1. Youtube Mahabharat

Saurabh Raj Jain as Krishna/Vishnu. Shaheer Sheikh as Arjun. Pooja Sharma as Draupadi. Aham Sharma as Karna. Aarav Chowdhary as Bhishma. Praneet Bhat as Shakuni. Rohit Bharadwaj as Yudhisthir. Saurav Gurjar as Bheem.

Mahabharat is an Indian television series based on the Hindu historical-drama epic of the same name. The 94-episode Hindi series^[1] originally ran from 2 October 1988 to 15 July 1990 on DD National.^[2] It was produced by B. R. Chopra and directed by his son Ravi Chopra. The music was composed by Raj Kamal. The script was written by the Urdu poet Rahi Masoom Raza, based on the original story by Vyasa. Costumes for the series were provided by Maganlal Dresswala.^[3]

Each episode ran for approximately 60 minutes and began with a title song that consisted of lyrical content and two verses from the Bhagavad Gita.^[4] The title song was sung and the verses rendered by singer Mahendra Kapoor. The title song was followed by a narration by Indian voice artist Harish Bhimani of a personification of Time, detailing the current circumstances and highlighting the spiritual significance of the content of the episode. It is the most successful Mahabharata series ever produced in the television.

Mahabharat Katha Part II - Story of Barbarik and Veer Babhruvahan was a spin-off series which contained portions and stories left out in Mahabharat.

• 1Cast

Cast[edit]

Main[edit]

• Nitish Bhardwaj as Dwarkadheesh Bhagwan Shri Krishna, Incarnation of Lord Vishnu/ Devaki-Vasudev's younger son/ Foster son of Nand and Yashoda, Radha's Consort, Balaram and Subhadra's brother/ Pandavas' cousin, husband of Rukmini and others
  • Kewal Shah as Adolescent Krishna
• Arjun (Firoz Khan) as Kuntiputra Arjuna, 3rd Pandava/ son of Kunti and Indra/ husband of Draupadi, Uloopi, Chitrangada and Subhadra/ brother-in-law of Balaram-Krishna/ father of Abhimanyu
  • Ankur Javeri as Young Arjun
• Pankaj Dheer as Angaraj Karna, son of Kunti and Surya/ Adhiratha-Radha's foster son/ King of Anga Desh
  • Harendra Paintal as Young Karna
• Gajendra Chouhan as Chakravarti Samrat Dharamraj Yudhishthir, 1st Pandav/ son of Kunti and Yama / Eldest son of Kuru Clan/ King of Indraprastha and later Hastinapura/ husband of Draupadi
• Praveen Kumar as Kuntiputra Bhim, 2nd Pandav/ son of Kunti and Vayu/ Second eldest son of Kuru clan/ Yuvraaj(crown Prince) of Indraprastha/husband of Draupadi and Hidimbi/ father of Ghatotkacha
• Sameer Chitre as Nakul, 4th Pandav, son of Madri and Ashwini Kumara/ husband of Draupadi
• Sanjeev Chitre as Sahadeva, 5th Pandav, son of Madri and Ashwini Kumara/ husband of Draupadi
• Roopa Ganguly as Samragni Yagyaseni Draupadi, Wife of all Pandav/Also called as Panchali/ Yagyaseni/ Younger daughter of Drupad/ Princess of Panchala/Sister of Dhrishtadhyumna and Shikhandi
• Aloka Mukherjee as Subhadra, Arjuna's 2nd wife/ Abhimanyu's mother/ Vasudev's daughter hence Krishna-Balaram's sister and Yadava princess
• Mukesh Khanna as Gangaputra Devavrata Bhishma, Shantanu-Ganga's eighth son/ eighth Vasu/ Satyavati's step-son
  • Krish Mallik as Adolescent Bhishma
• Puneet Issar as Duryodhan, Eldest son of Gandhari and Dhitarashtra/ Elder brother of 99 Kauras/ Husband of Bhanumati
• Vinod Kapoor as Dushasan, Second son of Gandhari and Dhitarashtra/ Duyodhan's younger brother
• Surendra Pal as Dronacharya, Guru of Kauravas and Pandavas
• Pradeep Rawat as Ashwatthama, son of Dronacharya
• Girija Shankar as Maharaj Dhritrashtra, Vichitravirya's son from Ambika(eldest)/ later king of Hastinapur/ father of Kauravas
• Renuka Israni as Maharani Gandhari, wife of Dhritrashtra/ Queen of Hastinapur/ mother of Kauravas/ princess of Gandhara
• Tarakesh Chauhan as Maharaj Pandu, Vichitravirya's son from Ambalika(youngest)/ King of Hastinapur/ father of Pandavas
• Nazneen as Maharani Kunti, Pandu's first wife/ mother of Karna, Yudhisthira, Bhim and Arjun/ Daughter of Shoorsen hence Vasudev's sister and Yadava princess/ Foster daughter of Kuntibhoj
• Roma Manik as Rani Madri, Pandu's second wife/ Madra princess/ mother of Nakul and Sahadev
• Virendra Razdan as Mahamantri Dasi Putra Vidur, the Mahaa Mantri of Hastinapur / son of Ambika's head maid, Parishrami/ half-brother to the kings Dhritarashtra and Pandu of Hastinapura and also the uncle of Pandavas and Kauravas
• Gufi Paintal as Shakuni, Gandhari's brother/ later King of Gandhara

Recurring[edit]

• Sagar Salunke as Balram, Vasudev's elder son
  • Chetan Hansraj as Adolescent Balram
• Razak Khan as Ghatotkach
• Mayur Verma (Master Mayur) as Abhimanyu
• Varsha Usgaonkar as Uttara, Abhimanyu's wife/ Virata princess
• Dinesh Anand as Vikarna, Son of Gandhari and Dhitarashtra/ Duyodhan's younger brother
• Kamlesh Maan as Devi Sulabha, Vidur's wife
• Dharmesh Tiwari as Kripacharya, Kulguru, Family Teacher
• Lalit Tiwari as Sanjaya, Dhritarashtra's advisor and also his charioteer
• Raj Babbar as Chakravarti Samrat Bharat, ancestor of Kauravas and Pandavas/ son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala
• Ashalata as Rajmata Shakuntala, Bharata's mother / King Dushyanta's wife
• Rishabh Shukla as Maharaj Shantanu, descendant of Bharata
• Kiran Juneja as Mata Ganga, Shantanu's first wife/ Bhisma's mother/ the holy river of Hindus.
• Debashree Roy as Rajmata Satyavati, Shantanu's second wife/ Vichitravirya and Chitrangada's mother/ Bhisma's step-mother
• Sudesh Berry as Maharaj Vichitravirya, Shantanu-Satyavati's second son after Chitrangada, Bhisma's step brother
• Meena Chakrabarty as Maharani Ambika, 2nd princess of Kashi/ Vichitravirya's first queen
• Menaka Babbar as Ambalika, 3rd princess of Kashi/ Vichitravirya's second queen
• Ayub Khan as Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu and Uttara/ Grandson of Arjuna-Subhadra
• Om Katare as Adhiratha, Charioteer/Karna's foster father
• Saroj Sharma as Radha, Adhiratha's wife/ Karna's foster mother
• Ramlal Gupta as Ugrasen, King of Mathura
• Goga Kapoor as Kans, son of Ugrasen
• Ashok Banthia as Senapati Kritvarma
• Ajay Sinha as Akroor, Vrishni Chief
• Bashir Khan as Satyaki, General
• Vishnu Sharma as Vasudev, Son of Shoorsen, prince of Vrishni tribe
• Kshama Raj as Rohini, Vasudev's elder wife
• Sheela Sharma as Devaki, Vasudev's younger wife
• Rasik Dave as Nand Raj, Chief of Gokul/ Foster father of Krishna
• Manju Vyas as Yashoda, Nand's wife/ Foster mother of Krishna
• Channa Ruparel as Maharani Rukmini, Krishna's chief wife
• Parijat as Mata Radha, Krishna's consort
• Pradeep Sharma as Drupada
• Arun Bakshi as Dhrishtadyumna
• Paintal as Shikhandi/ Sudama
• Ashok Sharma as Virata, King of Virata
• Chandni Sharma as Sudeshna, Queen of Virata
• Sameer Rajda as Uttar, crown prince of Virata
• Sharat Saxena as Kichak, Army General of Virata
• Kapil Kumar as Shalya
• Deep Dhillon as Jayadratha, Dussala's husband, Kaurava's brother-in-law
• Rakesh Bidua as Kashya, King Of Kashi
• Jahnavi as Amba, 1st princess of Kashi
• Vikrant Mathur as Subala, Shakuni's and Gandhari's Father, King of Gandhara
• Shivendra Mahal as Parshuram / Lord Shiva
• Dara Singh as Hanuman (cameo)
• Satish Kaul as Indra
• Gopi Krishna as Chitrasena
• Rana Jung Bahadur as Jarasandh, King of Magadha, Father-in-law of Kans
• Karunakar Pathak as Shishupala, King of Chedi, Cousin of Krishna and Balaram
• Pawan Shukla as Shalv Kumar, Prince of Salwa Kingdom
• Prem Sagar as Rishi Kanva
• Pankaj Berry as Rishi Kindama, sage who cursed Pandu
• Rajesh Vivek as MaharishiVed Vyas
• Vikas Prasad as Ekalavya
• Randhir Singh as Hidimba / Bhootana (Putana)
• Sabrina as Bhootana, (Putana)
• Paramjeet Chima as Dashraj, Satyavati's Father
• Harish Bhimani as Samay/ Narrator
• Sumeet Raghavan as Young Sudama

Episodes[edit]

Episode 1 - Introduction of Kuru Family, Raja Bharat and Raja Shantanu

Episode 2 - Ganga Kills Her Sons

Episode 3 - Bhishma Is Grown-up

Episode 4 - Bhisma Pratigya/Iccha Mrityu Vardaan

Episode 5 - Amba, Ambika and Ambalika's Introduction

Episode 6 - Birth of Pandu, Dhritarashtra and Vidur

Episode 7 - Karna's Birth-story, Dhritarashtra and Gandhari Get Married and Pandu and Kunti Get Married

Episode 8 - Madri is gifted to Pandu, Pandu is resting and Sage Kindama's curse on Pandu

Episode 9 - Dhritarashtra is king his sanyas and Kansa is king and Akashwani about Krishna

Episode 10 - Birth of Balarama and Five Pandavas

Episode 11 - Krishna Janma

Episode 12 - Pootna's Death

Episode 13 - Krishna brahmand darshan and Krishna gets caught while stealing makhan

Episode 14 - Maiya Mori Mai nahi makhan khayo and Kaliya Nag Tandav

Episode 15 - Radha and Gopikas, protest against Mathura, Devakasur and Trulambasur Vadh

Episode 16 - Kansa invites Krishna to Mathura

Episode 17 - Kansa Vadh

Episode 18 - Pandu's Death

Episode 19 - Satyavati, Ambika, Ambalika take sanyas with Rishi Vyas

Episode 20 - Duryodhan Poisons Bhim and Bhim Gets Strength of 1000 Elephants

Episode 21 - Sudama's chivda and Drona arrives to Hastinapur

Episode 22 - Shastra Pooja, Drona insults Karna and Arjun's Test

Episode 23 - Ekalavya, Karna's Education, Arjun's Test of Bird's Eye

Episode 24 - All grown up, prince is to be nominated and everyone exhibit their skills in Rangbhoomi, Karna challenges Arjun and Duryodhan gives Anga desh to Karna

Episode 25 - Drona's guru dakshina to capture Dhrupad

Episode 26 - Krishna gets Sudarshan chakra from Parshuram, defeats Jarasandh and orders building Dwarika

Episode 27 - Yudhishthir Is Crowned as Prince. Rukmini Is Being Forced to Marry Shishupal

Episode 28 - Krishna Rescues Rukmini

Episode 29 - Lakshagriha Is Built in Varnavata by Purochan

Episode 30 - Tunneling in Varnavat Begins

Episode 31 - Escape from Lakshagriha

Episode 32 - Hidimb Vadh and Bhima's marriage

Episode 33 - Bakasur Vadh

Episode 34 - Dristadyumna & Draupadi Birth and Draupadi Swayamvar

Episode 35 - Arjun Wins Draupadi and Later She Became the Wives of 5 Pandavas

Episode 36 - Pandavas Leave from Panchal to Hastinapur

Episode 37 - Pandavas Arrives at Hastinapur and Kingdom Is Divided

Episode 38 - Pandav Get Khandavprastha

Episode 39 - Coronation of Yudhirsthir, Khandavprastha Becomes Indraprastha

Episode 40 - Arjun runs away with Subhadra

Episode 41 - Arjun Weds Subhadra. Arjun Gets Devdatta Conch and Gandiva and Bhima Gets His Gada

Episode 42 - Jarasandh Vadh, Rajsuya Yagnya begins, Shishupal's Story

Episode 43 - Rajsuya Yagya, Shishupal Vadh

Episode 44 - Vyas Predicts War, Draupadi Laughs at Duryodhan

Episode 45 - Pandavas Go to Hastinapur to Gamble

Episode 46 - Yudhishthir Loses Everything

Episode 47 - Vastraharan of Draupadi

Episode 48 - Pandavas Get Back Everything

Episode 49 - Re-match of Dyut

Episode 50 - Vanvas Begins

Episode 51 - Gandharvas Catch Duryodhan

Krs one sound of the police acapella. Episode 52 - Arjun Worships Lord Indra and Lord Shiva for Divyastra and Gets Pashupatastra

Episode 53 - Krishna's story of one grain of rice, Bhim meets Ghatotkach and Hanuman, Arjun learns dance from Chitrasen

Episode 54 - Arjun gets curse of impotency from Urvashi, Abhimanyus as a kid, Jayadraths head is shaved

Episode 55 - Story of Poisoned Water and Yaksha, Abhimanyu Is Grown-up

Episode 56 - Agyatvas in Matsya Desh

Episode 57 - Karna's curse, Draupadi as Maid Sairandhri rejects Keechak

Episode 58 - Keechak Vadh by Bheema

Episode 59 - Kaurav Attack Matsya Desh

Episode 60 - Viraat yudh and clothes for Uttara's dolls

Episode 61 - Abhimanyu's Marriage and Pandavs Decide to Send a Doot to Hastinapur

Episode 62 - Dhritarashtra Does Not Agree and Sends Sanjay

Episode 63 - Duryodhan gets Narayani Sena from Krishna

Episode 64 - Krishna Goes to Hastinapur as Shanti Doot

Episode 65 - Krishna tooks Virat Avtar and Indra takes Karna's kawach kundala

Episode 66 - Karna's Identity Is Disclosed

Episode 67 - Vidur resigns as a prime minister, Kunti meets Karna

Episode 68 - Sanjay gets divya drishti, Ulluk goes to Pandavas

Episode 69 - Duryodhan tricks Shalya to join Kauravas

Episode 70 - Shikhandi's Story

Episode 71 - Arjun Worships Goddess Durga, Rules of War Laid

Episode 72 - Kurukshetra War Begins and Arjun Drops His Weapons, Geeta Saar Begins

Episode 73 - Geeta Saar Continues

Episode 74 - Geeta Saar Continues and Krishna Shows His Maha-Avtaar

Episode 75 - Yudhishthir Gets Blessings, Yuyutsu Changes Side and War Begins, Abhimanyu Faces Bhishma

Episode 76 - Uttar dies, Arjun faces Bhishma and day 2 begins

Episode 77 - Arjun is unstoppable, 3rd day is over, 4th day begins, Bhim is surrounded, 10 Kauravs are killed, Krishna takes out his Sudarshan

Episode 78 - 9th Day Is Over and 16 Kauravs Are Dead, Bhishma Tells Arjun How to Take Him Out of the War

Episode 79 - Bhishma lies on the Bed of Arrows, Karna meets Bhishma

Episode 80 - Day 11, Drona tries to capture Yudhishthir but is unsuccessful, Shantanu comes to Bhishma

Episode 81 - Chakra Vyuh Planned, Duryodhan Promises Susharma

Episode 82 - Abhimanyu Vadh

Episode 83 - Arjun Vows to Kill Jayadrath and Story About Jayadrath's Curse

Episode 84 - Arjun Breaks Kamal Vyuh to Get to Jayadrath

Episode 85 - Jayadrath Vadh

Episode 86 - Ghatotkach dies

Episode 87 - Drona Dies

Episode 88 - Dushasana dies and Karna fights with Arjun, Krishna puts the rath in the land so that Arjun is saved

Episode 89 - Karna's curse, Karna Dies

Episode 90 - Shakuni Dies, Yudhishthir Curses All Woman Kind and Duryodhan Becomes Iron Bodied

Episode 91 - Balaram arrives, Bhim-Duryodhan Gada Yudh

Episode 92 - Duryodhan Dies, Ashwathama, Kripa and Kritvarma Remain, Parikshit's Story

Episode 93 - Dhritarashtra Tries to Kill Bhim

Episode 94 - Yudhisthir Becomes King of Hastinapur, Bhishma Dies

Episode 95 - Mahavir Barbrik

Production[edit]

According to production team member Kishore Malhotra, the total cost of producing the series was ₹9 crore (US$1.3 million).^[5]Nitish Bharadwaj was chosen by B R Chopra, Ravi Chopra, (screenplay writer) Pandit Narendra Sharma and (dialogue writer) Rahi Masoom Raza, to play the central role of Krishna, at the age of 23.^[6][7] Firoz Khan was chosen to portray the character of Arjuna (which he later adopted as his screen name, not to become confused with a more popular actor of the same name) despite being rejected in auditions.^[8] Praveen Kumar was selected to portray Bhima after Chopra was looking for someone 'who could look the robust mythological character'.^[9] Around six actors were shortlisted for the role of Draupadi, including Juhi Chawla, who opted out of the show as she had bagged a film. Ramya Krishnan and Roopa Ganguly were the final names, and at last Roopa Ganguly was chosen, as her Hindi was good. Govinda (actor) and Chunky Pandey were signed for the role of Abhimanyu, but they opted out when they bagged films. Later, Master Mayur played the role.^[10]Raj Babbar and Debashree Roy were the only two star actors of that time, who agreed to be parts of this venture.^[11]

Broadcast[edit]

It was shown in the United Kingdom by the BBC,^[12] where it achieved audience figures of 5 million.^[13][14] It was also the first programme broadcast on BBC2 after its 1991 revamp,^[15] but had also been shown late at night on BBC 1 the previous year.^[16] It has also been shown on FBC TV in Fiji and Star Utsav. It also aired on Epic. Dubbed versions were aired in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and also in Indonesia in the early 1990s on TPI (now MNCTV) and in the early 2000s on ANteve (now antv).

Reception[edit]

• Roopa Ganguly enacting in the Vastraharan sequence.
• The sequence is often claimed to be the most climactic one of the series.^[17] For the sequence Chopra recreated the visual effect of the Vastraharan sequence of Babubhai Mistry's Mahabharat (1965) starring Padmini as Draupadi.^[18] His visual effects won more favour than that of the 1965 film and has still been considered by a part of critics to be the most brilliant in line.^[19][20]
• While Vyasa wrote about Dharma providing Draupadi with clothes, Chopra, in the sequence, delineated the popular myth of Krishna having provided with clothes, which received criticism that Chopra had been led by religious fanaticism.^[21]

Lavanya Mohan of The Hindu on her article 'Retelling of Mahabharata on Television over the years' wrote 'The version that left the maximum impact on me is BR Chopra’s. Yes, the sets were gaudy, the effects comical, and the acting got a little too dramatic at times, but the writing and the way the episodes were paced ensured that the series was ahead of its time.'It is commonly known to be associated with this serial along with 'Ramayana' serial, where it is said that streets in cities remained isolated and people left their work to watch this series.^[22]

Home media[edit]

The series was uploaded on the website 'Rajshri.com' along with its dubbed Tamil version.^[23] Home video of Bengali dubbed version of its series has been released by Heart Video.^[24]

Legacy[edit]

Mahabharat along with Ramayana (1987) became one of the successful mythological television series in Indian television. Many actors went on to become popular through the series. Mukesh Khanna shot to fame as Bhishma and went on to name his production company after the character's name and Roopa Ganguly went on to become a successful actress in Bengali cinema.^[25][26]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'B.R. Chopra (Indian filmmaker) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia'. Britannica.com. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
2. ^McLain, Karline (2009). India's immortal comic books: gods, kings, and other heroes. Indiana University Press. p. 46. ISBN978-0-253-22052-3.
3. ^'Behind the scenes: Dress designers to actors & deities'. The Tribune. 20 April 2003. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
4. ^Title Song Lyrics from the TV Series Mahabharat, 21 September 2013, retrieved 1 December 2014
5. ^Mahabharat Ki Mahabharat: The Making of B.R. Chopra's 'Mahabharat'
6. ^''I DID NOT want to play Krishna in Mahabharat''.
7. ^'Janmashtami 2017: Actor Nitish Bharadwaj recollects his days from the Mahabharat'.
8. ^Tankha, Madhur (29 August 2012). 'Mahabharat's Arjun gets blacklisted!'. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via www.thehindu.com.
9. ^''Bheem' waiting for a special role'. 12 January 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via www.thehindu.com.
10. ^'Actors talk about what went into making Mahabharat in 1988'. Hindustan Times. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
11. ^'B.R. Chopra's serial 'Mahabharat' promises to be another bonanza 31101988'. m.indiatoday.in. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
12. ^'BBC Genome:Mahabarat - transmission times'. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
13. ^':: omnimb.ca > Epic Hindi Language Series Mahabharat Launches Exclusively on Rogers OMNI Television Channels In Ontario and British Columbia ::'. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
14. ^Jones, Mark (7 June 2013). 'The Returned: how British TV viewers came to lose their fear of subtitles'. the Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
15. ^'Watch Hindi Update Serials'. The TV Room. 16 February 1991. Retrieved 1 September 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
16. ^'Watch Hindi Update Serials'. The TV Room. Retrieved 1 September 2010.^{[permanent dead link]}
17. ^'Actors talk about what went into making Mahabharat in 1988'. www.hindustantimes.com. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
18. ^'Mahabharat (1965) - Review, Star Cast, News, Photos'. Cinestaan. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
19. ^'Why the new Mahabharat is an epic fail- Entertainment News, Firstpost'. Firstpost. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
20. ^'Happy B'day BR Chopra: The Story Behind His Iconic 'Mahabharat''. The Quint. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
21. ^Dissanayake, Wimal (1993). 'The concepts of evil and social order in Indian melodrama: an evolving dialectic'. In Dissanayake, Wimal (ed.). Melodrama and Asian Cinema. Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-41465-4. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
22. ^Mohan, Lavanya (16 October 2015). 'Epic television'. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via www.thehindu.com.
23. ^'Mahabharat on the net'. 22 December 2006. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via www.thehindu.com.
24. ^'Mahabharat now in Bengali'. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via www.thehindu.com.
25. ^Ghosh, Bishwanath (25 July 2015). 'Ideology vs. stature'. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via www.thehindu.com.
26. ^Tankha, Madhur (8 May 2015). 'No child's play'. Retrieved 6 October 2018 – via www.thehindu.com.

External links[edit]

• Mahabharat on IMDb

Mahabharat is an Indian mythological^[2] series based on the ancient Indian Sanskrit epic Mahabharat.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} It aired from 16 September 2013 to 16 August 2014 on Star Plus.

It was produced by Swastik Productions Pvt. Ltd starring Saurabh Raj Jain as Shri Krishna, Shaheer Sheikh as Arjun, Pooja Sharma as Draupadi, Aham Sharma as Karna, Arav Chowdhary as Bhishma, Arpit Ranka as Duryodhan.

• 2Cast
• 4Reception and impact

Plot[edit]

Mahabharat presents the story of the throne of Hastinapur, a kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan where the Kaurav and the Pandav brothers compete to be king. Yudhistir, the eldest Pandav, and Duryodhan, the eldest Kaurav, claim to be first in line to inherit the throne.

The story begins with Devavrata, a great warrior, who is the son of Shantanu and Ganga and is a disciple of Parshuram. Devavrata earns the name Bhisma by swearing an oath of celibacy in order to fulfill his father’s wish to marry Satyavati. He also vows to remain a servant to the throne of Hastinapur and is granted the boon of ‘icchya-mrityu’ or Wishful Death for his sacrifice. Bhisma, as a result, will not die unless he reaches the point of desiring death.

Thus, Bhisma gives up his rightful throne and Satyavati rules the kingdom as the ‘Rajmaata’ (Mother of the King) after her husband’s death. Her son, Vichitravirya, an alcoholic and heavily dependent on Bhisma, cannot rule the kingdom, leading Satyavati to decide that Vichitravirya’s future son must rule the kingdom. As Vichitravirya is unable to choose a wife for himself, Bhisma must select a wife for him.

The three princesses of the Salva Kingdom, Amba, Ambika and Ambalika are won over by Bhisma who takes them to Hastinapur for marriage. However, Amba had already chosen a groom and demands to be released. She returns to her lover but is spurned for being the rejected wife of another man.

Vichitravirya’s wedding to Ambika and Ambalika takes place. When Amba demands justice, she is given the choice to marry Vichitravirya and become the queen of Hastinapur. Instead, she requests that Bhisma marry her as it was he who won her. However, Bhisma must remain celibate and cannot meet her demand, resulting in Amba’s anger. Therefore, Lord Shiva grants Amba the boon of rebirth with a memory of the past and the fate to cause Bhisma’s death. Reborn as Shikandi in the Panchal Kingdom, she partakes in Bhisma’s death and fulfills the boon.

In Kuntibhoj, Princess Kunti obtains a boon from the sage Durvasa whereby she may invoke any deity and bear his child. Out of curiosity, she tests the boon, calling upon the Sun God and is granted a son named Karna. However, Kunti, as an unmarried woman, sets Karna afloat on the river Ganga to avoid embarrassment. She later marries Pandu and invokes other deities to give her three sons, Yudhistir, Bhim and Arjun. Karna’s true identity is never revealed until the end of the Kurukshetra War. Karna, a skilled archer and belonging to a lower caste, was often mistreated as he was raised by Adirath, a charioteer, and his wife, Radha. Duryodhan, the Pandhavs’ mortal enemy is the only one to ever support Karna and thus, Karna vows to always protect Duryodhan and fights on his behalf during the Kurukshetra War.

Bhisma asks for Gandhari’s hand in marriage for his blind nephew Dhritarashtra, resulting in her brother Shakuni’s fury. However Bhisma persuades him as Dhritrashtra would be the future king of Hastinapur. However, during the coronation ceremony, Dhritrashtra’s younger brother Pandu is crowned king due to the influence of Vidur, another of Dhritrashtra’s younger brother.

Shakuni, feeling cheated, swears to destroy the Kuru race. He poisons the mind of Duryodhan against the Pandavs and sows the seeds for the Kurukshetra War where Shri Krishna imparts the Bhagavad Gita to his Pandav cousin Arjun. The war results in the deaths of many, including Bhisma, Karna and all the sons of Dhritrashtra and Gandhari.

Cast[edit]

Main[edit]

Recurring[edit]

• Naveen Jingar as Vidura Mahamantri of Hastinapur, younger brother of Pandu and Dritarashtra.
• Nissar Khan as Dronacharya Guru of Pandavas and Kauravas.
• Ankit Mohan as Ashwatthama Dronacharya’s son, Duryodhana's friend.
• Tarun Khanna as Balram Krishna’s elder brother.
• Vibha Anand as Subhadra and Yogmaya Arjun’s wife.
• Pallavi Subhash as Rukmini Krishna’s wife.
• Ratan Rajput as Amba Princess of Kashi
• Sayantani Ghosh as Satyavati Shantanu’s wife.
• Kanishka Soni as Parashvi
• Shikha Singh as Shikhandini Drupad’s 1st child, reincarnation of Amba.
• Karan Suchak as Dhrishtadyumna Drupad’s 2nd child.
• Paras Arora as Abhimanyu Uttara’s husband and Arjun and Subhadra’s son.
• Richa Mukherjee as Uttara Abhimanyu’s wife.
• Hemant Choudhary as Kripacharya
• Sudesh Berry as Dhrupad Shikandini,Drishtadyun and Draupadi’s father.
• Pravisht Mishra as Uttar Uttara’s brother.
• Nazea Hasan Sayed as Vrushali Karan’s wife and Vrishkethu’s mother
• Kaushik Chakravorty as Shalya Madri's brother, uncle of Nakul and Sahadev.
• Sandeep Arora as Vikarn Dryodhan’s brother.
• Vandana Singh as Yashoda Balram and Krishna’s foster mother.
• Kunwar Vikram Soni as Krishna Radha’s lover.
• Ketki Kadam as Radha Krishna’s lover.
• Preeti Puri Choudhary as Devaki Balram and Krishna’s birth mother.
• Vivana Singh as Ganga Shantanu’s wife and Bhishma’s mother.
• Sameer Dharmadhikari as Shantanu Ganga and Satyavati’s husband.
• Aparna Dixit as Ambika Dritarashtra’s mother.
• Mansi Sharma as Ambalika Pandu’s mother.
• Aryamann Seth as Vichitravirya Ambika and Ambalika’s husband.
• Atul Mishra as Ved Vyas
• Arun Singh Rana as Pandu Kunti and Madri’s husband.
• Suhani Dhanki as Madri 2nd wife of Pandu, mother of Nakul and Sahadev.
• Ali Hassan as Takshak and Jayadratha
• Ajay Mishra as Sanjaya Dhritarashtra’s aide.
• Vaishnavi Dhanraj as Hidimbi Bheem’s first wife and Ghatothkacha's mother
• Anju Jadhav as Sukhada
• Garima Jain as Dushala Duryodhan’s sister and Jaydrath’s wife
• Ashnoor Kaur as Young Dushala
• Ketan Karande as Ghatothkach Bheem and Himdimbi’s son.
• Joy Mathur as Shishupala
• Mohit Raina as Shiva
• Puneet Issar as Parshurama Guru of Bhishma, Drone and Karna.
• Nikhil Arya/Sachin Verma as Indra
• Kunal Bhatia as Agni
• Deepak Jethi as Virata
• Tinu Verma as Jarasandha
• Gurpreet Singh as Prince Rukmi Rukmini’s brother.
• Jayantika Sengupta as Arshi
• Rio Kapadia as Subala
• Shweta Gautam as Sudharma
• Chandani Sharma as Kripi
• Raj Premi as Kalayavan
• Siddhant Gautam as Ekalavya
• Alam Khan as Duryodhan
• Vidyut Xavier as young Karna
• Ananya Agarwal as Malini
• Akhilendra Mishra as Kansa
• Rumi Khan as Kichaka

Production and promotion[edit]

Star spent ₹100 crore (US$14 million) on the project and spent another ₹20 crore (US$2.9 million) on marketing the show, making it India's most expensive TV series of its time. Its record of being India's most expensive TV show was later broken by Swastik Pictures' Porus.^[8]

According to producer Siddharth Kumar Tewary, the Draupadi cheer haran (disrobing) sequence,^[9] which Tewary himself directed, took 20 days to shoot.^[10]

Youtube Mahabharat

Reception and impact[edit]

Critics[edit]

Writing for Rediff, Nishi Tiwari wrote that 'If it maintains the quality of writing and able actors who portray key characters, we may have another winner among us'.^[11] DNA praised the costumes, scenery, Krishna's flute theme which was given by Raj Mohan Sinha,^[12] and most of the CGI special effects, but said the story pace was too fast.^[13]

Awards and accolades[edit]

It won the trophy for the Best Drama in Star Guild Awards 2013 as well as number of accolades in other award shows.^[14] It won the Indian Telly Awards for Actor in a Supporting Role (Drama), given to Aham Sharma for his portrayal as Karna, and Actor in a Negative Role to Praneet Bhat in 2014. The crew members also won the awards for Best Costumes for a TV Programme, Best Make – Up Artist, and Best Stylist.^[15] It has been dubbed to other languages including Bengali, Marathi, Oriya, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.^[16]

Viewership[edit]

Its premiere had a viewership of approximately 8.4 million people.^[17] The show has become the highest rated weekday mythological epic show in the last three years on Indian television.^[18] The viewership ratings of the week of 1 December 2013 reached 9,801 TVTs. The game of dice leading to Draupadi's 'cheer haran' took Mahabharat at its peak viewership(10TVTs.4 TVM) and helped the broadcasting channel Star Plus clock the highest GTVMs ever achieved by any channel in Indian Television History.^[19]

Other countries[edit]

In Indonesia, the drama was broadcast on antv dubbed in Indonesian in March 2014. The casts of Mahabharat were invited to hold a fan meeting tour at Jakarta and Bali. The Times of India reported in 2014 that the show has a huge fan following abroad and as result, the prominent characters from the show had been called to Indonesia for a special event.^[20] The main casts of Mahabharat, performed on 'Mahabharat Show: Fan Meeting Tour' in the year 2014 .^{[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]} As from 6 December 2015, the show starts airing in its original version and subtitled in English on MBC Digital 4 every Sunday in Mauritius. In Thailand, the drama was broadcast on Channel 5 dubbed in Thai starting January 2, 2016.^[28] In Myanmar,it has been dubbed in Burma as မဟာဘာရတ and telecasted Everyday at 8:30 pm on Sky Net World Drama Channel.^{[citation needed]}

Awards[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Mahabharat Episodes'. www.hotstar.com. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
2. ^'Parmavatar Shri Krishna to premiere soon; 5 mythological shows that redefined the genre and left us asking for more'. India Today. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
3. ^TNN 15 September 2013, 10.27 AM IST (15 September 2013). 'Mahabharat launced for the youth of the nation! - Times Of India'. Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
4. ^'Shakuni's role in Mahabharat once in a lifetime: Praneet Bhatt'. The Times of India. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
5. ^'Is Shafaq Naaz miffed with Mahabharat makers?'. The Times of India. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
6. ^'Shaheer Sheikh and Rohit Bhardwaj's Buddy Diwali!'. The Times of India. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
7. ^'Riding high on 'Mahabharat' ratings, Star Plus tops the chart'. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
8. ^Ajita Shashidhar. 'Broadcasters betting big money on the small screen with Rs.100 crore shows'. India Today. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
9. ^'The cheer haran sequence in Mahabharat took 20 days to shoot'. The Indian Express. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
10. ^Kanabar, Ankita R. (2 April 2014). 'The cheer haran sequence in Mahabharat took 20 days to shoot'. Indian Express. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
11. ^Nishi Tiwari. 'Review: Mahabharat, so far so good'. Rediff. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
12. ^'A young boy from Bihar'.
13. ^Chaya Unnikrishnan. 'Show review: 'Mahabharat''. DNA. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
14. ^'Reality shows see a drop in ratings this week - Times Of India'. Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
15. ^'13th Indian Telly Awards: Complete List of Winners'. Times of India. 18 October 2014.
16. ^Janani Karthik (6 December 2014). 'Mahabharatham is back on Vijay TV - The Times of India'. Indian Express. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
17. ^Debashish Mukerji. 'Riding high on 'Mahabharat' ratings, Star Plus tops the chart'. India Today. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
18. ^Priyanka Srivastava. 'Major networks in epic ratings battle as mythological shows like Mahabharat take on reality TV for nation's viewers'. Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
19. ^'Rise in the ratings of TV shows this week - Times Of India'. Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 1 December 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
20. ^'Indonesia calling for Mahabharat!' (8 December 2014). Times of India. Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
21. ^'Mahabharat's Shaheer Sheikh, Aham Sharma & Rohit Bhardwaj woo their fans in Indonesia!'. Pink Villa. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
22. ^'Look what 'Mahabharat' Stars are busy doing in Indonesia!'. Pink Villa. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
23. ^'In Pics: Team 'Mahabharat' works hard in Jakarta and parties harder in Bali!'. Pink Villa. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
24. ^'Casts of Mahabharat will be performing using English, Hindi and Indonesian Languages'. tribunnews. 2 October 2014.
25. ^'Mahabharat Show'. tribunnews. 3 October 2014.
26. ^'Stars of Mahabharat will perform at Jakarta'. tribunnews. 1 October 2014.
27. ^'Residents of Bali bought tickets for Fans Meeting of the casts of Mahabharat'. tribunnews. 4 October 2014.
28. ^'ซีรีย์อินเดีย มหาภารตะ'. Channel 5 (in Thai). 2 January 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.

External links[edit]

• Mahabharat on IMDb
• Official Website on Hotstar