B.R. Chopra’s Mahābhārat

[Jainarayan]

If anyone is interested the full series is on the Pen Bhakti YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTfk5dN-W6BOlXRTsR8wrjEBJip43lrVn

I’ve been binge watching it for the past week or so. I’m up to episode 85, the height of the war. Reviews I’ve seen say it’s pretty faithful to the story, not many artistic or literary liberties taken.

So many themes, makes you think and take stock of your own values. ... Winners, losers, heroes, heroines, villains, manipulators (Shakuni would be funny if he wasn’t so dangerous), a couple of flawed heroes (Karna, and yes, Bhishma), whiners and complainers the biggest one being Dhritrashtra ... the range of human characters and emotions. Krishna is particularly fun to watch. At one point, when Arjuna swears to kill Jaidrath by sundown or immolate himself, He asks Arjuna “What is it with this family and taking oaths!?”

Word to the wise.., pay close attention to the first few episodes because the family and dynasty relationships are being laid down. They can seem convoluted.

A couple of screenshots I took.

Arjuna and Krishna.
Maa Durga (Krishna tells Arjuna to seek Her blessings).
Krishna trying to encourage Karna.



P.S. It’s in Hindi with English subtitles that often come off unintentionally humorous... the proverbial “lost something in translation”. Believe it or not I’ve picked up some Hindi.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Karna and Bhishma are in know way flawed.
Did you notice that the script was written by Pandit Narendra Sharma and the Hindi/Urdu poet Rahi Masoom Raza, based on the original story by Vyasa? Rahi Masoom Raza was a darling of Hindi cinema-goers.
Feroz Khan played the role of Arjuna, Nazneen played the role of Kunti, etc.

 

[Jainarayan]

Karna and Bhishma are in know way flawed.
Did you notice that the script was written by Pandit Narendra Sharma and the Hindi/Urdu poet Rahi Masoom Raza, based on the original story by Vyasa? Rahi Masoom Raza was a darling of Hindi cinema-goers.
Feroz Khan played the role of Arjuna, Nazneen played the role of Kunti, etc.

I’m far from acquainted with Hindi cinema. The extent of my other experience is Ramayan (the 2013 or 2016 version), Bahubali (I love that one), Dharmakshetra, and now Mahabharat. Dharmakshetra was interesting but it seems to have taken some left turns from the original story. For example, it painted Gandhari as sarcastic, nasty, vindictive and cruel to Kunti. Draupadi didn’t escape Gandhari’s sniping either. In this version, Gandhari was just a plain old *****. They made Karna hateful of Kunti, and he never forgave her. They made Yudishthira a milquetoast, totally ineffectual. I don’t know why the writer and director made it this way.

Anyway, I think Bhishma and Karna are thought of as flawed, as was explained to me, so this isn’t my judgement, but I don’t disagree with it, is partly because of the incident with Draupadi at the dice game. Bhishma, along with everyone except Vidur remained silent and turned their heads away. But he himself admitted several times the mistakes he made. I don’t think he ever considered himself perfect.

Karna was also a good man imo. I actually like him. He got a bum deal. He fell under Duryodhana’s influence, feeling indebted to him. At least according to the dialogue he later came to realize that was a mistake and regretted his actions but he was in too deep. What he said to Draupadi was deplorable. Apart from that, maybe flawed isn’t a good word to describe him, more like “tragic hero”.

I don’t even think Duryodhana was wholly or purely evil... I don’t think he was evil at all. Just a selfish, over-indulged and spoiled brat who grew into an over-indulged and spoiled man whom few people went against.

I haven’t read all 100,000 verses, my eyes would glaze over, just retellings, portions, analyses and things like that. I suppose a 5,000 year old 100,000 verse epic is up for grabs by everyone and their uncle for analyzing it.

Btw I read that Feroz Khan was so into his role that he legally changed his name to Arjuna. That’s dedication to one’s craft.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Yeah, both Bhishma and Karna were tragic heros. Bhishma's problem started when Shantanu (great grandfather of Kauravas and Pandavas) wanted to marry Satyavati and Satyavati extracted a promise from Bhishma that he would always look after her progeny.
Karna must have felt very heart-broken on knowing about his birth, but he was too gentle a person to insult his mother. He gave his protective armor to Indra (Arjuna's father) because Indra begged for it in the guise of a brahmin.

 

[Jainarayan]

Yeah, both Bhishma and Karna were tragic heros. Bhishma's problem started when Shantanu (great grandfather of Kauravas and Pandavas) wanted to marry Satyavati and Satyavati extracted a promise from Bhishma that he would always look after her progeny.
Karna must have felt very heart-broken on knowing about his birth, but he was too gentle a person to insult his mother. He gave his protective armor to Indra (Arjuna's father) because Indra begged for it in the guise of a brahmin.

Exactly! Bhishma regretted the oath. He was Shantanu’s rightful heir. Shantanu should have told Satyavati and her father that was too high a price to pay. But he (Shantanu) was thinking with something other than his brain. I mean, he was gambling the future of the kingdom. Bhishma was thinking only of his father’s personal happiness, not the kingdom. In the series Satyavati does come to regret and lament the oath.

And being noted for his charity and code, Karna would not refuse the Brahmin. Being charitable along with his archery was his claim to fame. If it wasn’t for that damn scorpion he might have escaped Parashurama’s anger and continued his lessons.

Parantu! Parantu kya, Jai? That’s one of my new expressions... and aayushmaan bhava when I see our little kids. I’m dangerous when I learn something new ... if none of this happened we wouldn’t have the story and the lessons.