#Mahabharata tv series serial

Krishna complete with flute and peacock feather not Vishnu. Most curiously, the narrator of this Mahabharat is Krishna, of milky-white complexion despite his name and the description of the legendary deity. (Because if youвЂ™re a strong, ambitious woman, then you must have a few shades of villainy in you. Her backstory has been edited and instead of her father, it is she who demands her heirs inherit the throne of Hastinapur. Satyavati is presented to us as beautiful, reckless and selfish. The story of Shantanu and GangaвЂ™s marriage is missing (was it GangaвЂ™s multiple male foeticide that the modern writers couldnвЂ™t handle? Or the fact that she left her husband, raised a son as a single mother and didnвЂ™t return to matrimony?). In contrast, the new Mahabharat вЂ“ helmed mostly by Hindus if its promo material is any indication вЂ“ has managed to mangle the original text in the very first episode.

With the usual myopia of the narrow-minded, these detractors missed how knowledgeably and respectfully Raza had handled the complicated Hindu epic. When ChopraвЂ™s Mahabharat first aired and people saw RazaвЂ™s name in the credits, there were some saffron-hued egos that were stung by the fact that a Muslim had adapted a Hindu epic. What he wrote eventually reflected these efforts.

Raza spent three years researching the Hindu epic and studying it with pandits. The many flaws of ChopraвЂ™s Mahabharat were balanced by one great strength: a wonderful storyteller in poet Rahi Masoom Raza. Put simply, Mahabharat is not just a disappointment, itвЂ™s so badly done that it makes old codgers like me long for ChopraвЂ™s 1988 production of the epic, despite its melodrama, tin foil armour and precarious chariots made of flimsy plywood. Also, a garland of chappals please for the bright spark who decided the south Indian temple dance of Bharatanatyam would be a neat fit as the court dance of the north Indian kingdom of Hastinapur. IвЂ™d like to include a special slow clap for the geniuses who thought that it made complete sense to set a fishing village in the Himalayas. Most of MahabharatвЂ™s outdoor sequences look like theyвЂ™ve been shot against a desktop wallpaper. But bling canвЂ™t save the day, particularly when itвЂ™s adorning actors whose idea of expressing emotion is to hold their breath.

The only difference between the look of this new Mahabharat and BR ChopraвЂ™s Mahabharat from the 1980s is that this time round, the men are more buff, the women bare more well-toned midriffs and the budget for jewellery is better. But the actors in Mahabharat are still wearing the same satin dhoti with tinsel borders and mukut made of cheap, spray-painted metal and rhinestones. The least youвЂ™d expect from a TV show with a budget of Rs 100 crores is that it would look good.

Idiotic interpretations and modifications of the original text.

Yesterday, we saw the first episode of the new Mahabharat and during the course of its one-hour slot, we were given the following: Sanjay Leela BhansaliвЂ™s set designer, costumes supervised by Bhanu Athaiya, a cinematographer who works mostly with films, creative inputs from author Devdutt Pattanaik вЂ“ all these people blew their own and MahabharatвЂ™s trumpet in the build-up to the showвЂ™s grand premiere. The cast includes well known stars of the small screen galaxy and the behind-the-scenes team is formidable. ItвЂ™s the most lavish and elaborate television production to date, claim the producers. Mahabharat has been in the making for three years. ItвЂ™s going to change how people watch TV, it will make the 9 pm news obsolete, it will revive the economy and it might even stop global warming for all anyone could tell from the promotional campaign. Hoardings, advertisements, articles, YouTube promos вЂ“ the heralds of this new adaptation of the Hindu epic have been many and they have all sought to proclaim how totally and absolutely awesome this teleserial will be. In case of Swastik ProductionвЂ™s Mahabharat, itвЂ™s been more of a war cry than buzz.

#Mahabharata tv series serial

With TV becoming increasingly lucrative, itвЂ™s not unusual for a serial to have some buzz before it is telecast.