Whats new about Ekta's MB

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01125.htm

SECTION CXXIV

(Sambhava Parva continued)

"Vaisampayana said, 'After the birth of Kunti's sons and also of the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra the daughter of the king of the Madras privately addressed Pandu, saying, 'O slayer of foes, I have no complaint even if thou beest unpropitious to me. I have, O sinless one, also no complaint that though by birth I am superior to Kunti yet I am inferior to her in station. I do not grieve, O thou of Kuru's race, that Gandhari hath obtained a hundred sons. This, however, is my great grief that while Kunti and I are equal, I should be childless, while it should so chance that thou shouldst have offspring by Kunti alone. If the daughter of Kuntibhoja should so provide that I should have offspring, she would then be really doing me a great favour and benefiting thee likewise. She being my rival, I feel a delicacy in soliciting any favour of her. If thou beest, O king, propitiously disposed to me, then ask her to grant my desire.'

"Hearing her, Pandu replied, 'O Madri, I do revolve this matter often in my own mind, but I have hitherto hesitated to tell thee anything, not knowing how thou wouldst receive it. Now that I know what your wishes are, I shall certainly strive after that end. I think that, asked by me, Kunti will not refuse.'

"Vaisampayana continued, 'After this, Pandu addressed Kunti in private, saying, 'O Kunti, grant me some more offspring for the expansion of my race and for the benefit of the world. O blessed one, provide thou that I myself, my ancestors, and thine also, may always have the funeral cake offered to us. O, do what is beneficial to me, and grant me and the world what, indeed, is the best of benefits. O, do what, indeed, may be difficult for thee, moved by the desire of achieving undying fame. Behold, Indra, even though he hath obtained the sovereignty of the celestials, doth yet, for fame alone, perform sacrifices. O handsome one, Brahmanas, well-acquainted with the Vedas, and having achieved high ascetic merit, do yet, for fame alone, approach their spiritual masters with reverence. So also all royal sages and Brahmanas possessed of ascetic wealth have achieved, for fame only, the most difficult of ascetic feat. Therefore, O blameless one, rescue this Madri as by a raft (by granting her the means of obtaining offspring), and achieve thou imperishable fame by making her a mother of children.'

"Thus addressed by her lord, Kunti readily yielded, and said unto Madri, 'Think thou, without loss of time, of some celestial, and thou shall certainly obtain from him a child like unto him.' Reflecting for a few moments. Madri thought of the twin Aswins, who coming unto her with speed begat upon her two sons that were twins named Nakula and Sahadeva, unrivalled on earth for personal beauty. And as soon as they were born, an incorporeal

voice said, 'In energy and beauty these twins shall transcend even the twin Aswins themselves.' Indeed possessed of great energy and beauty, they illumined the whole region.

"O king, after all the children were born the Rishis dwelling on the mountain of a hundred peaks uttering blessings on them and affectionately performing the first rites of birth, bestowed appellations on them. The eldest of Kunti's children was called Yudhishthira, the second Bhimasena, and the third Arjuna, and of Madri's sons, the first-born of the twins was called Nakula and the next Sahadeva. And those foremost sons born at an interval of one year after one another, looked like an embodied period of five years. And king Pandu, beholding his children of celestial beauty and of super-abundant energy, great strength and prowess, and of largeness of soul, rejoiced exceedingly. And the children became great favourites of the Rishis, as also of their wives, dwelling on the mountain of a hundred peaks.

"Some time after, Pandu again requested Kunti on behalf of Madri. Addressed, O king, by her lord in private, Kunti replied, 'Having given her the formula of invocation only once, she hath, O king, managed to obtain two sons. Have I not been thus deceived by her, I fear, O king, that she will soon surpass me in the number of her children. This, indeed, is the way of all wicked women. Fool that I was, I did not know that by invoking the twin gods I could obtain at one birth twin children. I beseech thee, O king, do not command me any further. Let this be the boon granted (by thee) to me.'

"Thus, O king, were born unto Pandu five sons who were begotten by celestials and were endued with great strength, and who all lived to achieve great fame and expand the Kuru race. Each bearing every auspicious mark on his person, handsome like Soma, proud as the lion, well-skilled in the use of the bow, and of leonine tread, breast, heart, eyes, neck and prowess, those foremost of men, resembling the celestials themselves in might, began to grow up. And beholding them and their virtues growing with years, the great Rishis dwelling on that snowcapped sacred mountain were filled with wonder. And the five Pandavas and the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra--that propagator of the Kuru race--grew up rapidly like a cluster of lotuses in a lake.'"

Originally posted by: luv_khwaish

Hi..

Whatever you've written is 100% correct. you've mentioned everything.

i just wanted to make a point on costumes..Men wearing ONLY jewellery might be acceptable to some but Women doing that , that too in mythology will NEVER be accepted. I'm horrified by the way Satyavati, ambika , ambalika were presented. special mention for the maids. they are under dressed totally..there was no difference between a maid and Goddess Earth!!! Imagine if she uses this dress code for Gods and Goddesses! I agree Ramayan and MB costumes were cliched. those kavachs might look odd to some..but see Ekta made kans wear it ! if crowns are a cliche, then some form of a head gear must be worn, whether it's a turban or the kind which krishna is wearing....that's bec. it differentiates the royal from common people. and there are proofs in history tht all kings wear them. Till date on special occasions like marriages, grooms are made to wear something on their heads..basically cover their heads..the "form" differs with culture and religion. but it's there!

Rest, you've mentioned all the weal points..sorry to say , after this, nothing positive remains in favor of the show....Therez nothing "new" to this MB. If u wanna see a somewhat "modernized" version of mythos, watch jai shri krishna on colors channel. it's possible to be modern and comtemporary and rooted to the culture and traditions at the same time.

Charu

Originally posted by: applesauce1313

Well, I agree that the costumes could have more colour than just black, and the head gear as well, but it is true that 5000 years ago men as well as women did not wear as much clothing as we do today. Turbans were worn by everyone, women used an upper garment called uttariya as a loose shawl as well as to cover the head if necessary , due to heat etc. The real difference lay in the quality of cloth and the jewels. A poor man would have very little jewellery, wheareas a king or a rich man would be loaded with gems and gold. The cloth would be richer.

Weak points.... well, the weakest point in Ekta's version is the storyline. She changes the actual story beyond anything that creative liberty would allow. ON the other hand, it is refreshing to see men and women dressed in something other than gaudy glittering clothes.

Her zoom in zoom outs are irritating, but then again, thats her way of directing. I feel that if she had stuck to the original story and with the same clothes and camera angles, people wouldnt be this angry. After all, content is the biggest thing and she's tampering with the script itself.

Sigh...... I merely wish she would stay true to Veda Vyas' Mahabharat. The rest is alright.

You see every maker will have their own version or their own way of saying a particular story but the problem arises when you are doing something concerning a popular mythological show...most people know the story, at least gist of the popular version and if you are doing it for television you should stick to it as people are watching the same sitting at their drawing room. If it was a film or a stage play you still could have shown a different version but for TV, no way.....Long back I saw an one act play on stage, by a popular bengali stage artist where Mahabharat was depicted through the eyes of Draupadi, fabulous and wonderful play...ran house full for days but then it cannot be called the popular version....and some points to be noted

Originally posted by: tintiny

You see every maker will have their own version or their own way of saying a particular story but the problem arises when you are doing something concerning a popular mythological show...most people know the story, at least gist of the popular version and if you are doing it for television you should stick to it as people are watching the same sitting at their drawing room. If it was a film or a stage play you still could have shown a different version but for TV, no way.....Long back I saw an one act play on stage, by a popular bengali stage artist where Mahabharat was depicted through the eyes of Draupadi, fabulous and wonderful play...ran house full for days but then it cannot be called the popular version....and some points to be noted

1: Black though beautiful is connected with the bad or the evil

2: Headgear is must as in India those days men thought it degrading to go without one...

3: Though men and women wore similar kind of clothes/ organaments and women did not necessarily cover their heads as it was pre-islamic period but both of them carried a shwal type of clothing...

Before I conclude I would once again like to state that these things would have made little difference if the show stuck to the popular storyline, good acting, less camera gimick, sothing music etc., opulant sets are not needed if the story was told well and simply and backed up by capable actors....Your thoughts my friends, Tin

Originally posted by: applesauce1313

Exactly what I said in my post. If the content had not been tampered with, no one would have bothered that much about the clothes, the settings etc, or even the camera angles! Most of the posts by the so called MB haters is about the changing story. And the clothes and headgear merely add to their irritation. For those who are watching the MB for the first time, they obviously dont know the story and so focus on the stylised clothes and sets and the actors and say they like it. Well I like some of the actors too, and I repeat, if only Ekta would stick to Ved Vyas story people wouldnt get so upset about other things and there wouldnt be so many fights on this forum between MB lovers and haters!