‘Mahadev & Sons’: Shakti Anand shares how daily discipline helped him step into Mahadev’s world

'Mahadev & Sons’ has managed to struck a chord with the viewers and is slowly winning hearts with story telling and powerful performances. Set in Hardoi, the story traces Mahadev’s rise from an orphan working as a servant in a wealthy family to becoming a respected head of his own household. That sincerity, drawn from real soil and real stories, is what has struck an instant connection with viewers.

Calm, composed, and authoritative, Mahadev represents a generation that believes routine is strength and responsibility is love. To carry that honesty on screen, Shakti Anand immersed himself in Mahadev’s way of life, building a physicality that reflects a man who has always led from the front and never hesitated to do the hard work himself.

Sharing his thoughts on the response and the role, Shakti says, “I’m really grateful for the love the audience has been showering on Mahadev & Sons. What drew me to the show was the honesty of its world - it’s rooted and inspired by real situations, and that grounding reflects in every relationship. Mahadev is someone who has earned everything the hard way, so that strength has to show naturally on screen. He’s a man who has built his life brick by brick, and because of that I can’t look lazy or disconnected from the kind of life he has lived. To play him truthfully, I couldn’t rely only on dialogues; his strength comes from his body language, his alertness, and the way he occupies space, because he’s someone who has always done the work himself. I consciously worked on my physicality and discipline so that Mahadev never looks removed from his roots. When audiences tell us they see someone familiar in him - a father, an elder, someone they recognise from their own lives - that’s when I feel the preparation has truly paid off.”

In the current storyline, Ashish’s struggle with alcoholism leaves Mahadev shaken, even as he remains unaware of the reason behind it. As Mahadev turns to a marriage bureau to find matches for his sons, a proposed alliance between Ketan and Narmada triggers his anger, opening the door for Bhanu to take advantage of the growing unrest.