Nitish Bharadwaj is a renowned and accomplished figure in the Indian entertainment industry, with a career spanning multiple mediums and decades. He first gained widespread recognition for his portrayal of Lord Krishna in the iconic television series Mahabharat (1988),a role that catapulted him to household fame.
Born into the Marathi Brahaman Bhardwaj gotra, Nitish initially pursued a career in veterinary surgery, working as an assistant veterinarian at a racecourse in Mumbai. However, he soon found the work monotonous and decided to leave, opting instead to explore his artistic side.
Bharadwaj's journey in the arts began with training in Marathi theatre as a director, before transitioning to professional Marathi theatre and later, Hindi theatre. He gained valuable experience through his work in various productions, including the Hindi mythological play Chakravyuh, in which he once again donned the role of Lord Krishna.
In 1988, Bharadwaj was chosen to play the lead role of Lord Krishna in B. R. Chopra's classic television series Mahabharat (1988),a role that earned him overnight stardom at the tender age of 23. He went on to reprise this role in Chopra's subsequent mythological shows, Vishnu Puran (2000) and Ramayan (2002).
Throughout his career, Bharadwaj has appeared in numerous Marathi and Hindi films, showcasing his versatility as an actor. In 2013, he made his directorial debut with the Marathi film Pithuran.
In addition to his work in the entertainment industry, Bharadwaj has also ventured into politics, contesting parliamentary elections from Jamshedpur and Rajgarh (in Madhya Pradesh) as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate. In 1996, he was elected to the Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament from Jamshedpur, defeating veteran Inder Singh Namdhari.
