How Mukesh Khanna is ruining Shaktimaan and becoming a clown

I still remember running home from my school in my teens just to catch a glimpse of my favorite superhero, Shaktimaan.

shaktimaan He was a real-life introvert who transforms into a badass superhero when he senses a crime nearby, a fantasy of almost every teenager looking for a chance to save their crush after a terrorist attack at their school.

But I was disappointed when I found out I was only watching reruns of the iconic show.

After all these years, when Sony announced that it was going to make a feature film about shaktimaan, I couldn’t contain my excitement and started searching for updates or news about it.

According to previous reports, Ranveer Singh was supposed to play Shaktimaan. in a film produced by SonyLIV and both he and Mukesh Khanna had several discussions about the role, but that doesn’t seem to have gone well.

I was still waiting for the makers to name the actor who would play the iconic character when Mukesh Khanna dropped the biggest bombshell!

Mukesh Khanna announced that he will make a film titled Shaktimaan again.

Making the announcement on YouTube, Mukesh Khanna posted a video in which he appeared as Shaktimaan and said that he wanted to showcase India’s OG superhero who would be relevant to today’s generation.

This announcement brought a lot of criticism to Mukesh Khanna as fans called him “selfish”.

#LOOK | Mumbai: Actor Mukesh Khanna, who is all set to reprise his iconic character from ‘Shaktimaan’, talks about the role.

“This is a costume inside me… I think personally too, in my opinion, this costume has come from inside me… I did well in Shatimaan because it came from… pic.twitter.com/1NdTRup83h

— AIN (@ANI) November 11, 2024

like a hardcore shaktimaan fan, I also think Mukesh Khanna should retire from the superhero character instead of cashing in on the show’s name and cult following.

Creation and relevance

As an aspiring filmmaker and writer, I also know that it’s hard to let go of a story or character when you’ve built it from scratch. For older celebrities, it’s even harder to swallow that they’re no longer relevant.

The biggest example of this is Govinda, who has been posting cringe-worthy dance videos on his YouTube channels to stay relevant instead of trying to play age-appropriate roles in films or the OTT space.

Mukesh Khanna still wants to stay relevant, but he shouldn’t rely on one of his best creations because it would only destroy the value and mass hysteria that the character created.

Also, sub-par graphics would only lead to trolling and Shaktimaan would be reduced to memes of an iconic character.

A creator could live forever immortalizing his creation and this is how Mukesh Khanna could do it.

You can pass the baton to a younger actor who is relevant and integrate fresher ideas to make the superhero reach a wider audience.

Another solution could be to have an ‘Old Shaktimaan’.

Hugh Jackman played an older version of Wolverine in logan and Amitabh Bachchan set the screens on fire with their performance as Ashwatthama in kalki2898 AD where it was above 80.

Mukesh Khanna could take inspiration from these actors and reprise Shaktimaan in its older, rougher version, but can he bring conviction to the character?

With all these questions, I still hope that Mukesh Khanna doesn’t ruin a character who is still loved by millions around the world.

I know the graphics won’t be top-notch, but a good story could still bring Shaktimaan back to its former glory.