^^ glad we're on the same page about both Hanuman and Mandavi. I think in terms of acting, she might be the strongest portrayal we've had of the character, and setting aside the goofs in her characterization upto the fearing kaikeyi scene after marriage, everything after that has been good.
Having skimmed through the pages, looks like I also missed a convo about "mytho fic" novels, and having read some fully and some in bits and pieces, let me give my ranking. I'd say Neelkantan's is easily the worst and most damaging. People already like to glorify villains based on misinterpreting what the epics actually have - there was no need to make shit up to encourage that. Next is banker - he ruined lakshman entirely. 'Nuff said. Somehow he did a MUCH better job with his Krishna Coriolis series though, and I actually kinda love the first few books. Hoping to discuss in the next thread. Then Kane. Her worst characterizations were mandavi and Kaushalya, and I feel like her book had more influence on SKR than the Bhains. Still, in some ways it was an addictive read in the way Kekta's Mahabharat kept me glued - it was sooo different from the epic that I was really curious to know what's next LOL I think that if one is just reading the book, bhains is the least harmful. It reads like a collection of Wikipedia articles on all the different versions concocted in different times and places throughout South Asia - some just happen to be ridiculous, so the damage is done when shows take inspiration from those particular excerpts. The man himself, though, annoys me to no end. With far too much confidence and far too little intelligence, his "analysis" strips scripture of all its beauty. He interprets it like we are made to interpret books we don't care about in literature class. Everything comes in pairs of opposites, everyone is a foil of someone else - which results in oversimplifying every character so they are no more than a symbol for one trait or one concept. Our scriptures are far too rich to be abstracted into something so dry and shallow and flat and boring.
comment:
p_commentcount