Mahabharat (Animation) (2013) (Hindi)

The trailer starts with the predictable, “Yada Yada hi Dharmasya….” (for translation, visit - http://www.asitis.com/4/7.html).  That and the really bad quality of animation visible on the trailers prepared me for pretty much the worst.  The fact ironically remains that India will be the largest exporter of animation in the world (citation needed) but will not spend money in making a quality animation movie.

There is no point in going into the story of The Mahabharat because I assume that all of you would be most familiar with it.  But to touch upon it a bit, the story starts with the background of the Gateway of India in Mumbai – a badly created animation version of that – wherein a magical eagle starts narrating the story to a couple of kids, squirrels and a dog.  The group then suddenly breaks into a rap jig without warning.  The history follows.

Let me try and explain myself on what I mean by bad animation

1. The lip sync in this version is rank embarrassing.  There has been no attention paid to it at all.  Worse off, the characters look like toy monkeys where the lower jaw keeps moving up and down without purpose.
2. The characters have some resemblance to the voice overs.  So Arjun does look like Ajay Devgn – ever so slightly.  But overall, the characters just look like each other with some minor changes – like they have been created in a hurry.
3. When chariots run over unpaved land, they should leave some marks on the soil right? Apparently in the Mahabharat (this version only), the chariots float and leave no traces

Indian movie makers have never understood, do not understand and will never be able to understand the power of quality animation.  There is an organization that has grown to a little over $42 billion with a net income of nearly $10 billion purely on the back of quality animation.  For those unaware as to what I am talking about – you must be from the Indian animation industry.

And to make matters worse, these versions do not stick to facts.  There are at least 2 glaring errors that I could find and I haven’t read the entire Mahabharat yet.  If that wasn’t enough, Hidimba (The Rakshashi wife of Bheem and Ghatotkach’s mother) dons an apsara avatar (its true) that looks a few times better than Draupadi herself – who looks half male if I may say so.

Coming over to casting – while most of the voice overs were apt, why would you put a powerful voice like Manoj Bajpayee to the calm and composed character of Yudhisthir and not use him for Duryodhan in place of Jackie Shroff. Anupam Kher as Shakuni is a disaster but the biggest of them has to be Shatrughan Sinha as Krishna – erm?

Needless to say, I am not recommending that you watch this version of The Mahabharat.  Especially don’t take your kids.  If you want them to learn the true story, let them read the Amar Chitra Katha version or watch the current series on TV – at least they stick true to the story.  Don’t bother with this one.  Aman Khan’s blip with Krishna in 2006 should have stayed a blip.  2 on 10.

Trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZmpE_TWX4c