The Ramayan as reimagined by Ramanand Sagar is back on Doordarshan for the benefit of Indians locked in by the novel coronavirus pandemic. BR Chopra’s Mahabharat is back too – on YouTube. All 94 episodes of the television adaptation of the epic about the warring Pandava and Kaurava cousins have been released with subtitles on the video sharing website by rights holder Pen Studios.
Mahabharat was telecast on Doordarshan between 1988 and 1990. The serial was written by Rahi Masoom Raza, and was a huge success, just as Ramayan was. Among the members of the sprawling cast were Mukesh Khanna as Bhishma, Gajendra Chauhan as Yudishtra, Arjun as Arjuna, Praveen Kumar as Bhima, Roopa Ganguly as Draupadi, Girija Shankar as Dhritishtra, Puneet Issar as Duryodhan and Nitish Bharadwaj as Krishna. Harish Bhimani provided the voiceover as well as portrayed Samay, or time.
Click on this link to watch the first episode.
Also read:
From Mandir to Mahamari: Watching ‘Ramayan’ in turbulent times
‘Mahabharata’ doesn’t belong to one country or race – Peter Brook’s nine-hour play is proof of that
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