different person so, I am able to maintain this diversification between me and my character and it helps me keep myself grounded.
 
 
I am sure, you have had so many fan interactions over the years, what’s the most memorable one, and how does their support impact your work?
 
I guess, these days, fan base is being measured by the number of fans one has on social media and I am not very active on social media but my fandom, whatever little followers I have are very loyal to me. It’s been four years since Tenali went off-air but I still have those people on social media and through social media only I can understand that they are my fans. Actually, I have a problem  with the word, “Fan”, we need a new word for it.. some other word.
 
How about Admirers? 
 
Yeah, admirers is a better word. I am quite lucky when it comes to having admirers because see, there is this bald hero in a show and there is no romantic angle to show, no love story between hero and heroine and yet people love him and the fact that show Raj for so long, we did eight hundred and five episodes in the first season is proof that I have good admirers or good fan following. And, the real life interactions are sometimes funny and sometimes good.. I remember, people came and touched my feet asking me to bless them so that they get good marks in their examinations and it amazed me because I wasn’t playing the character of a God, Tenali is not God or even a mythological character but that was the impact of this character on people. 
 
So, is that your most memorable fan interaction?
 
((Laughs) Actually, the most memorable one is quite funny and I am not sure whether I should share it or not but here it goes. So, I was in Surat for the promotion of my Gujarati film and Tenali Rama had just released. I was in a mall where there were lots of kids and we were at a dice and kids were taking pictures with me and their mothers were standing behind me. Suddenly, I felt somebody grab my butt and I turned and saw all the ladies, and aunties and mummies around so that was something which I still remember and we laughed so much that day thinking what just happened with me, so that’s quite memorable actually.
 
 
Can you share a fun or surprising behind-the-scenes moment from Tenali Rama 2 that fans wouldn’t know?
 
Actually, it’s not been long.. It’s been hardly eight or ten days since we started shooting and this time so many tracks have opened simultaneously that all the actors are shooting different scenes and there has been no such fun moment as of yet but I am happy to meet my co-actors. My Amma and Sharda who plays my wife in the show. Every year, the actor who plays my wife, Sharda keeps on getting replaced but this time, I am glad that my OG Sharda is back in the show. Just being with them is fun, our chemistry is so good that we don’t have to do anything extra for the on-screen chemistry and in every scene we have fun. I am reliving those days again and I keep saying that Oh My God, I can’t believe this time again Tenali Rama is a big part of my life after four years so, this fact it self is a lot of fun in life. 
 
 
How would you describe your personal style, and does it influence how people perceive you beyond your acting roles?
 
Oh God! I am just not the stylish person at all. I lack that style sense. In fact, two – three days ago, I shared a Reel with my recent looks and my designer got mad about the song I chose for it.. I am so dumb when it comes to making a Reel or something.. so, I am not updated, I am quite an old school person coming from a small town so that small town mentality is very much intact.. I am still that person. I wear what I want to wear, I am very comfortable in my skin, I don’t follow any social norms or any peer pressure or try to make any style statement. I am quite simplistic in my appearance and I like it that way. My personal life is very personal and private and I don’t want to portray anything which I am not and whenever I am in front of the public, I am what I am. Maybe I am not actually the same kind of person I am in my personal life but whatever I am portraying in public is also not different from how I actually am. So, there’s no two lives. I think, most of the actors live two lives, some with filters, some without filters, a different personality in front of the public and completely different in personal life, that is something I am not able to do in life. So, I am myself everywhere without trying to prove anything.
 
 
Looking ahead, are there any new directions or projects you are excited to explore in your career?
 
I have nothing actually other than Tenali Rama right now. I have done two Gujarati films before which were quite a hit and on the basis of that I got a third one which I recently finished filming for and then Tenali started. I am contract bound now, I shoot thirty days a month for this show only and I cannot do anything else.
 
 
Any dream character that you would like to play at least once in your life?
 
I am deeply motivated and inspired by director Imtiaz Ali’s work and the character Ranbir Kapoor played in the movie Rockstar is one of my all time favorites and a dream character that I would like to play at least once in my life. The guy next door or the cute image of mine, it bothers me all the time because I am not limited to that only. Comedy is not the only genre that I can act in, I am a hardcore theatre actor and I would really like to play different characters in different genres.
 
 
We wish Krishna all the very best for the second season of Tenali Rama and hope it’s even a bigger hit than the previous season.
 
Stay tuned for more updates!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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