Will Ekta’s Mahabharat work?

Soap queen Ekta Kapoor’s maiden mythological show was shrouded under lot of suspense and secrecy. When news came that Ekta was planning to make Mahabharat for television, people speculated whether she was making it for Star Plus. But soon Star announced its mega series on the mythological epic with Bobby Bedi as producer. Then news came in that Ekta was making Mahabharat for 9X. The channel kept quiet and Ekta also declined to confirm whether her show was aimed at 9X though regular meetings between the two to discuss the creative and logistics aspects of the show continued. Finally news came that Ekta was indeed making the mythological serial for 9X which was titled as Kahani Hamaaray Mahabharat Ki. Three weeks ago, the channel’s founder and CEO Indrani Mukejea had told this paper that they were planning to telecast the show from mid-August. However, the latest bit of news about the show is that its telecast has been pre-poned and it will come on air from July 7.

Why the show was kept under wraps for so long and why is it being launched more than a month ahead of its scheduled telecast date? Sooraj Rao, a senior creative head at Balaji who is the creative head of Mahabharat, refused to comment saying that he won’t be able to say anything on the matter. However, Indrani says the show was kept under wraps for some time because it was a half-baked project. “We were not ready to talk about it. We rather prefer the show to speak for itself instead of us talking about it,” she says. Ask her why the launch date has been preponed and Indrani says the show was actually planned for August launch. “We have shot at outdoors in Laddakh, Rajasthan, Hyderabad and Wai. Currently there are three units working at the Film City in Mumbai. Because of rains we wanted to play safe and August seemed ideal to go on air. But we have been lucky. Rains didn’t disrupt our shoot and we have a good bank to go on air from July 7,” she explains.

According to Indrani, it is important to contemporise the epic and match people’s expectations, given the technical and technological progress. “As a child I had seen B. R. Chopra’s Mahabharat and have good memories of watching it. I went through the series all over again when we decided to make it for 9X. Since we are making it two decades after it was first made for DD, we will have as many special effects and computer graphics to make it look good. The whole idea is to appeal to as many people as possible,” says Indrani. Generally fresh or lesser known actors/faces are preferred for mythological serials. Chopra’s Mahabharat had film actors like Mukesh Khanna, Puneet Isaar, Girija Shankar, Gufi Paintal, Roopa Ganguli and Surendra Pal in key roles. They were not unknown actors but were definitely not seen much on television.

However, Ekta’s Mahabharat has well-known television actors. Ronit Roy, Hiten Tejwani, Chetan Hansraj, Shakshi Tanwar, Makrand Deshpande and Harshad Chopra have all invaded our living rooms and become household names in negative and positive roles. Now from July 7 onwards, viewers will see them as mythological characters. Will these actors’ current or past image create disconnect with viewers? Will viewers find it difficult to accept them in mythological roles? Indrani doesn’t foresee any problem. She feels a show like Mahabharat needs well-known faces with proven acting skills. “Take Chopra’s Mahabharat. It had fairly known film actors who were easily accepted by viewers. Why do we rush to watch a Shah Rukh Khan film? It’s because he is not only a super star but an actor with proven acting skills,” says Indrani. Similarly, in her view, Ronit, Makrand, Aryan Vaid, Hiten and Chetan are well-known actors with proven skills. “You need stars to bring in eyeballs,” she adds.

Sooraj doesn’t disagree, “With as many as ten GE channels around and several mythological shows being made, you need known and relatable faces to connect with viewers. Not that it makes the task easy. The same amount of effort and hard work goes into the project but known faces are a definite plus point,” feels Sooraj, adding further, “While Chopra’s Mahabharat had film actors, our show has television actors.” In Indrani’s view, Mahabharat is not a mythological epic about Gods but a socio-mythological about people. “It’s about fight between two families. So why will known actors not be accepted as Bheeshma Pitamah, Kans, Karna, Bheema and Duryodhan? The only God in Mahabharat is Lord Krishna and for the role of Krishna we will cast a fresh or lesser-known face,” she elaborates.

In fact, Indrani says she and Ekta took quite some time to decide on the cast. “We discussed, debated and then decided to go for known faces because they are successful television actors” adds Indrani. Hiten who plays Karna doesn’t foresee any problem in connecting with viewers. “I have played many characters and Karna is one more role for me. Ekta has cast me in the role because she is confident that I will stand up to her expectations as well that of viewers,” says Hiten. Ronit Roy who plays Bheeshma Pitamah has kept his fingers crossed. “My only fear is that whether I will be able to play the role convincingly. But I am working hard and it should go down well with viewers,” feels Ronit.

However, Chetan Hansraj who is well-known for his negative role of Sasha in Kahaani... expects some problem initially. “People know me as Sasha and might find it bit difficult to accept me as Bheema. But I have not done Kahaani.. for the last three months and have been working on my physique to play Bheema. I don’t think there should be a major problem as viewers are now used to seeing actors in different characters,” says Chetan. Whatever it is, but a lot is at stake. The sudden spurt in mythological shows on satellite channels is a result of thesuccessful launch of Ramayan in a daily format on NDTV Imagine. Ever since its launch on January 21, Ramayan has been a channel driver. Now it remains to be seen whether Mahabharat in a daily format will also prove to be a channel driver for 9X.