Why don't historical/mythological movies work? - Page 6

Because in simple words history with alot of massala and bollywood touch cant make good combination .In general how the hell you can give Historical film and you see the hero jump and dance and the director focus on entertainment and massala and forget the main factor of the film .Just look how historical film work big time .Gladiator - troy - 300 and so many other film because the make the historical fact as the main factor and try to add another factors to make it better this only happened with JA at the recent time and in the past with Mughal E Azam . They take the main historical event and let it lead all the other factor and thats why hollywood film work big time .When we have these kind of image then we will have ahit film without forget you need indian people to interact with these kind of film in agood way because sadly only Hrithik make historic film ahit so in general you need abig star to do this.

And not just the Epics; we have the Panchatantra, Jataka Tales, and the most magical and mystical Vikramaditya stories. We also have the Kathasaritsagara tales. We can weave innumerable films from out of these.

Originally posted by: UnsolvedMystery

Exactly...I agree with you once again. But it will be tough to create 3hrs package to have similar effect.

I agree with you.

The B.R Chopra Mahabharata is a classic. Despite the low budget and poor SFX, it was a great television series. The star cast was incredible and you can see that the makers were dedicated to making a good show. It was entertaining and had some of the 'awe' that Mahabharata should inspire.

However, I don't think the story can be captured in a three hour compact script. I've read the book itself several times. There are so many nuances and interconnected events, that it is impossible to trim things down without watering the script or losing impact. Personally being a book purist, I would cringe at cutting parts. I think an epic series like Harry Potter or Star Wars would do better justice to the story. Also perhaps a new modern high budget series like Game of Thrones - something that can appeal to international audiences. I really think Mahabharata has wide appeal if only we can do it right.

I think people pointed out some very relevant problems in making good cinema in India
- religious fanaticism. Rather than appreciate the effort there are too many factions in India who would argue over an interpretative license or choosing one version of a myth over another.
- obsession with masala. It is unfortunate that even good films and big name celebrities need item songs, masala music, misplaced humor and such histrionics. Audiences tend to reject good films that are too simple and not kitschy enough.

As much as filmmakers need to change, the audience also needs to evolve a bit more and encourage experimentation.

Originally posted by: return_to_hades

I agree with you.

The B.R Chopra Mahabharata is a classic. Despite the low budget and poor SFX, it was a great television series. The star cast was incredible and you can see that the makers were dedicated to making a good show. It was entertaining and had some of the 'awe' that Mahabharata should inspire.

However, I don't think the story can be captured in a three hour compact script. I've read the book itself several times. There are so many nuances and interconnected events, that it is impossible to trim things down without watering the script or losing impact. Personally being a book purist, I would cringe at cutting parts. I think an epic series like Harry Potter or Star Wars would do better justice to the story. Also perhaps a new modern high budget series like Game of Thrones - something that can appeal to international audiences. I really think Mahabharata has wide appeal if only we can do it right.

We could concentrate on seperate independant events of the epic, that have a moral or emotional appeal. Or, we could make Mahabharat in parts, each part ending on a consummate note/observational note.

A games of thrones like series of mahabarat will work. Three season of ten 50 mins episode would be enough.
Season 1- Bhisma origins, Birth of pandavs and kauravs, their studies. season ends with pandavs/draupadi marriage.
Season 2-murder attempt on pandavs, poker, cheerharan, vanvaas. season ends with pandavs challenging kauravs.
Season 3- Final war.

6-7 years ago there were rumours abt Mani ratnam making a "Mahabharata trilogy" starring every bloody south and bollywood star u could possibly find...it was like a ridiculously impossible cast including, srk, aamir, sallu, surya, vikram, nagarjuna, juhi, rani, kamal hassan, rajnikanth, rekha, ajith, sridevi, Amitabh, madhuri, siddharth, trisha, Madhavan and many more...