MUMBAI: Arun Mandola gave life to mythological character Lakshman not once, but twice, on-screen. And though he nailed it perfectly, he says it took him two-three months to connect to his on-screen character. 

The young actor made his TV debut with "Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanumaan" and says when he first started shooting it he did not understand anything as it was shot against chroma. 

"'Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanumaan' was my first mythological TV serial. When I started shooting for it I didn't understand anything because 90 percent of the shoot was against chroma, so I was confused about how to perform because you have to imagine everything, so it took around 2-3 months to connect with this character because there is no workshop in TV serials like films," he said. 

"Luckily I have a very good command on Sanskrit due to my family background, so  later I performed well and even the audience praised me a lot in India as well as other countries," he added. 

The actor reprised his role as Lakshman once again in "Vighnaharata Ganesh" and he says it came as a challenge to him because he did not want to repeat what he did in "Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanumaan" again. He further said that his costume was also different from that of other actors. 

(Also read: Guess what inspired Sunil Lahri to take up the role of Lakshman in Ramayan?)

"My costume was very different from other mythological actors because it took three rounds for me to wear it and it was hard to carry as well. I could’t sit properly, my movements were also very restricted. If I tried to move the costume would become loose so costume dada had to come every five minutes to fix it. We are so used to wearing simple and light clothes that it becomes difficult to carry mythological costumes. For my makeup and costume, it took approx three-fours hours," Arun said. 

(Also read: Jo fit hai, woh hit hai, feels Arun Mandola)