New Delhi: Roumers of Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh’s playing the iconic superhero character of Shaktimaan in Basil Joseph’s upcoming film is doing rounds all over the internet. If the latest reports are to be believed, the Padmavat fame is set to grace the theaters in one of his movies scheduled to be released by 2026.
However, Mukesh Khanna, the OG Shaktiman who is seen as a synonym for India’s first superhero by the masses, is not pleased by the thought of Ranveer portraying Shaktiman on the big screen.
For the unaware, Khanna was the man who featured as lead actor in the classic 450-episode TV series Shaktimaan which was televised in India from 13 September 1997 to 27 March 2005 in Doordarshan. The show not only turned out to be a massive success for the makers but also earned Mukesh a huge fan following as the public went gaga over his superhero character of Shaktimaan which is still celebrated to this day.
Shaktimaan angery on Ranveer Singh
Pura social media mahinon se is rumour se bhara pada tha ki Ranveer karega Shaktimaan. Aur har koi naaraz tha ise lekar. Main chup raha. . Lekin jub channels ne bhi elaan karna shuru kar diya ki Ranveer sign ho gaya hai. To mujhe muhn kholana pada. Aur maine bol diya ki aisi… pic.twitter.com/SILp3kjImJ
— Mukesh Khanna (@actmukeshkhanna) March 17, 2024
Taking a dig at Deepika Padukone’s husband, Mukesh Khanna aka the original Shaktimaan roasted the actor for even thinking about playing the much-loved character in the film. He lashed out at the actor, recalling the time when his naked pictures viral video went on the internet, & said, “Ranveer should go and settle in another country like Finland or Spain, that has nudist camps. Go there, open it up. Work in movies where you will have the opportunity to do nude scenes frequently.”
Further speaking on the topic, Mukesh called Ranveer “Oversmart”, requesting the producers not to cast the actor as Shaktiman in their film and to avoid him at all costs. Through a social media post, the 65-year-old veteran also added that despite Ranveer’s massive popularity, he is not suitable to step into the shoes of Shaktimaan due to his controversial image in society.
Shaktimaan is not Spiderman
Drawing a comparison of Shaktimaan with Hollywood superheroes such as Spiderman or Batman, Khanna said that there’s no match between Shaktimaan and Western superheroes as the former is also a super teacher, and when he speaks, everyone pays attention to him. He also stated that he currently cannot think of any actor who, in his mind, is fit to do justice to Shaktimnan’s character on the big screen.
