Actor Ajinkya Deo has said that director Nitesh Tiwari gave him a clear brief while directing him as Sage Vishwamitra in Ramayana, asking him to keep the performance restrained despite the scale of the character. Speaking to Variety India, Deo said, “The character was already larger than life. He would quietly come to me and say, ‘This is what I want. Don’t go overboard.’”
Deo said working under Tiwari became one of the defining creative lessons of his experience on the film. “I learned a lot from Nitesh Tiwari as a director. He’s brilliant because he’s very soft spoken. You hardly hear him on set, but when he is absolutely clear about what he wants. He never lets a performance become bigger than it needs to be,” he said.
Describing the responsibility of playing Vishwamitra, the sage whose guidance sets Lord Ram’s journey in motion, Deo said, “The moment I was selected to play Vishwamitra, I was in awe. He’s such a pivotal character. I believe I was chosen to play him. As the shoot moved forward and I saw the sets, and later watched portions during dubbing, I realized I was part of something truly colossal.”
On preparing for the role, Deo said, “I am a spiritual person, and the moment you wear the costume and step into that world, there is a sense of purity that automatically comes to you. I worked a lot on my voice because I wanted to bring gravitas to the character.”
Recalling the mood on set, Deo said, “There was a sense of spirituality on the set. Whether it was Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Arun Govil ji or anyone else, there was a certain energy around the film that stayed with all of us.”
Having grown up watching earlier screen adaptations of the Ramayana, Deo said Tiwari’s version stands apart for combining emotional depth with scale. “Every generation has experienced the Ramayana in its own way. The characters remain the same, but audiences will experience them with greater depth and in a much more immersive way. Technology is a huge part of this film. But at the end of the day, audiences connect with characters and emotions. That is what will stay with them,” he said.
Despite a career spanning decades, Deo said the film reminded him that every project demands a fresh perspective. “I have worked in many films, but never one mounted on this scale with this level of technology. Every film teaches you something. Even after so many years, I still consider myself a student of cinema,” he said.
Deo said the biggest lesson from one of the largest productions of his career was not about scale but about restraint. “The character was already powerful. My job was simply to play him truthfully,” he said.
More Pages: Ramayana - Part : I Box Office Collection
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