Akbar was never a negative person, but a great ruler – Vishal Jethwa

The young kid Vishal Jethwa has managed to make a mark as Akbar in Sony Entertainment Television’s Bharat Ka Veer Putra…Maharana Pratap (Contiloe Entertainment) after two other actors got replaced prior to him.

Talking about his journey as Akbar the boy stated, “There was always a pressure on me to do good work as I was the third replacement in Akbar’s character. Having said this, the other two actors had done good work too; hence I had to not only manage to live up to that, but actually do better than them. Also since Pratap (Faisal Khan) was already popular and a hit character, I had to maintain the same having been cast opposite him.”

Vishal, who has been part of numerous episodics, has been brought up single-handedly by his mother. “She has been a constant support to me and even now, she travels around for my shoot and appearances. It’s all because of her that I have managed to reach so far. I started off with dance but soon got interested in acting, the classes of which used to happen just below my dance classes. Although it was above our budget, my mom went all the way to let me live my passion and I feel happy to have made her proud today,” shared Vishal.

Starting off as a negative lead, was he prepared to accept the wrath of the people, we asked. “Akbar was never a negative person. From what I have studied and heard of him, he was a great ruler. As far as our show is concerned, Pratap is the hero. So we had to show Akbar in the negative light. However, on the contrary, Akbar has always supported Hindus and Rajputs; even his close aide Birbal and his Navratan were all Hindus,” he answered confidently.

On the vast homework the boy has done for the role, Vishal stated, “I did see movies and TV shows based on Akbar just to check on the characteristics, but then erased all of it and worked on myself to make my own character. However, I did take diction classes to get the correct Urdu dialect.”

On the pressure of handling his new-found popularity, the boy stated, “Of course it feels good to get recognised by people. My friends also treat me in a special manner but for them and my family I am still the same Vishal and I will always be that,” he concluded.

Well said, young boy!!!