The 128-episode grand show will go on air on September 16, and will be telecast from Monday to Friday at 8:30 pm on Star Plus.
| Mahabharat | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Mythology |
| Created by | Siddharth Kumar Tewary |
| Based on | Mahabharat by Vyasa |
| Written by | Sharmin Joseph Radhika Anand Anand Vardhan Mihir Bhuta Siddharth Kumar Tewary |
| Directed by | Siddharth Anand Kumar Amarprith G Mukesh Kumar Singh Kamal Monga Loknath Pandey |
| Creative director(s) | Amol surve |
| Starring | Saurabh Raj Jain Pooja Sharma Shaheer Sheikh Aham Sharma |
| Narrated by | Saurabh Raj Jain |
| Composer(s) | Ajay-Atul Ismail Darbar |
| Country of origin | India |
| Original language(s) | Hindi |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 267[1] |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Siddharth Kumar Tewary Gayatri Gil Tewary Rahul Kumar Tewary |
| Production location(s) | Umbergaon, Gujarat |
| Editor(s) | Paresh Shah |
| Camera setup | multi camera |
| Production company(s) | Swastik Productions |
| Distributor | Star India |
| Release | |
| Original network | StarPlus |
| Picture format | 576i 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original release | 16 September 2013 – 16 August 2014 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
| Production website | |
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 Hastinapur, a kingdom ruled by the Kuru clan where the Kaurav and the Pandav brothers compete for its throne. Yudhistir, the eldest Pandav, and Duryodhan, the eldest Kaurav claim to be the next in the line of succession.The Pandavs are the sons of Pandu while Kauravs are the sons of Dhritrashtra.
The story begins with Devavrata, the son of Shantanu and Ganga a disciple of Parshuram. He earns the name Bhisma by swearing an oath of celibacy in order to fulfill his father’s wish to marry Satyavati. He also vows serve the throne of Hastinapur and is granted the boon of icchya-mrityu (the ability to live as long as he does not choose to die). 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 incapable of choosing a wife for himself, Bhisma has to do so.
Star Plus Mahabharat Episodes Download
The three princesses of the Salva Kingdom, Amba, Ambika and Ambalika are won over by Bhisma, who takes them to Hastinapur to be married to Vichitravirya. 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 then marries Ambika and Ambalika.
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 refuses, due to his oath of celibacy, 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, son of Vichitravirya and invokes other deities to give her three sons, Yudhistir, Bhim and Arjun. Madri, the second wife of Pandu invokes the Ashwini Kumaras to bear Nakula and Sehdeva. Pandu dies of a curse of Rishi Kimdam along with Madri. Kunti decides to bring up all the five children together. 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. Arjun wins the swayamwar of Draupadi and Kunti mistakenly orders her to be shared among the five Pandavas. The Pandavas eventually marry Draupadi. Draupadi is later insulted and disrobed in the infamous Game of Dice by Duryodhana and the rest of the Kauravas. Pandavas swear to avenge her insult.
Bhisma asks for Gandhari’s hand in marriage for his blind nephew Dhritarashtra, resulting in her brother Shakuni’s fury. 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 brothers. 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, Drona, Karna and all the sons of Dhritrashtra and Gandhari. Yudhisthir becomes the rightful king of Hastinapur and his wife Draupadi becomes the queen.
Cast[edit]
Main[edit]
| Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Saurabh Raj Jain | Krishna/Vishnu | Rukmini’s husband, Karna and Pandava's cousin and Kunti’s nephew. |
| Pallavi Subhash | Rukmini | Krishna’s wife and Rukmi’s sister. |
| Sameer Dharmadhikari | Shantanu | Ganga and Satyavati’s husband. |
| Vivana Singh | Ganga | Shantanu’s 1st wife and Bhishma’s mother. |
| Sayantani Ghosh | Satyavati | Shantanu’s 2nd wife and Chitrāngad and Vichitravirya’s mother. |
| Aryamann Seth | Vichitravirya | Ambika and Ambalika’s husband. |
| Aparna Dixit | Ambika | Dhritarashtra’s mother and Gandhari’s mother-in-law. |
| Mansi Sharma | Ambalika | Pandu’s mother and Kunti and Madri’s mother-in-law. |
| Aham Sharma | Karna | Son of Surya and Kunti, elder brother of Pandavas, King of Anga, Duryodhana's friend and husband of Vrushali, Supriya, Uruvi and Padmavati and father of Vrishasena, Sudama, Vrishaketu, Chitrasena, Satyasena, Sushena, Shatrunjaya, Dvipata, Banasena, and Prasena. |
| Nazea Hasan Sayed | Vrushali | Karan’s wife, Kunti’s 1st daughter-in-law and Vrishaketu’s mother. |
| Pooja Sharma | Draupadi | wife of the 5 Pandavas, princess of Panchala, daughter of King Drupada, Shikandini and Dhristadyumna’s sister, Kunti’s 3rd daughter-in-law and mother of Prativindhya, Sutasoma, Shrutakarma, Satanika, and Shrutasena , Pragati , Pragya, Suthanu and Sumitra. |
| Rohit Bharadwaj | Yudhisthir | First Pandava, Son of Dharmaraj and Kunti, Husband of Draupadi and Devika and father of Prativindhya, Yaudheya and Suthanu. |
| Saurav Gurjar | Bheema | Second Pandava, Son of Vayu and Kunti, husband of Hidimba, Draupadi and Valandhara and father of Ghatotkacha, Sutasoma and Sarvaga. |
| Vaishnavi Dhanraj | Hidimba | Bheem’s first wife, Ghatothkacha's mother and Pandu and Kunti’s 2nd daughter-in-law. |
| Ketan Karande | Ghatothkach | Bheem and Himdimbi’s son. |
| Shaheer Sheikh | Arjuna | Third Pandava, Son of Indra and Kunti, husband of Draupadi, Subhadra, Uloopi and Chitrangada and father of Shrutakarma, Abhimanyu, Iravan and Babruvahana . Daughter Pragati and Pragya. |
| Vibha Anand | Subhadra | Arjun’s 2nd wife, Kunti’s 4th daughter-in-law and Abhimanyu’s mother, Uttara’s mother-in-law and Balram and Krishna’s sister. |
| Paras Arora | Abhimanyu | Arjun and Subhadra’s son, Uttara’s husband and Parikshit’s father. |
| Richa Mukherjee | Uttara | Abhimanyu’s wife, Uttar’s sister and Parikshit’s mother. |
| Vin Rana | Nakula | Fourth Pandava, Son of Ashwini Kumar and Madri, husband of Draupadi and Karenumati and father of Shatanika and Niramitra. |
| Lavanya Bhardwaj | Sahadeva | Fifth Pandava, Son of Ashwini Kumar and Madri, husband of Draupadi and Vijaya and father of Shrutasena and Suhotra. Daughter Sumitra. |
| Shafaq Naaz | Kunti | Pandu’s 1st wife, mother of Karna and 5 Pandavas and Rajmata of Hastinapur. |
| Arun Singh Rana | Pandu | Kunti and Madri’s husband and father of the 5 Pandavas. |
| Suhani Dhanki | Madri | 2nd wife of Pandu and mother of Nakul and Sahadeva and mother in law of Draupadi, Vijaya and Karenumatra. |
| Aarav Chowdhary | Bhishma | Shantanu and Ganga’s son. Grandsire of Pandavas and Kauravas |
| Thakur Anoop Singh | Dhritarashtra | Gandhari’s husband, father of the Kauravas and Dushila and King of Hastinapur. |
| Riya Deepsi | Gandhari | Dhritarashtra’s wife, Shakuni's sister, mother of the Kauravas and Dushila and Queen of Hastinapur. |
| Praneet Bhat | Shakuni | Gandhari’s brother and King of Gandhara and Kauravas Mama. |
| Arpit Ranka | Duryodhana | Eldest Kaurava, son of Gandhari and Dhritarashtra, Karna's friend, Dushila’s Eldest brother and Bhanumati’s husband and father of Laxman Kumara and Laxmana. |
| Nirbhay Wadhwa | Dushasana | Duryodhana and Dushila’s brother, 2nd Kaurava and Dhritarashtra and Gandhari’s son. |
| Ali Hassan | Takshak and Jayadratha Dushala’s husband. | |
| Garima Jain | Dushala | Duryodhan’s sister and Jaydrath’s wife. |
| Ankit Mohan | Ashwatthama | Dronacharya’s son, Duryodhana's friend. |
Recurring[edit]
- Atul Mishra as Ved Vyas
- Akhilendra Mishra as Kansa
- Kunwar Vikram Soni as Krishna
- Tarun Khanna as Balram, Krishna’s elder brother.
- Preeti Puri Choudhary as Devaki, Balram and Krishna’s birth mother.
- Vandana Singh as Yashoda, Balram and Krishna’s foster mother.
- Gurpreet Singh as Prince Rukmi, Rukmini’s brother.
- Ketki Kadam as Radha, Krishna’s lover.
- Ratan Rajput as Amba, Princess of Kashi.
- Kaushik Chakravorty as Shalya, Madri's brother.
- Naveen Jingar as Vidura, Mahamantri of Hastinapur, younger brother of Pandu and Dritarashtra.
- Nissar Khan as Dronacharya, Guru of Pandavas and Kauravas.
- Hemant Choudhary as Kripacharya.
- Chandani Sharma as Kripi.
- Ajay Mishra as Sanjaya, Dhritarashtra’s aide.
- Sudesh Berry as Dhrupad, Shikandini, Drishtadyun and Draupadi’s father
- Shikha Singh as Shikhandini, Drupad’s 1st child, reincarnation of Amba
- Karan Suchak as Dhrishtadyumna, Drupad’s 2nd child
- Deepak Jethi as Virata
- Pravisht Mishra as Uttar, Uttara’s brother
- Puneet Issar as Parshurama, Guru of Bhishma, Drona and Karna
- Raj Premi as Kalayavan
- Rio Kapadia as Subala
- Sandeep Arora as Vikarna, Duryodhan’s brother
- Shweta Gautam as Sudharma
- Siddhant Gautam as Ekalavya
- Tinu Verma as Jarasandha
- Joy Mathur as Shishupala
- Rumi Khan as Kichaka
- Vidyut Xavier as young Karna
- Alam Khan as young Duryodhan
- Ashnoor Kaur as young Dushala
- Kunal Bhatia as Agni
- Mohit Raina as Shiva
- Nikhil Arya/Sachin Verma as Indra
- Ananya Agarwal as Malini
- Anju Jadhav as Sukhada
- Jayantika Sengupta as Arshi
- Kanishka Soni as Parashvi
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]
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]
Mahabharat Serial Star Plus Episodes
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]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Star Guild Awards | Best Ensemble Cast | Sidharth Kumar Tewary | Won |
| Best Mythological Series | Swasthik Picture | |||
| Indian Television Academy Awards | Best Visual Effects | Swasthik Picture | ||
| Best Historical/Mythological Serial | Mahabharat | |||
| Indian Telly Award | ||||
| Best Costumes for a TV Program | Bhanu Athaiya | |||
| Best Makeup Artist | G. A. Jamesh | |||
| Best Ensemble | Sidharth Kumar Tewary | |||
| Best Actor in a Negative Role | Praneet Bhat | |||
| Best Stylist | Shweta Korde | |||
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Aham Sharma | |||
| Star Parivaar Awards | Favourite Naya Sadasya (Male) | Shaheer Sheikh | ||
| Pehel Nayi Soch Ki | Saurabh Raj Jain and Pooja Sharma | |||
| Saathi Nayi Soch Ka | Aham Sharma | |||
| Nayi Soch | Saurabh Raj Jain | |||
| Favourite Kutumb | Mahabharat | |||
| 2015 | Scroll of Honour |
References[edit]
- ^'Mahabharat Episodes'. www.hotstar.com. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^'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.
- ^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.
- ^'Shakuni's role in Mahabharat once in a lifetime: Praneet Bhatt'. The Times of India. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^'Is Shafaq Naaz miffed with Mahabharat makers?'. The Times of India. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^'Shaheer Sheikh and Rohit Bhardwaj's Buddy Diwali!'. The Times of India. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^'Riding high on 'Mahabharat' ratings, Star Plus tops the chart'. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^Ajita Shashidhar. 'Broadcasters betting big money on the small screen with Rs.100 crore shows'. India Today. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^'The cheer haran sequence in Mahabharat took 20 days to shoot'. The Indian Express. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^Kanabar, Ankita R. (2 April 2014). 'The cheer haran sequence in Mahabharat took 20 days to shoot'. Indian Express. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
- ^Nishi Tiwari. 'Review: Mahabharat, so far so good'. Rediff. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ^'A young boy from Bihar'.
- ^Chaya Unnikrishnan. 'Show review: 'Mahabharat''. DNA. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
- ^'Reality shows see a drop in ratings this week - Times Of India'. Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ^'13th Indian Telly Awards: Complete List of Winners'. Times of India. 18 October 2014.
- ^Janani Karthik (6 December 2014). 'Mahabharatham is back on Vijay TV - The Times of India'. Indian Express. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- ^Debashish Mukerji. 'Riding high on 'Mahabharat' ratings, Star Plus tops the chart'. India Today. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
- ^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.
- ^'Rise in the ratings of TV shows this week - Times Of India'. Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 1 December 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ^'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.
- ^'Mahabharat's Shaheer Sheikh, Aham Sharma & Rohit Bhardwaj woo their fans in Indonesia!'. Pink Villa. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ^'Look what 'Mahabharat' Stars are busy doing in Indonesia!'. Pink Villa. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ^'In Pics: Team 'Mahabharat' works hard in Jakarta and parties harder in Bali!'. Pink Villa. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
- ^'Casts of Mahabharat will be performing using English, Hindi and Indonesian Languages'. tribunnews. 2 October 2014.
- ^'Mahabharat Show'. tribunnews. 3 October 2014.
- ^'Stars of Mahabharat will perform at Jakarta'. tribunnews. 1 October 2014.
- ^'Residents of Bali bought tickets for Fans Meeting of the casts of Mahabharat'. tribunnews. 4 October 2014.
- ^'ซีรีย์อินเดีย มหาภารตะ'. Channel 5 (in Thai). 2 January 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
External links[edit]
- Mahabharat on IMDb
- Official Website on Hotstar