Amid nationwide lockdown, Doordarshan started to re-telecast Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan and BR Chopra's Mahabharat in order to keep the families entertained. The shows are currently being re-aired on Star Plus and Colors TV, respectively. With Mahabharat, fans got to relive their childhood memories. Speaking of popularity of the show, Pankaj Dheer said that fans worshipped him as Karna.
"People have loved me and adored me over the years. It goes to show that I have merited it. Even in the history books of school, if they have a reference to Karna, they have my picture there. So, as long as these books will be printed in school, I will always be their reference as Karna. I also have two temples where there is Puja done every day. I am worshipped there in Karna mandir. I have been to those temples. One is in Karnal and one is in Bastar," Pankaj Dheer told DNA in an interview.
"There is an eight-feet tall statue of mine, and people come there and worship it," he added. "When I go there, people love me from the bottom of their hearts. This goes to show that they have accepted me as Karna. This becomes very difficult for others to play that role again. I have been offered a lot of roles in other versions of Mahabharat, but I refused it. I have played Karna and that is it for me. It is not about money. I can make money otherwise. But I don’t want to confuse my fans. It won’t be justice to my fans."
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Mahabharat made Pankaj Dheer a household name. The show is currently airing on Colors TV.