Sharat Saxena says Raza Murad spread rumours about him that cost him work, reveals he was treated like a 'punching bag'

Actor Sharat Saxena has said that he was treated like a punching bag in films for 35 years. He also recalled a rumour that Raza Murad spread about him, which cost him work.

Actor Sharat Saxena, who was recently seen in the Vidya Balan-starrer Sherni, has said that for 35 years, he was treated like a 'punching bag' in films. He recalled playing villainous characters whose only job was to get beaten up by the heroes to make them look good.

Sharat Saxena in a still from Sherni.

In an interview, Sharat Saxena also spoke about a rumour that Raza Murad spread about him in the industry, which ended up costing him work.

He told Rediff, "Because I was a muscular person, I used to get work as an action character. I used to do a lot of fights. I used to get beaten up by the heroes. In Kaala Patthar, I was in the introduction sequence for three heroes (Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor and Shatrughan Sinha). Every hero would come, beat me up, establish himself as the hero and carry on with the film. I was a punching bag of the film, and that was the story of my life for the first 35 years of my career."

In Sherni, Sharat plays the role of Pintu, a strongman hunter who is brought in to stop a rampaging tigress in her tracks. Directed by Amit Masurkar, the film was released on Amazon Prime Video last month.