The Perfect(Almost!!) Casting For Mahabharat-The Film

When the need was there to put some thoughts on the white sheet of Microsoft word paper, and the situation looked all fortified thanks to a mouse, a keyboard and a screen (all functional), an idea struck us. And the idea was a magnanimous one or we would like to assume so.

Now, Star Plus' high profile and epic show Mahabharat produced by Swastik Productions has been much appreciated by the masses. And then we wondered if in today's time Mahabharat was adapted on the big screen, which Bollywood celeb would play which famous character. We are sure you all would love to see B-town celebs adorn the heavy costumes and jewellery and mouth Sanskrit dialogues with panache.

Here's embarking on a fantastical journey and turning Bollywood heroes into larger than life mytho figures. Read on...

Krishna- The role of the charmer, orator and the man who played a big hand in the result of the epic war is swiftly taken by the king of Bollywood- Shah Rukh Khan. And some pointers- Arjun being favoured by Krishna as compared to Karna, he being closed to Draupadi and caring for her, and negativity towards Duryodhan (see the list below and enjoy a good smile).

Arjun- No points for guessing but only the Indian super hero Hrithik Roshan can do justice to this role. With immense power and impressive looks and the talent to stand against all, our Krissh fits the bill to the t'. Whether being the favourite among the other sex or taking competition from his counterparts, Hrithik can surely hit the fish's eye with his talent any day.

Karna- The man with a heart of gold but always ending up in the wrong path just like the Dabbang actor Salman Khan. Karna being the eldest bhai' of the lot and the one ready to die for his friendship we are sure Salman might very well be the incarnation of Karna. His personality and skills is worth being on the top, but as soon he reaches the mark, someone just overpowers him.

Yudhisthira- The dharmyodha-eldest Pandav who stood for everything right and was the leading force for his brother will go in the hands of Akshay Kumar. A trained martial art and a self made man, Akshay has managed to get a strong foothold in Bollywood and is an inspiration to all newcomers who aspire to join the industry without a godfather.

Bheem- It's pretty evident that no one but the Punjabi puttar of B-town, Sunny Deol can do this role. We hardly think we need to give the details of this strong character as Bheem's might can only gain prominence when Sunny does his thumping Yaara O'Yaara' dance step. And if you want to go a bit overdramatic, start imagining soldiers being crushed under his foot, as he dances away to glory.

Nakul-Sahdev- The young twins who were loved by one and all but had loads to learn before they could catch up to their brothers, the good looking pair of Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan gets our vote for these roles. They have proved themselves but are yet to stand in the same league as the other senior actors.

Draupadi- Well, this dusky beauty and the love of five young men, we can only imagine the sexy Deepika Padukone as this heart stealer. And we cannot blame Duryodhan or Dushashan for attempting to disrobe this leggy lass (just kidding).

Abhimanyu- The young son of Arjun, who got into the Chakravuyh only to get killed halfway in the war. He was a shadow of his father and we choose Shahid Kapoor for his role. His boyish charm and the hunger to excel have led him to walk untrodden paths but sadly, he failed to prove himself as an actor.

Duryodhan- Here comes the baddie- the eldest of the Kauravas who took upon the Pandavas to not let go of his childhood dream of becoming the king. He definitely had all qualities of being the king and this mighty role will suit the dark horse of B-town, Ajay Devgn. With his deadly body and superb acting prowess he definitely has all the talent to stand tall against all the leading Khans and Kapoors of the world.

Shakuni- The most intriguing figure in Mahabharat, the meanest of all villains- Sadashiv Amrapurkar wins the award for playing the role of Shakuni. His on-screen appearance, nature and manner of talking can any day make you imagine Shakuni in him. And when he is bad, he surely gets better...

Bhism- The grand uncle of Pandavas and Kauravas, he was the man who was revered by all. Bhism had control over everyone and nobody dared to say anything against him. He definitely was the shahenshah of the tale. And you guessed it right, the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, the true warrior of Bollywood gets to play this central role.

Parshuram- Well, the man who never aged and was someone who could give a tip or two on the art of weaponry and warfare to anyone who came across him. And who better than the still-looking 20' Aamir Khan to play Parshuram. He can still give any newcomer a run for his money. The actor who is known to be a perfectionist in and outside the industry has ample knowledge to enlighten his colleagues and juniors on the business of Bollywood.

Eklavya- The guy who had the guts to stand up to Arjun with his extraordinary skills with the bow and arrow in spite of not having any lineage with the royal blood. A true follower of Dronacharya, Eklavya's role aptly suits Ranveer Singh who has stood out so well among the actors already in the industry for years. He is someone who can make his presence felt by making even a small appearance.

Dritharashtra- The blind father who had a hard time balancing between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. But not looking on his judgment factor but rather his personality and aura, we choose Kabir Bedi to play this role.

Gandhari- The queen who opted to shut her eyes for her husband's sake and be the loving mother to her 101 children. Who better than the ever smiling Kirron Kher who has made a name for herself playing the mother to all lead actors in recent times. She is strong yet has the perfect motherly appeal to her.

Kunti- The beautiful mother of the five Pandavas and a son born out of wedlock, the role goes to Rekha who has the quintessential beauty of being a queen and has a very good rapport with all the young actors who seem to adore her. And the way Kunti had been unlucky with her marriage; our dusky beauty too did not get to enjoy a happy martial life for long in real life.

Dronacharya- The man who taught the art of archery to the princes and yes for our list Sanjay Dutt gets the honour to play Dronacharya. The "Rocky' of Bollwood, he has trained every actor to work on his body and lend sleepless nights to women, all thanks to some pulsating abs and sexy biceps. Baba, as he is fondly called, is the true epitome of a successful mentor.

Well, here we end our list, please drop your comments on whether you think these actors suit the list or not!!!

While I do not always agree with choice of actors here, I enjoyed tongue in cheek humour. Thanks for the article.😊

I still think Salman should be Arjuna and shahrukh as Karna, akshay as krishna (remember Omg film he was good) ,Arjun was always dabangg and Karna has many emotional scenes Srk rules in that and playing karna is his dream role.Hrithik can be good as krishna too.

Originally posted by: Cotswolds

While I do not always agree with choice of actors here, I enjoyed tongue in cheek humour. Thanks for the article.😊

I must say that I also found myself disagreeing on some choices quite a few times.Like I would have prefered anupam kher sir to portray shakuni & someone more mature & evolved for Draupadi,Eklavya.But come to think of it- the casting of mahabharat,if ever a film is made on it,would always be subjected to debate.That's why I used the word 'ALMOST' beside 'PERFECT' as this particular casting might be the least debatable among all & has the potential to be favored by a large chunk of people!But again for that you need to make this wonderful epic into full fledged movie the chances of which ,according to me, are very less! But again who knows so fingers crossed!!

Originally posted by: TheWatcher

I still think Salman should be Arjuna and shahrukh as Karna, akshay as krishna (remember Omg film he was good) ,Arjun was always dabangg and Karna has many emotional scenes Srk rules in that and playing karna is his dream role.Hrithik can be good as krishna too.

Well that was exactly my thought until two years back when I first came in touch with the epic.SRK sir as karna & Salman sir as arjuna made complete sense!But as i dug dipper into the epic & got to know some insightful knowledge from my uncle(who BTW is a writer & has double M.A in both history & philoshophy) my perspective,slowly,started to change.Having joined theatre,in school & now in university,also helped as it gave me fresh perspective as oppose to what I had as a viewer.There is no denying the fact that SRK sir is brilliant in emotional scene but I think that u will also agree that Salman sir is just as good.The only difference is that SRK sir is more vocal,more explicit when emoting while Salman sir is more subtle.And that one difference actually worked for me.Karna had this life long bundle of pain,anguish,angst in him along with all the courage,valour & noble virtues.He was tough,hard as adamantium on the exterior & yet vulnerable from inside.And that should come across through the actors' voice,body language and expression when they are portraying karna.Lets take their voice for example.While both of them have lovely bass voice with just the right amount of softness but when you listen closely you can feel that oozing confidence,the abstract playfulness in SRK sir's voice which is a must for Krishna.Similarly,you can also feel that confidence in Salman sir's voice but you can also hear something else:passive aggression & lingering pain especially in the lower octave.That is the requirement for karna at least in my opinion.And when the actor plays role that suits them to the 'T' It always does wonder!!In the same way if the physical aspect of karna,though secendory when it comes to playing a character,is considered Salman sir would perfectly suit the bill just like SRK sir would fit krishna.Although if Salman sir plays arjuna & SRK sir plays karna I'm pretty sure that both of them will do justice to the role.But all aspects considered,in my opinion,SRK sir would fit krishna best & Salman sir karna.

Salman would be more suited for the role of doroydon- remember doroydon was a good king who hated his cousins- afterall he did spend time in hell then went to heaven he could also ply a good DRONA

Ajay devgan is more suited Karna and Krishna

Sunny Deol- Bheem and too extent Karna aswell- but because of his age Bhisma or Drona would be more suited

srk- yudister or shantanu(shantanu was very romantic)

Aamir - Yudister

Hritick- well Arjun but can do Karna too (depends who casted if he's senoir actor than karna but if jonior actor of the top lot than Arjun)

But the truth is Mahabharat will be made one day- but not now- it probably happen in 20-40 years time unfortunanlty because of the scale of the movie- probably a wise idea is to make into 3 movies or 5! Mostly fairly new actors should be casted in these roles except one or 2 e.g. Bhishma or Drona should have big star in these roles

Actors should be fully commited to these movies