TOI: Dont believe talent can get typecast-Mohit

Mohit Raina, small screen's Mahadev, talks about love, life and Women, with Neha Maheshwri Bhagat

Playing God is not easy...
While the actor admits to having had initial apprehensions of taking up the offer, he says, "Both my father and I are staunch believers of Shiva, so, I accepted Nikhil Sinha's offer to play God in Devon Ke Dev Mahadev."

No fear of getting typecast
"I don't believe that talent can ever get typecast. You just need to experiment with your looks and appear different on every show," states Mohit.

Prepping up to be divine
"I do a lot of meditation so that I am able to reflect calmness on my face, something that attracts people to Mahadev. It's not easy to get that calm look given the mad Rush that's associated with a daily soap since we are always working against time," says he. Mohit also worked on his body and put on around five kilos for the role. "I had to put on weight since I had to reflect Mahadev's Alpha male image."

Crazy fan-following!
There are fans who request him to visit their houses in his Lord Shiva attire so that they can offer their prayers to Him and seek his blessings! Recounts he, "My character had kheer for the first time on the show and the following day, so many people made kheer to celebrate the fact that their lord had devoured kheer. Fans get me kheer when they come to meet me on the sets. People call me everything from divine to pleasing to hot."

'Who wants to marry God?'
The only bane of essaying Lord Shiva is that Mohit has stopped getting marriage proposals. Not that marriage is on his mind, but he has become divine now. "Earlier, I used to get at least one or two proposals but not anymore. Bhagwan se jab tak insaan nahi bann jaata tab tak kuch nahi hoga. Bhagwan se kaun shaadi karega? They are also scared of the snake around my neck," he says.

Against his parents' wish
"My parents thought that I had lost it and would ruin my life when I told them that I wanted to become an actor. But then it was meant to be. I have faced struggles and have given some flops before hitting the jackpot. My father passed away two days before this role was offered to me. I accepted it as a gift from my father," he says.

Trivia.
Mohit takes almost two hours to transform into Mahadev.
He had to put on around five kilos to look the part.
He is a self-proclaimed hermit! Neither does he drink nor does he smoke and calls black coffee his 'wine'.
Though single in life, he is a die-hard romantic.
A picture of his on screen Avatar is hung outside a temple in Banaras.