The Mahabharatha is the longest epic in the world. It is the greatest too. One can find almost every mental attribute of any man in the world in one of the characters. This is not a Ramayana where the characters are all oh-so-divine and the battle is a simple good vs evil. It is a lot more complicated than that. Truth, virtue, moral and ethical code - Dharma to be precise, is what is highlighted throughout. The protagonist is the manifestation of Lord Almighty, Shri Krsna and His disciple is Arjuna, the great warrior leading the Pandava side against the Kaurava side which represents a side whose collective aim is evil yet the individuals are not. Warriors on the Kaurava side, Karna, Bheeshma, Drona albeit fighting for the evil side are bound to the evil by their code and although they are right people on the wrong side, they are bound to fall. I don't think I can explain even the crux of the matter and one has to read it, understand it and interpret it on one's own.
What is needed to adapt this epic to screen and yet not lose any of its content? The special effects shown in the battle in lord of the rings, the dramatization presented in the Godfather and the Schindler's list, the acting performances that match the ones in most of the IMDb Top 250 List of movies.
B.R Chopra could not do these. In fact he could not do any of these. He did his best in a time when special effects were costly. The acting performances are good if not great, the dialogues and screenplay was good and most importantly he tried his best to adapt to the original story. He has to be lauded for his efforts.
I'd say *** / *****
What is needed to adapt this epic to screen and yet not lose any of its content? The special effects shown in the battle in lord of the rings, the dramatization presented in the Godfather and the Schindler's list, the acting performances that match the ones in most of the IMDb Top 250 List of movies.
B.R Chopra could not do these. In fact he could not do any of these. He did his best in a time when special effects were costly. The acting performances are good if not great, the dialogues and screenplay was good and most importantly he tried his best to adapt to the original story. He has to be lauded for his efforts.
I'd say *** / *****