Parikshit Sahani was destined to play 'Shivaji' twice, but life had other plans- Ali Peter John

I think Parikshat Sahani was as good as an actor as his extremely talented father , Balraj Sahani, but has not been lucky in finding the right roles .

His performances in films like Tapasya and in the T V serial Gul Gulshan Gulfaam was more than proof of his acting capabilities - Ali Peter John

He was a very busy actor in the  70s and was playing some good roles and was working with good directors like Yash Chopra for whom he also directed a T V serial called " Doctor Sahab" which he had written and directed besides playing the title role .

It was at this time that he had to face the challenge of playing Shivaji , the warrior, King in two films which were almost being made at the same time .

The first was a film made in Hindi and English and was written by two eminent writers ,  K A Abbas and Manohar Malgaonkar and besides having Parikshat in the role of Shivaji had Smita Patil as the second wife of the warrior King.

The still to be established Amrish Puri as Emperor Aurangzeb and with Shreeram Lagoo and Vijaya Mehta the renowned theatre actress in key roles .

The film was shot on actual locations and forts in Raigad and Jaipur . Reports about the film being made on an international standard spread all over , but the film faced a financial crises and was called off .

Parikshat was also chosen to play Shivaji in a film which was financed by the government of Maharashtra and also had Sunil Dutt playing a very important role and Nutan playing Jijabai, the mother of Shivaji .

It was directed by Ram Gabale and the film was being shot in Jaipur . Parikshat was riding a horse when a slip led to Parikshat falling off the horse and meeting with severe injuries all over his body and leaving him with several broken bones .

He was in hospital for more than a month and when he was out of hospital, he couldn't walk for months and he couldn't shoot for the next four years .

And when he returned to work  , he started getting character supporting roles which he had to do out of sheer necessity.

He found work in television , but nothing came up to his satisfaction and he spent his time in writing and finally wrote a book on his father which was released by Amitabh Bachchan at a grand release function which was attended by a crowd of celebrities . Amitabh , a great fan of Balraj Sahani had also written the preface to the book .

Parikshat is 80 now but is still very active . He has written a book and some scripts during the lockdown and has also signed films and web series.

I have been watching his career and his life ever since he came to films after studying cinema in Russia.

And I have a feeling that he will go a long way from here provided he doesn't make mistakes like he has made in the past