Mahabharata Star Firoz Khan Shares Why He Changed His Name To Arjun

B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharata, which initially aired in 1988, is back on TV to entertain a whole new generation. Mahabharata star Firoz Khan has shared that he is happy to see viewers enjoying the second innings of the show. In an interview with HT, Firoz Khan aka Arjun shared his experiences regarding the auditions for Mahabharata.

“I went in and saw actors like Deepak Parashar, Raj Babbar and Govinda, among others there. The auditions for Mahabharat were going on and Govinda told me to give it a shot. I was given two pages of dialogues in Hindi. I told him to read out the lines in Hindi so that I could rewrite them in English.”

Firoz Khan On Changing His Name To Arjun

Firoz Khan also emphasized that he was the one destined to play Arjun in Mahabharata. However, the role was earlier supposed to be portrayed by Jackie Shroff.

“A week after when I didn’t get a call back, I went to his office. I was asked to wear my costumes and a mustache. I went up to Chopra saab’s cabin in the first floor and he was sitting their along with our writers, Dr Rahi Masoom Raza and Pandit Narendra Sharma and they told me that I’ve been locked to play Arjun.”

It is common knowledge that actor Firoz Khan changed his name to Arjun after playing the famous character in Mahabharata. He also shared the reason behind the change during the interview.

“Whenever I used to call up a producer, they would think that I’m Feroz Khan. When I would explain to them who I was, they would ask me to call back later and I felt insulted. Chopra saab and Dr Raza recommended that Arjun should be my new name. It went on to give me everything that I dreamed of. And even my mother began to address me as Arjun eventually.”