Manish Wadhwa, best remembered as Chanakya in Chandragupt Maurya, will play Peshwa’s father in Peshwa Bajirao on Sony TV. He tells Rachita Malhotra what makes his role interesting
How is it like to play Peshwa Bajirao’s father Balaji Vishwanath BhattIJ
It is very fascinating. Balaji was just a common man and the first Brahmin to become a warrior. He played an integral role in Peshwa’s journey. The show gives a sneak-peak into the growing up years of Peshwa Bajirao and through Balaji, it highlights how parenting should be done, which is missing these days. Today both mother and father have different ways of bringing up their child.
How was he as a father to Peshwa BajiraoIJ
Both father-son duo shared a great bond. It was not just Bajirao who was following the footsteps of his father but his father was also learning from his son. As he says in the show: “Talwaar chahe toh kattar se bahot kuch seekh sakti hai,” signified that how Balaji gets to learn so many things from Peshwa. There is no age limit to learn new things and experience from our children.
Was it difficult to share screen space with a child artisteIJ
Not at all! Arey, woh toh kamaal ka hain. I learn a lot from them. They work effortlessly, without any tension even if at times they aren’t able to perform well. If they are not able to give an ok shot, they remain relaxed and never stop trying to give their best without worrying much. They won’t go home and ponder over their bad performance. Yeh bachhe baap hain sabke and you will enjoy watching them in the serial.
What do you like the most about this characterIJ
My character has different layers and that makes it very interesting. I get to speak different languages. Balaji escapes and disguises himself in order to hide his identity. Such interesting sub-plots give me a chance to explore something different.
You have done a lot of historical serials. How is this one differentIJ
Before this, I have always done characters which were already established and known. But in Peshwa Bajirao, we are showing the journey of Balaji Vishwanath of how he became a warrior. No other serial has ever shown this.
You started off as a theatre artist and then switched to TV. Which medium do you preferIJ
Be it theatre, advertisements, movies or serials, if you are good at work, you will always be good no matter what is given to you. You will have to give your 100 per cent to your work. If you ignore the earning prospects, there is not much difference between all these mediums.
Playing a father on screen, what message would you give to newage parentsIJ
If we observe our children closely, we can learn so much from them. One should never shy away from learning from a child. Also a child shouldn’t be given a chance to learn everything from a mobile phone. There are things that parents should be teaching them, and not let mobile phones do the same. Mobile phones these days mature them at an early age. What they need to know at the age of 20, they get to know it at the age of 11-12, which is wrong.
