{| Kuru Clan Actor/Character AT #0|}

Sameer Dharmadhikari is an actor who appeared in films like Dil Kya Kare(1999), Satta(2003), Raincoat(2004), Rafta Rafta - The Speed and Game(2007) and many more. His past TV forays include Imagine TV's 'Main teri parchai hoon' and Zee's 'Jhansi ki Rani'

Shantanu was the ruler of Hastinapur at the point that the main story starts. He married Ganga, who left w/ his 8th son after he broke his vow not to question her.

After Ganga returned their 8th son Devrath to him, he raised him, and made him the yuvraj. However, after he met Satyavati, he was smitten by her, and so Devrath arranged that he get to marry Satyavati by forsaking his claim to either throne or son. Shantanu then married Satyavati and had 2 sons - Chitrangada & Vichitravirya. Chitrangada succeeded him as king.

Vivana Singh as Ganga

Vivana Singh plays the role of Ganga in this serial, making cameo appearances every time

Ganga, like Mahabhish, was once cursed by Brahma to be born on earth, as a result of which, she married Shantanu. She put a condition on their marriage - that he was never to question anything she did, and if he did, she'd abandon him forever.

Ganga gave birth to 8 sons, who were incarnations of the 8 Vasus, and drowned 7 of them as per their request, to liberate them from Rishi Vashistha's curse. When the 8th son was born, Shantanu couldn't take it any more and questioned her, and so Ganga explained it all to him, and then disappeared w/ their son

She had their son Devarath taught by Parashurama, and after his gurukul was over, she took him back to Shantanu and restored him to his father. She then left them forever, as her birth on earth was complete

Sayantani Ghosh as Satyavati

Sayantani Ghosh is an former Miss Calcutta turned actress who started her career doing Bengali movies, and made her national TV debut in 2002 in the serial Kumkum. Her last forays in TV were in LifeOK's Meri Maa and Imagine TV's Rakt Sambandh.

Satyavati was the daughter of a fisherman, and during her youth, Rishi Parashara, the son of Vashistha, gave her a son named Vyasa, whom he later took after he was born. Later, when she met King Shantanu, he was smitten by her and wanted to marry her. Her father, who was very ambitious, declined, wanting that her son should be the yuvraj. Devrath, when he learnt about it, went and satisfied her father, so that he gave Satyavati in marriage to Shantanu.

Satyavati gave birth to 2 sons - Chitrangada & Vichitravirya. Chitrangada succeeded Santanu as king, but was killed in battle by a Gandharva who was his namesake. After his death, Vichitravirya became the king. After Vichitravirya's death, Satyavati got Vyasa to do a niyoga birth on Vichitravirya's widows Ambika & Ambalika, and they got Dhritarashtra & Pandu.

After Pandu's death, Satyavati, along w/ Ambika & Ambalika, retired to the forests.

Arav Chaudhary as Bhishma

Arav Chaudhary has acted in several shows, such asCaptain Vyom in DD and also starred in a few movies such as Dhoom and Right ya wrong. His last appearances on TV were in Gulaal and Jhansi ki Rani, where he played the role of Mangal Pandey.

Bheeshma was born as Devarath, and the 8th son of Shantanu & Ganga. He persuaded Satyavati's father to give her in marriage to Shantanu, forsaking not only his claim to the throne, but marriage as well. He thereby got the name Bheeshma, and Shantanu gave him the ichcha-mrityu boon - he'd only die when he wanted to

After Shantanu's death, Bheeshma invaded Kashi and abducted the 3 princesses - Amba, Ambika & Ambalika. The latter 2 married Vichitravirya, but Bheeshma's disruption of Amba's marriage started an enmity which only ended with his defeat

Bheeshma continued to serve the rulers of Hastinapur after Vichitravirya's death - first Pandu, and then Dhritarashtra. As a result of his loyalty to Dhritarashtra, he ended up fighting on Duryodhan's side in the war, despite being opposed to him. He led the Kaurava army for the first 10 days, but on the 10th day, Arjun & Shikhandi nailed him, and left him on a bed of arrows.

After the war, Bheeshma gave a long series of instructions to Yudhisthir, and following that, he decided that his life's work was over, and then died.

Aparna Dixit as Ambika

Aparna Dixit played the role of Anita Lokhande's sister in Zee TV's Pavitra Rishta

Ambika was the 2nd daughter of the ruler of Kashi, the other 2 being Amba & Ambalika. Their swayamvara was disrupted by Bheeshma, who took them to Hastinapur, and got Ambika and Ambalika married to Vichitravirya.

However, Vichitravirya died before he had any sons, and the throne of Hastinapur was vacant. Bheeshma refused to have any sons due to his vow, and so Satyavati got her other son Vyasa to produce sons for Vichitravirya. However, Ambika was totally repulsed by Vyasa and shut her eyes in fear, and hence, Dhritarashtra was born blind. Ambika was later asked by Satyavati to have another son from Vyasa, but sent her maid instead. That maid's son was Vidura.

After the death of Pandu, Ambika & Ambalika joined Satyavati in retiring to the forest

Rio Kapadia as Subala

Rio Kapadia plays the role of Subala in this serial

Subala was the ruler of Gandhara, and the father of Shakuni & Gandhari. When Bheeshma heard that Gandhari had received a boon from Shiva that she'd have 100 sons, he approached Subala for Gandhari's hand for Dhritarashtra, Subala was initially reluctant due to the blindness of Dhritarashtra. However, given the prominence of the Kuru family, he agreed to give her in marriage to Dhritarashtra

Thakur Anoop Singh as Dhritarastra

Anoop Singh Thakur is an actor, whose previous foray into serials was as Dushashan in Imagine TV's 'Dwarkadheesh: Bhagvan Shri Krshn'

Dhritarashtra was the son of Vichitravirya & Ambika. Since he was born blind, as a result of Ambika shutting her eyes when Vyasa consummated her, he was automatically bypassed for the Hastinapur throne in favor of Pandu. This was the root of the rivalry between his sons & the Pandavas.

After Pandu's death, Dhritarashtra became the ruler, and was obsessed with his love of Duryodhan. After the Pandavas disappeared after the Varnavarta house of lac incident, he made Duryodhan the yuvraj. When the Pandavas returned after marrying Draupadi, he gave them the barren part of the kingdom - Khandavaprastha, while keeping Hastinapur for himself and Duryodhan.

During the game of dice, Dhritarashtra let Duryodhan control everything that went on, and only at the end, when ill omens were foreseen, returned the Pandavas everything. However, he then allowed Duryodhan to bring about the exile of the Pandavas.

The rest of Dhritarashtra's reign was essentially Duryodhan's reign, until the latter was killed by Bhima. After the war, Dhritarashtra finally abdicated, and 15 years later, he left for the forest. Finally, he & Gandhari were killed in a forest fire

Riya Deepsi as Gandhari

Riya Deepsi plays the role of Gandhari in this serial

Gandhari was the daughter of Raja Subala of Gandhara, and the sister of Shakuni. She was a devotee of Lord Shiva and got blessed by him that she'd be the mother of 100 sons. Hearing about this, Bheeshma approached her family for her hand for Dhritarashtra, and thus inadvertently sowed the seeds for a civil war in Hastinapur. Gandhari agreed to the marriage, and once married, blindfolded herself for life - in ways sometimes considered symbolic.

When she heard the news of Yudhisthir's birth by Kunti, Gandhari, who nurtured fond hopes of giving birth to the eldest of that generation, cast out her embryo, which was a plain mass of flesh. Vyasa split it into 101 parts, from which emerged the 100 Kauravas, and a daughter Duhshala

Praneet Bhatt as Shakuni

Praneet Bhatt is best remembered for his role as Adi, Maan's assistant in Star One's Geet

Shakuni was the crown prince of Gandhara when his sister Gandhari got married to Dhritarashtra. After the birth of Gandhari's sons, he became attached to them.

He is most remembered for the game of dice, in which he had dice that was loaded in his favor. He won against Yudhisthir twice, and caused the exile of the Pandavas.

In the war, Shakuni played a fringe role, while all his brothers were killed during battle. Finally, on the 18th day, Shakuni was slain by Sahadev while fleeing from him

Arpit Ranka as Duryodhan

Arpit Ranka is a model turned actor who will debut in this serial as Duryodhan

Duryodhan was the eldest of Dhritarashtra's & Gandhari's 100 sons. He grew up w/ an innate hatred of his cousins - the Pandavas, and was always plotting on ways to harm them, starting at childhood. After the incident of the house of lac at Varnavarta, he became the Yuvraj of Hastinapur, and held on to that position to the end.

After the Pandavas established a prosperous kingdom @ Indraprastha and successfully held the Rajasuya Yagna, Duryodhan was consumed w/ envy. Along w/ his uncle Shakuni, they plotted the infamous game of dice, which was followed by the insult of Draupadi. During that incident, Duryodhan invited Draupadi to sit on his thighs, and Bhima swore to destroy them in battle.

After the Pandavas were exiled, Duryodhan became the de-facto ruler of Hastinapur, even though his father still sat on the throne. After the exile of the Pandavas was complete, Duryodhan refused to return Indraprastha to them, and hence, the war at Kurukshetra started. After 18 days, the entire Kaurava Army, which outnumbered the Pandavas at the start of the war, was annihilated. Duryodhan fled the field and hid in a lake, but the Pandavas tracked him down and challenged him to a fight. Duryodhan fought Bhima in a mace fight, and in course of that, Bhima smashed his thighs & fulfilled his vow.

Duryodhan died later that night, but he did have one small consolation of hearing from Ashwatthama how the latter had massacred Draupadi's sons & the rest of the Pandava army

Alam Khan plays the young Duryodhan

Nirbhay Wadhwa as Dushashan

Nirbhay Wadhwa plays the role of Dushashan in this serial

Dushashan was the 2nd son of Gandhari & Dhritarashtra, and is exclusively remembered for trying to disrobe Draupadi. As a child, he was a part of all of Duryodhan's schemes to harm the Pandavas. When Shakuni won the game of dice, Duryodhan sent him to fetch Draupadi, and Dushashan grabbed Draupadi by the hair and dragged her into the court. Later, when Karna called her a prostitute, Duryodhan asked Dushashan to strip her. Dushashan tried it, but Krisha's miracle saw to it that that sari had an infinite length, and outlasted Dushashan.

Bhima then vowed to tear Dushashan's chest in battle & drink his blood. On the 17th day of the war, Bhima got into battle w/ Dushashan & defeated him easily. He then tore off his right arm - the arm w/ which he had grabbed Draupadi's hair - and beat him w/ it mercilessly. He then thew it away @ Duryodhan, and in front of the Kauravas, tore apart Dushashan's chest & drank his blood. That really terrified the Kauravas, but Draupadi got avenged

Raj Shah plays the young Dushashan

Garima Jain as Duhsala

Garima Jain plays the role of Duhsala in this serial

Duhsala was the daughter of Dritarashtra & Gandhari. She was the 101st child of theirs, and formed after the 100 parts of the flesh Gandhari bore were set aside for 100 sons. She grew up, and unlike most of her brothers, she did not have a blind animosity towards the Pandavas.

She married Jayadrath, the ruler of Sindhu, who however did share the hatred that her brothers had towards the Pandavas. From him, she had a son named Suratha.

When Jayadrath abducted Draupadi during the Pandava exile, the Pandavas spared his life, not wishing to widow Duhshala. However, Jayadrath coming back to cause the death of Abhimanyu during the war finally forced their hand, and he was killed on day 14. Following his death, her son Suratha died of fright/took his own life, and Sindhu was left w/o a king, w/ Duhsala running it on behalf of Suratha's son.

After the war, during the Ashwamedha yagna, the horse came to Sindhu, and a lot of Saindava warriors confronted Arjun and got killed by him. Duhsala then proceeded to the battlefield w/ her grandson to greet Arjun, who was moved seeing her widowed, and recalling that it was he who had widowed her. She begged Arjun to spare her grandson, and Arjun embraced her and told her that the Pandavas too wanted the enmity to end. He sent her back to the palace w/ her grandson, telling her that the Pandavas bore no residual ill will towards her family.

Ashnoor Kaur, who played young Duhsala, also played the role of Asokasundari, the daughter of Shiva/Parvati in Devo ka Dev Mahadev

Kunwar Naveen Jinger as Vidura

Aham Sharma as Karna

Aham Sharma plays the role of Karna in this serial. His last appearance was in the role of Ajay in Shapath

Originally born to Kunti while experimenting w/ Durvasa's boon, Karna was adopted by a charioteer Adiratha, and thereby got the reputation of a suta, which followed him throughout his life.

Growing up, he was more interested in warrior skills and first approached Drona, but was rejected by him. He then deceived Parashurama into teaching him on the pretence of being a Brahmin, but one day, after a scorpion bled him while Parashurama was resting, he got exposed and cursed w/ losing his knowledge @ the most critical time. On another occasion, he killed a Brahmin's cow mistaking it for a wild animal, and was cursed that in battle, his wheel would sink in the ground, and taking advantage of that, he'd be slain.

Karna first appeared in Hastinapur during the tournament where the Kuru princes were demonstrating their skills. He challenged Drona's contention that Arjun was the greatest warrior, and this was when his caste got dragged into the equation. Kunti recognized him on that occasion but remained silent - a decision that was to cost both Karna & the Pandavas dearly.

Seeing Karna's utility as a counterfoil to Arjun, Duryodhan had him made the king of Anga, and that was the start of a friendship that saw an otherwise virtuous Karna participate in evil plots & acts. Karna was rebuffed by Draupadi @ her swayamvara, and during the game of dice, he called her a prostitute and encouraged Dushashan to strip her. Bhima then swore that he would be killed by Arjun.

During the Pandava exile, Karna helped Duryodhan do a yagna, during which he reconquered a number of kingdoms previously conquered by the Pandavas, and thereby re-aligning the alliances that the Kauravas & the Pandavas had.

When the war started, Bheeshma saw to it that Karna was excluded from the war as long as Bheeshma was in it. After the 10th day, when Bheeshma fell, Karna joined the war. He was one of the participants in the disarming of Abhimanyu. On day 14, Karna got into a fierce battle w/ Bhima which was inconclusive, despite a number of Duryodhan's brothers, including Vikarna, getting killed while saving him.

Tarun Khanna as Balarama

Tarun Khanna made his mark in mythological shows with his role as Ravan in LifeOK's 'Devo ka Dev - Mahadev'

In the Mahabharata, Balarama's main role was being a guru to both Duryodhan & Bhima in gada-yudh (mace fighting). Duryodhan was his favorite pupil, and that developed a soft spot in him for Duryodhan that Krishna usually had to deal with.

Balarama first taught Duryodhan after the house of lac incident, when Duryodhan accompanied him to Mithila. Duryodhan excelled in mace fighting, and got the reputation of becoming the most skilled mace fighter.

During Arjun's exile, Balarama planned to give Subhadra in marriage to Duryodhan, but that was a plan that had nobody's support. Krishna therefore sabotaged it by getting Arjun to abduct her, and preventing the Vrishni's from being vassals of the Kauravas, rather than the Pandavas.

During the Pandava exile, when Duryodhan held a swayamvara for his daughter Lakshmanaa, Krishna's son from Jambavati - Samba - intruded on her swayamvara & abducted her. He fought the Kauravas - including Bheeshma, Drona, Kripa, Ashwatthama & Karna, and held his own, but was ultimately captured. However, since he had touched Lakshmanaa, she was considered unsuitable for marriage to anyone else. However, the Kauravas imprisoned him. Balarama came and got him released, after uprooting Hastinapur and dipping it in the Ganga. 😆 (This account, curiously, is not a part of the Mahabharata, but rather, Shrimad Bhagvatam)

Later, when the Pandavas & Kauravas went to war, Balarama declined the invitation of both Duryodhan or Arjun to join. During that time, due to his killing of Rishi Romaharshana, Balarama went to a pilgrimage.

On the 18th day of the war, Balarama happened to arrive @ Kurukshetra, just in time for Duryodhan's ultimate battle w/ Bhima, and blessed them. However, he got infuriated by Bhima smashing Duryodhan's thighs, and wanted to kill him. On Krishna's urges, he dropped the idea, but that was the end of his friendship w/ the Pandavas.

Thirty six years later, after the fratricide that destroyed all the Yadavas, including Balarama's 2 sons, Balarama took a yogic position and a serpant - representative of Sesha nag - left his body.

Saurabh Raj Jain as Krishna

Saurabh Raj Jain made his mark in mythological shows with his role as Lord Vishnu in LifeOK's 'Devo ka Dev - Mahadev'. In this serial, he is a narrator of moral lessons that can be drawn from the story, and later goes on to become one of the key players in the story

While enough has been written about Krishna & his ties w/ the Pandavas both in his AT as well as that of the Pandavas, Krishna also had a relationship w/ the Kauravas - independent of Kunti

As described above, Samba's marriage to Lakshmanaa resulted in Krishna being related not only to Arjun (via Subhadra) but to Duryodhan as well (via Samba). As a result, after the Pandava exile, both Duryodhan & Arjun approached Krishna for support, on the basis of their individual relationships w/ him. Krishna joined the Pandavas as Arjun's charioteer & strategic advisor to the Pandavas, while his army, the Shamshaptakas/Narayanis, were handed over to Duryodhan

After Bhima shattered Duryodhan's thighs in battle, Krishna dissuaded Balarama from punishing him. He also visited Dhritarashtra & Gandhari & managed to convince them against cursing the Pandavas. However, after the war and seeing all the corpses, Gandhari cursed Krishna that the Yadavas would befall a fate similar to the Kurus, and Krishna would experience a fate similar to Duryodhan's.

36 years after the war, that curse, along w/ a similar one from a group of rishis insulted by Samba, materialized, and Krishna, after witnessing the deaths of his entire clan and arranging for an evacuation from Dwarka, was killed by a hunter Jara who mistook his foot for that of a deer.