Arjun The Warrior Prince

I hate to start with negatives but in the case of Arjun – The Warrior Prince, what strikes you as most disappointing is the quality of animation. I have been browsing some reviews and comments on line and have been shocked at people calling this attempt as high quality animation. People – reality check due. If this is good animation then you guys haven’t been cued into where the world has actually progressed in the past decade. The last time, Hollywood or any international studio released a movie with this tacky animation was like – not in my life time.

And the shocker is that this is coming from Walt Disney Studios. Agreed there is a need to move into India quickly but Disney has way too many good movies to dent their reputation – and seriously at that – with a below par animation attempt on one of India’s greatest heroes. I say all of this because the animation quality seems just too artificial. Where there has been some attention paid to say shadows, there has been no attention paid to say the way people walk. Disastrous!!!

I have always been a huge huge fan of the Mahabharata and believe that it is time that either Peter Jackson or Spielberg (would be my choice) picks this up as their next 3 part magnum opus. There is just so much that can be done with the Mahabharata. The number of story lines that exist amazes me to no end. And one struggles to make a choice – which one do I like more. And therefore, Arnab Chaudhuri was perfect in his choice per se. Nothing could have sold better than the story of Arjun. It is evergreen and will always make money at the BO. Full points there.

But then Arnab, why did you have to change the story line so much? Why do you have to portray Dhritharashtra as a dwarf and Shakuni Mama as an asthmatic obese dwarf. Both these characters actually land up looking too funny to be taken seriously. Why do you portray Karna in a fashion that is most insulting to one who even in the Mahabharata has been portrayed as one of the humblest of warriors. And pray why would you portray Arjun as an absolute pansy. Agreed, he needed to be Brihanalla (a woman during the 13th year of exile) but the effort to make him look feminine was something I could not fathom. Not to mention the absolutely artificial hour glass forms of every single female character and the absolute free will with which you have changed the story line.

Overall, an extremely disappointing attempt. I was actually looking forward to it. But I guess, Spielberg and Jackson still have an opportunity to cash into India – and cash in really big time. On 2nd thoughts maybe Baz Luhrmann would be awesome. 4 on 10.

Trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K-R-Q0YRtQ&ob=av3e