So can I, dream, I mean. What a pity that you could not have been the scriptwriter for this show! Your dissection of the ubiquitous Akhanda Bharat trope is spot on, as is your sketch of the titular hero in almost all our historicals. But then I doubt if you would have lasted very long, for the PH does not subscribe to logic and does not like commonsense.😆
Incidentally, have you seen the 1990 classic Chanakya of Chandraprakash Dwivedi? It had 47 episodes of 1 hour each, and in those days on Doordarshan, one hour meant 56 minutes. It was made with an eye firmly turned away from entertainment value, and it would not have lasted 3 months in these days. But in those days we had only one channel for all practical purposes - Zee being very new - and so every one was ready to accept Chanakya.
The political complexities and the endless scheming and manipulation needed to get all the janapadas and kings on board for Chandragupta's campaign against Dhananand were shown in superb detail. Chandragupta was only a supporting character, Chanakya was the lead. Porus was over 50, and was hoodwinked into backing the Akhanda Bharat Abhiyaan by promising him the emperorship of the Akhanda Bharat, a promise that Chanakya never intended keeping.
Dhananand was not half as irritating as the one in Chandragupta Maurya, there was no unbeautiful Mrignayani, and Amatya Katyayan, aka Rakshas, was a very impressive personality with a voice to match, not like the chap in the 2012 show, which I am now watching online. I am yet to get to Rohit Purohit's Bhadrasaal, but I liked the young CGM, the Kartikeya of DKDM, and I like the adult one as well. And Manish Wadhwa is a prime favourite on mine. The 1990 Chanakya was less impressive, totally autocratic, and postively ugly. Let me see how the rest of CGM pans out.
I was then posted in Delhi, and so was able to watch Chanakya every Sunday. I also have it now on DVD. It does not have a single unbelievable moment, of which there are several in the 2012 version and it is truly the last word on the pre-Mauryan period on TV.
I would have liked to watch Prithviraj Chauhan online as well, for I like Rajat Tokas very, very much, , but I think there are too many episodes for me to cover.
Shyamala Cowsik
Originally posted by: --BlackSheep--
The biggest problem with Puru's storyline is that he is unfortunately the protagonist and titular character of a historical drama.
If we observe clearly then the past historical dramas have followed a certain pattern when it comes to their titular characters.
1.The titular character needs to be a victim of some sort who is meant to bear all sorts of sufferings on the planet
2.The titular characters have their own warped sense of justice and righteousness which does seem idiotic af to the audience at times.
3.The titular character needs to possess superhuman abilities.
4.The titular character needs to be ghusofied in every single matter.
5.The titular character CANNOT (In bold letters) be anything less than the brightest shade of white there is.
Not even an inch of greyish matter is allowed.
The only two historicals which were the best till date and which didn't disappoint me despite their own addition of fictional tracks are Prithviraj Chauhan and Imagine's Chandragupta Maurya both of which were creations of Sagar Arts.
The best thing about the Sagar Arts historicals was that the titular characters were beautifully sketched and they were presented in such a manner that the audience can connect to them on an emotional level.And not only them but the supporting characters were presented in a realistic manner too.
More than unrealistic stunts those shows emphasised on tactics,emotional quotient and the relationships between the characters.This is why despite all the natakiya roopantars and distortions those shows were gems.
Speaking of the historicals nowadays,they emphasise more on the glorification or to be more precise the heroficiation(my own term) of the titular character than giving them a solid,concrete storyline and characterization.
The writers need to realise that audience are not looking for a superhero like the Marvel/DC movies.They are more interested in watching the story of an ordinary person like them who develops extraordinary tendencies due to the circumstances and the challenges which life threw at him.
I am no writer but IMO a more plausible storyline for Puru would have been that he should have been born under normal circumstances in his palace and been raised in the palace itself.His parents would have guided him on the politics and tactics of royal life.I would have loved to see Anusuya grooming her son to be more shrewd in order to get the throne.I wouldn't have minded him dealing with his evil half bro and uncle and countering them with his intelligence.Puru and Anusuya could have made a formidable badass team.He could have his band of friends aka Hasti and Ambhikumar and they could have had their adventures in India itself.
Laachi could have still been the feisty Dasyu Princess.They could have shown a storyline like Puru and his gang getting kidnapped by the Dasyus and him getting to know Laachi and falling for her in the process.
They could have shown Laachi having some ulterior motives for befriending Puru and getting him to fall for her.But Puru sees through her facade.Then a lot of angst and manipulations follow and they end up genuinely falling for each other.
The Farsi track should have totally not been there.And as far as the Akhand Bharat Theme is concerned then excess of anything is bad.This 'Akhand Bharat' trope has been used in many historicals.
It was first introduced in Imagine's CGM and after that all the writers followed the same root.However they forgot that the theme of Akhand Bharat actually fit perfectly into CGM's story and life.CGM and Chanakya did forge an Akhand Bharat.
This is one of the problems which I had with CAS.Akhand Bharat was never meant to be Ashoka's goal for his grandfather had already achieved that.Ashoka's life was more about the internal politics of his family,his troubled relationship with his father,his ambition to get the throne and ultimately how he overcame his own demons and bloodlust and emerged as a great ruler.
But CAS CVs forcefully inserted the Akhand Bharat jaap into Ashok's story where it was not needed at all.
Similarly Porus' story was not about 'Akhand Bharat' at all.He was 'Bharat Ki Sarhad Ka Pehla Rakshak' and not the Spokesperson of the Akhand Bharat Abhiyaan.Therefore they should have stuck to that only.
Like when Alexander would have been on the verge of invading India,Chanakya would have warned all the frontier rulers.
Ambhi would have surrendered but Puru would have made the decision to face Alex on his own thus making him the hero which he is.
Throw in some PoRander bromance and Roxana's rakhi to make the plot more interesting.
As far as Alexander's track is concerned then I would have given equal SS and shown his side of the story properly along with Puru's.Also I would have toned down the 'Ruthless Ruler' part a bit.His story with Darius,Roxane etc would be shown properly.
Did I mention that Darius would remain in Faras only??
Ultimately the show would have ended with Puru losing to Alex but the Battle of Hydaspes causing such a magnanimous loss to Alexander's troops that he would have been compelled to retreat.
And the famous 'Treat Me Like One King Treats Another' would be there.And this would have fit perfectly into 269
Sigh!! I guess one can only dream.😆
Edited by sashashyam - 7 years ago
Hindi TV Shows
