I'm a very boring person: Mohit Raina

Mumbai: Actor Mohit Raina, who has appeared in shows like “Devon Ke Dev…Mahadev”, “Mahabharat” and “Bandini”, says he is a “boring” person in real life. And that he likes to play larger than life roles onscreen so that he can make his life interesting with the characters he portrays. “I’m a very boring person. I'm not at all shy. At times, I do post on Twitter. Though it’s been a while now. The reason that I enjoy playing larger than life characters is because I’m boring,” Mohit, who will next be seen playing the title role in “Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat”, said at an event here. “If I would have been like these characters in my real life, then I wouldn’t have missed these things. As I’m boring I search for all these things in the characters that I play,” he added. Mohit, who rose to fame through his portrayal of Lord Shiva in “Devon Ke Dev…Mahadev”, says he is “addicted to play larger than life characters”. "There is a whole different feel playing these types of roles. Since ‘Mahadev’ ended, I was waiting to play more larger than life characters,” he said. “I had my eyes on ‘Ashoka’ since its first episode. I always waited for the makers to take a leap so that I can join it,” he added. Asked whether he will be able to break his image of ‘Mahadev’ and become Ashoka, Mohit said: “I don’t think that there should be any difficulty. If we talk about characters merging into actors or vice versa, that used to work way back in the 1980s when you had limited access and options due to fewer channels. “Today, people know who the actor is and who the character is. Yes, India is a very religious country and we are very close to our deities... but as an actor I play my character and as soon as it is finished I move on to play another one. Till the last breath of mine I can’t really dig away Mahadev from me. But as an actor I have to play other roles and move on”. Mohit will be seen as Ashoka, earlier played by child actor Siddharth Nigam, after “Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat” takes a 10-year leap. For his role, Mohit has learnt horse riding and sword fighting. Does he feel any pressure to perform better than Siddharth? Mohit said: “Yes, obviously the pressure is there. He has had a 400-episode journey in the show through which he has created a benchmark. So, people will obviously want to see him more. “But I’ll try my level best to convince them. If they (audiences) will accept me then it’s well and good otherwise may be we will recast Siddharth as Ashoka’s son”. The post leap episodes of the show will go on air starting Monday on Colors.