Kahani Hamare Mahabharat Ki Review

Kahani Hamaray Mahabharat

This is not a movie review but the review of a television serial on the epic Mahabharat by Ekta Kapoor.

I was eagerly looking foward to Ekta Kapoor’s version of Mahabharath titled Kahani Hamare Mahabharat Ki, so much so that I even paid for an add-on package from Tata Sky just to catch Mahabharat every night from Monday to Thursday. Was expecting something not just bigger than the previous Mahabharat by B.R. Chopra, but a better product overall. Very high expectations, i know!

I became a fan of Mahabharat mainly due to the spectacular and historic Mahabharat of those good old days directed by B.R. Chopra and Ravi Chopra. The epic was aired every sunday morning, for 2 years between 1988 – 1990. The great thing about it was every character seemed to be born to play their role. Mukesh Khanna was brilliant as Bheeshma, when you think of Lord Krishna the picture of Nitish Bhardwaj in those costumes still comes to mind. Every other character right from Duryodhan (Puneet Issar), Arjun (Arjun), Shakuni (Gufi Paintal), Bhim (Praveen Kumar), Dhritrashtra (Girja Shankar), Draupadi (Rupa Ganguly), Karna (Pankaj Dheer), Yudhistir, Nakul, Sahadev and even Drona were just perfect for their roles. Its like you cant imagine anyone else in those legendary roles.

So it was an uphill task for Ekta Kapoor right from the day she decided to remake the epic. After the first episode that was telecasted last night on 9X at 9 PM, i was sorely disappointed.

It looked like a normal Ekta Kapoor’s Saas Bahu serial! To start off it wasnt realistic, atleast Ekta Kapoor should have had a look at Jodhaa Akbar, a costume drama which was presented in a very realistic way by Ashutosh Gowariker.

The camera was rolling all over the faces from every angle possible, a lot of thundering, lightening and noise. The characters from whatever little we got to see of them, just didnt look the character, they looked like models with a perfectly toned body in a costume drama for a historical. Maybe its too early to judge them, time will tell. The costumes except for Duryodhan’s was pretty good.

Coming to the performances, Anita Hansandani as draupadi, one of the most important characters in Mahabharat, was horrible. Dialogue delivery was the biggest flaw. She shrieked at the top of her voice, cried like she does in all those saas bahu series and in comparison to Rupa Ganguly, failed miserably. The intensity in her performance was just lacking. She made the strong character of Draupadi look weak! Shakuni is bald, he was pretty good although his laughter was sometimes annoying. Dushassan looked evil, performed well. Duryodhan looked like a evil superman in those costumes. Dont want to comment on Aryan Vaid’s performance just yet, more on him in the coming days!

Overall, after one episode it has been a major disappointment. Hopefully Ekta Kapoor can make it more realistic and Anita can improve her performance! Will keep updating this post, who knows the characters might grow on me and my opinion might change.

Ekta Kapoor’s Kahani Hamaray Mahabharat Ki is aired every Monday to Thursday from 9 to 9:30 PM Indian Standard Time on 9X.

Do drop in your comments and views on Kahani Hamaray Mahabharat Ki!

Updates

Episode 2 (8th July 2008) – Ved Vyas starts narrating the epic tale of Mahabharat to Lord Ganesh. Shantanu is smitten by Ganga’s beauty, accepts all her conditions and marries her. Ganga kills his sons one after another, till their 8th son, Bheeshma is born. The pace is fantastic, doesnt drag like most historicals. Performances were top notch today. Saakshi Tanwar, Parvathi of Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, looks ethereal as Ganga. Kiran Karmarkar, Om of Kahani, is perfect for the role of Shantanu. The locales of Ladakh are breath taking. I still hate the excessive background music, thundering and camera zooming in on the faces of actors. How i wish, Ekta makes it slightly more realistic and different from her daily soaps. More tomorrow.. Today’s episode rating – 8 / 10.

Episode 3 (9th July 2008) – Shantanu breaks his promise, questions Ganga. Ganga reveals her identity and goes into detail about the curse that they got from Brahma, also the curse of the 7 kids that she eventually killed by drowning them into the pure water of River Ganga. She takes Devavrat (Bheeshma) their 8th son with her, promising Shantanu that she would return him back to the place he belongs to, when the king of Hastinapur needs him. Devavrat is trained and educated by Parashuram. Devavrat, now 16, returns to Hastinapur and blocks the waterflow of Ganga with his arrows… That ends the 3rd episode of the epic Mahabharat.

The 3rd episode was much slower in pace compared to the 2nd, filled with excessive dialogues and unnecessary special effects. Performances were once again good. The actor portraying the role of young Devavrat, suits the character. 3rd episode rating – 5 / 10

Episode 4 (10th July 2008) – Devavrat and his father battle, Ganga intervenes and reveals their identity to each other. Devavrat is now committed to his father and Hastinapur. 16 more years pass by and Devavrat has now matured..

The 4th episode was like Kanav said in the comments below, a complete disaster. The background music is deafening, trademark Ekta Kapoor slo-mo effects and camera work continue to irritate. A realistic feel, so very important for a historical is completely missing. 4th episode rating – 3 / 10

Advertisements

281 Comments

  • I think its not right for us to make judgements about the way ekta kapoors mahabarath cast have been dressed because if you think logically about it and compare it to the other mahabarath versions they made the whole casts over dresssed up with all gold jewls nd gorgeuos outfits which i reackon at that time that they might not have had. I know they where the part of the royal family and everything but that doesnt mean we should for get the time then when some things were not available and people were not tat wealthy at that time.

  • Though there is a contradiction regarding the real costume and ornaments of Mythological character, Ekta should maitain the tradition of general impression of Indian public regarding dresses of the mythological character just like other directors.Instead of doing this she used Roman dresses to bring westernised flavour in Mahabharat which is a social crime.

  • come on guys !!! it has been firmly established that Ekta Kapoor’s Mahabharat is a brainless & horrible version of the Indian epic…however, I feel that she is still a very smart business woman…she knows that the 9 PM prime time slot is majorly watched by the house wives & so she has made sure to provide them with lots of eye candy…this trick will ensure that her TRPs will never drop…all the desperate Indian housewives will be glued to their TV sets and their poor husbands & kids will have no other option but to watch along with them…

    To hell with the script !!! to hell with authenticity !!! to hell with good actors & superior dialogue delivery !!! Ekta Kapoor has proved that in today’s world money is all that matters & the means that you employ to earn that does not make any difference…she already knows that a huge chunk of the Indian Junta, especially the real-life Saas Bahus & desperate housewives already watch her irritating daily soaps, as they have nothing better to do with their time…by casting the same set of pathetic actors & actresses in this insipid version of a serial, she has ensured that she has a ready made audience & also cut corners…becoz all the Ronit Roys, Sakshi Tanwars & Kiran Karmarkars would lick her feet to have themselves work in her serials…

    BR Chopra’s Mahabharat was superlative & is far, far above this junk….so it is not fair to compare his serial with this travesty…the special effects used by him even in those days was much superior to Ekta kapoor’s…we can say that BR Chopra’s Mahabharat was truly a LABOUR OF LOVE, crafted by him lovingly to perfection…even today I can watch that serial & not feel bored…in fact I have learnt a lot, the philosophical gyan, the perfect portraying of relationships…no wonder people used to go wild about MAHABHARAT in those days & it still ROCKS !!!

    Ekta Kapoor on the other hand is nothing better than a PROSTITUTE who has raped the great INDIAN EPIC for her own financial gains…she is a cheapo who shamelessly plagiarises from Hollywood movies (the scene of Devavrat’s childhood fight with the Wolf – a cheap & shoddy frame to frame lift up from the Movie 300)…she seems to have been heavily inspired by Roman & Greek war movies & as such has made up her characters to look like them…she has not wasted her time, money or effort in finding good actors, rather going in for chisselled physiques…that too only for some of the lead characters…the others look like bad, underpaid, demotivated extras, who have no idea how they landed up in front of a camera (Dhirtrashtra, Pandu etc)…Santanu was supposed to be a wise & benevolent king…Ekta’s Santanu looks & acts more like an arrogant tyrant that I feel like kicking his ass…

    I accept that we dont know how the kings & warriors of that period used to dress up…however that is no excuse for dressing them up as a mixture of Romans, Greeks…even the Elephant God Ganesha looks squint eyed & surly…Makarand Deshpande as Ved Vyas is more in to dramatics & antics like standing on one leg, while reciting Mahabharat…I wont be surprised, if in some future episode, he stands on his head !!!

    The title song of BR Chopra’s Mahabharat was so unique, so divinely beautiful that even today if i hear it somewhere, I feel moved to tears…Ekta Kapoor has opted for some horrible & unconvincing title song, which I cannot recollect right now…

    The special effects used in this movie are so silly & cheap, that I am horrified if somebody from another country sees this, they will think that India is still in the stone ages & cannot manage decent special effects…I am sure that things will only deteriorate as this serial goes on…

    Ekta Kapoor has ensured that there is no aesthetic, devotional or spiritual appeal in her serial, only mind numbing dramatics, cheap histronics & a commercial venture aimed to make more money…however I am sure that there will still be some dumb, half-witted people glued to watching her serials & praising her…

  • Mr Mohan is 100% correct. Evry should raise voice or write against this westernised Indian Mythological Serial.

  • I’m a Indian, born and raised in Australia and was a student of Ancient History. I’ve read most of the Mythologies, and stories of various religions, and Mahabharata happens to be my favorite. I’ve watched the B.R. Chopra version…which was created around the time of my birth….and I found that such a well thought of and put together piece of work…in my eyes it’s a masterpiece and it should be a a foundation stone on teaching people of our culture and our history. On the other hand, I watched the first few episodes of this new series and I can tell you it’s no where near the same level as the original…the original was a Educational and pure historical account….the new one is merely entertainment. I have been disappointed with the Ekta Kapoor version but I understand she is not portraying the Mahabharata was intended to be told, she is using it as a source for entertainment. Both versions stand on their grounds firmly.

    As to saying that the new version relates to this day and age…that is complete bullshit….if a person, who has been born and raised overseas and has minimal contact with his native language can understand the complexity of the Original B.R. Chopra version…then anyone can. I will say that Ekta Kapoor dumbed it down too much….and shows that maybe our future generations are getting dumber? If you say that this is designed for this day and age…this is exactly what you mean

  • im a great fan of mahabharat,
    i would only say,
    Ekta job well done
    all the episodes were just too
    good.
    the role oh bhishma has been done the best.

    but has the serial stopped?
    this wasnt expected

  • This 3rd grade serial has been stopped because nobody liked this horrible westernised Indian mythology.So if anybody comments in favour of this serial is crazy.

  • hey eeshan ….I read your first post!! you have very good points to share.I laughed over kader khan’s example. But take no offenses….please write clearly. It sometimes is difficult to understand your post because of your short cuts. take it as an advise and make necessary changes from next time onwards. bye-bye

  • i watched few episodes of ekta kapoor’s mahabharata & i truely got very disappointed.the characters were weak, acting was weak, dialogue was somewhat ok.if compared to B.R Chopra’s mahabharata, its nothing. B R Chopra’s mahabharata looked real. though simple sets, they gave a picture of reality. the characters were so strong in their respectives roles.i seen B R Chopra’s mahabharata 3 times & what i realised is that the most powerful part of the serial was its dialogues.the dialogues were so perfect that the serial would not be that effective without them.rahi mehsoom raza has no comparision in dialogues. the over all team of mahabharata(1988) was perfect. the role of bheeshma played by mukesh khanna was awesome. it would be hard for any good actor to play a role like he did.the serial made a history. the characters made a history. none of the mahabharat would be like B R Chopra’s.everything in BR Chopra’s mahabharat is so perfect that we can’t think anything that cud be better than that.i especially advice kids, if they wish 2 learn anything, they sud surely watch BR Chopra’s mahabharata rather than spoiling their time in ekta kapoor’s mahabharata.have a nice day.

  • i cant assume any odr dan pankaj dhir for karna, nitish bharadwaj for krishna, mukeshji for bhishma, arjun for arjuna, punit issar for duryodhna, goga kapoor for kansa.. n all d odrr characters as well… dey wer just fantastic.. n donnoe why.. der wer many oder serials feturing these charachters.. coudnt come up to d expectations.. n cudnt rub of d images of these characters in our mind… i start comparing n all d odr serials fail to impress us…. i love , i admire d old mahbharata.. i like ‘samay’ dat strong voice had its great impact… i wud surely show this old mahabharta to my wud be kids… :)

  • Asha, you are mistaken. The Mahabharata was not written with Lord Ganesh’s tusk. It was written with a feather.

    Ganesh is called Ekdanth for a different reason.

    As for the Kundali thing… that’s just OCD and worthless commotion.

    As for KHMK — it’s something different. I don’t think it is a work of art as BR Chopra’s Mahabharata is. However, I wouldn’t mind watching this if it had less thundering, etc.

    I’m surprised no one has ever told her that her serials suck because of her thundering. Does she not understand that her pictures of lightning here and there are not only distracting, but aesthetically displeasing?

    Use music like BR Chopra did, instead of simply being overly friendly with the thunder-button specially made just for the keyboard. She’s a freak anyways.

  • hi,
    people please forgive me for my ignorance but is the blasphemy off air yet? I am pretty unaware of indian serials and their updates..
    thank you

  • Many who defend Ekta’s Mahabharat say that she made a funnier version young people can actually watch. I am 24, I live in Mexico, and I think those comments are stupid. They say: “Ekta removed the boring dialogues”…. excuse me, idiots, Mahabharat is not a fiction tale, it is a sacred text like the Bible, it’s supposed to express an ancient and beautiful wisdom. If you want to have fun, go and see Terminator.
    The fact that Ekta put so many special effects makes it seem like a video game, or like a bad copy from a Hollywood movie. If she really wanted to include computer effects, she should have followed Peter Jackson’s example in Lord of the Rings, where effects HELP the story, but don’t substitute it. Ekta says she made a Mahabharat for worldwide audiences…Americans also make international hits but they don’t change their culture. Why should the Pandavas be dressed like greek heroes? Why should the actors look so Western? Excuse me, but if I were looking for a Western epic, I don’t see Ekta’s shit, I go and watch Gladiator. What I want to see in Mahabharat is India in all its splendor.
    Anyway, Ekta is still a rich bitch, I must say she is really smart in a mundane way. She nows shits sells well.

  • i hav luvd ths play like nything me ,my family n my friends hav appreciated it a lot nw cn nyone tell me wen this mahabharat is goin to b broadcasted once again.awesum work dne by ekta.ths play deserves a huge round of applause

  • It is almost an year when we started commenting on KHMK, many things have changed since then.
    My prediction of “Ekta will be wiped out in 2 years” seems to be materialising.
    Once ruling in trp charts is languishing now.
    Highest is somewhere 29 (Kis des main hai mera dil) and bandini at 34.
    When Balika Vadhu in rural background earned high TRPS , rural theme is in vogue ,copy cat ekta set it in Bandini ,though treatment is still more like her daily soaps,’agale janam’ ,’mitwa’,’na aana is des’ all have rural backgrounds.
    Balika Vadhu lost number one to Bidayi and yeh rishta kya … Stories are new though treatment is not ,
    the scene is not much better than Ekta regime but at least it is better .In game of Trps some good serials are not getting high Trps like ‘ladies special’ on sony which is realistic.
    Raghav this serial has caused major losses to both inx and ekta , it will never be telecast again.ekta’s serials never have quality and this was one of the epitome of poor performances,idiotic dialogues and awful dressing.

    One thing I regret after this serial went off air , the comments +ve or -ve by people especially aditya , eshan and udyan. Aditya and eshan are both in my orkut network(khmk gave me these wonderful friends) yet we get less time to interact unlike we used to do

  • Its not that Ekta didn’t do a good work… she definitely did it; else she wouldn’t have been ruling the charts for about 7-8 years! But then came the deja vu; each serial later had the same story, the same twists, the same saga and to add to it; mostly the same actors, only the name of the character they played changed as per the serial! Too many generation leaps, too many characters and too many changing faces of the lead characters then made all her serials boring and confusing! One who has seen Star Parivaar awards regularly, they would have noticed the charm that was missing from the function this year! It was just because most of Ekta’s shows are no longer aired on Star Plus!

    Even I have noticed what Siddharth has posted; but its not the first time that the “copy trend” is happening in India! Remember, when one Bhagat Singh in Bollywood turns out to be very popular, there will be two more production houses who will attempt to make Bhagat Singh; as a result people will loose interest from all the three! When one channel made a popular show Indian Idol; other shows like Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Star Voice Of India followed the suit. When one channel made Nach Baliye; Jhalak Dikhla Ja, Dancing Queen, Dance India Dance, etc carried the trend forward. All of them may be successful in generating revenue through SMS votes; but the audience know their grievances! On each channel they get to see the same songs, the same choreographies; only the anchors, the participants, the judges and the sponsors change!

    What happened to Balika Vadhu is no different; almost every channel now has atleast two shows about the rural background! I havent seen most of them but I know Balika Vadhu is far better than any others in its competition. Na Aana Is Des Lado; before it was started, the promos made an impression that the show is about the girl child murder cases, but the show now is only about the rivalry between Sia and Ammaji! Compare this with Balika Vadhu; it never revolves around specific characters; each character is very well designed and each track shows how a particular character would react in the situation.

    Nevertheless, Indian Television today, has few very good shows like Balika Vadhu, Ladies Special, etc. Hopefully we will have some more shows that will be unique, real, entertaining and have good work….

  • YO CALM DOWN YOU ALL .. OKIE .. THIS IS JUST SERIAL .. YOU guyz dunt hve iiht to insult like tht .. If u dont like then dnt watch .. okie .. wht u guyz knoe abt mahabahrat .. they r jus tryinn to give some knowlege abt MAHABHARAT .. is tht clearr .. but u guyzz r SuCkkkk .. dummmasss plp

  • aryan bro….we know its just a serial…bt our new generation our generation are the one who watch television and few of them get stuck to few serials…according to desires…there likes and dislikes….and many not many most of ppl.get inspired from television only…u can say its the mode of communication mode of publicity through whch viewer get attrcted towards it and inspired also…..thats why they stuck to it and thn serials trp goes on roof….
    if our generation see these kind of bloody serials then one can imagine our youth knowledge.our heroes arjun duryodhana all like the gaylords.huh..which is not like that..its good to make some soaps…its just that ekta tried to entertain us and we didnt gt impressed wth her work…there was the time when everywhere from 9 pm everyone in home get stuck to their televisions only to see ekta work..tulsi virani….if u remember when mihir got expired in that soap..then in each and every home there was sad environment everyone got upset..like he is some real person who gt expired in thier home…we liked that serial..today i also thnk…yucks….wat was that…we liked that kind of soaps…well bt now her work didt go well….and u can see the result..
    main thing we r not impresed with it.her dream work is only till her mind..now one can see where is ekta kapur…i dont think any of her serial in on air now..her time is over i guess.may be in films its ok..
    and brother..its the blog where we all people express thier views wether agaisnt or in favour..we just express not fight…u can say we are the critics…yeh blog is hi ke liye bana hai to express views related to mahabharata.we get knwldge from others here..may be im not ryt..bt ya not 100 percnt wrong…
    and if u dont like all this then my advice brother in your type of gud language stop coming to this blog then..it wuld be better..
    take care dear…god bless.

  • This is absolutely rubbish.

    Bollywood needs to seriously sort out it’s special effects/choreography/costumes and needs to get the actors into proper physical shape so that they look believable as warriors/soldiers and not male models.

  • My Daughter & I loved watching Mahabharat because it had english sub-titals, but the episode (ends) stops when Krishna sends him mama to Hastinaput to find out when the next king will be apointed and then the whole mahabharat starts again from the begining.

    We would like to see future episodes till the end but dont know when that is going to happen…

  • This mahabharata is really a very gud attempt. It comes with a brand new sounds, costumes, and effects. I don’t think that if the new generation like me have to see the B.R. Chopra’s mahabharata, they will see this old version. They want something different and modernize which can suit their interest. This effort by Ekta is really incredible, this will really help the new generation to create their interest and know about Mahabharata, which can only be possible by this way. So I am in a great favor of this new version of mahabharata. The star cast is good, costumes r gud, although the six packs body of all the stars r really appreciable. Great round of applause for Ekta. I have great interest in these episodes. I am from Sikh religion but instead of this, I want to know about mahabharata. It is only because of this new version. I really like it. So think positive. The B.R. Chopra’s episodes r also gud, but they r according to old generation. there should be some change like this new mahabharata. So please frendz com’on.

  • Hi Gulab, Have you gone crazy? What do you mean by modernise Mahabhrat? Do you think Arjun should wear Jeans and T shirt. Mahabharat should not be modernised. It should be as per the basic idea which lies in the mind of the public years after year. The young generation of B.R chopra’s time could also comment that chopra’s Mabharat should be modernised as per !988. But they did not pass this type of comment,instead they liked it and today’s young generation also liked chopra’s mabharat in comparision to Ekta’s third grade Mabharat.Nobody accepted it and that is why The episode is stopped.

  • hey my frnd gulab…yaar firstly dont say this we r not here for religion fight that u saying ur sikh and still wan to see mahabharata……..dont mind yar bt jaisa mujhe laga i said to u…same way i can say im a hindu brahmin boy bt still go to gurudwara church and even once or twce to mosque too bow town infront of dargah ……well brother im into this field only in movies advertising etc brother like u saying ki new generation wants something new like ektas initiative not that old type br chopra ones..well i accept that…bt can u specify whch new generation im 22 rite now abt our generation or future ones..i accept ur though of new way…bt i guess like or new generation my brother also dunno abt mahabharata or ramayan as such bt whn that new animated mahabharata an ramayan aired on television and in comics he was intersted in that….me kehna chahta hu ki yaar new generatioin wan some nw ways some easy way….jiske wajeh se new generation gt know about indian histry rather than that troy or 300 type history…..if u belve me take an exmple …jab koi boat chalaraha hota hai..like captain to uski resposblty hai ki wo passngers ko theek se unki destination tak le jaye warna gadbad ho jaegi……same way ekta’s work was to guide us in that way bt usko apne daily soaps stories se itna pyar tha ki usne sab kuch waise hi usme bhi kara…effects r good bt ye nahi ki har scene me use kara jaye…ye nahi ki slap padte hi camera uske differnt angles par focus ho and diffrnt color filters me……again im saying everythng need some homewrk..whn we get some campaignes projects.thn we do lot of research refenrces thn only we wrk towards it……i guess aur batane ki jarurat nahi hai…well like u said six pack abs…well brother in ayurveda in our ancient histry if u see no one was like he man type with six pack abs they r body builder bt not like it…..go to khajurao rather thn see those intimating sculptres see there aesthetic view no one in six packs all r healthy even females also…..six packs muscles ye sab yaar forgn ka hai hamare yaha to kushti,uthak bethak etc type ki exercises hoti hai baki ye gym wala type to sab rakhshas wali exercises hai accrdng to ayrveda….{bt me ye sab keh raha hu bt im going to gym also bt only for toning not for musceles hehe}..well brother arjuna hanuman bhima were body builders bt not like gay super icons like ekta depcted in her serial……and even if she do with six pack abs models thn also theres a proper way to show…if u following vikram betal n colors to u will find they hav six pack abs even though it not look bad….everyone enjoy it…..take chetan hansraj in mahabharata of ekta …he ws i guess bhima in that or no matter if he is duryodhan bt these both character suits on him look his body he looks like it….bt others ..naaaaaaa…….well hope u wont mind….take care brother happy frndship day to all

  • it was new & great.
    the best episodes were from start to the episode where acharya dhron organise the kala kaushalya after pandavas & kauravas complete their shiksha. the caharacter which i liked the most was of devvrath & BHISHM. i just loved it. I felt good that she has choosen an actor like ronit roy for the role of BHISHM, and the background music was also mind blowing. i suddenly left from to my hometown & returned on june 2009. i use to see the newspaper to know the timings, bt couldnt find it out. i heard that it has stopped. i would request ekta kapoor to launch again this serial in star plus at night between 8 to 10 pm. i will be great full to her or else i would request to send the copies of this serial to me so that i can watch it whenever i want.

Leave a Comment