A Bollywood movie will aim to recreate the magic of a 1980s blockbuster Indian television serial based on an ancient epic Hindu text that portrays a clash of dynasties and the victory of good over evil.
Ravi Chopra, the director of the legendary series, Mahabharat, which ran for 94 episodes between 1988 and 1990, is getting behind the camera again to make two, three-hour films with special effects he says will rival those produced in the West.
“This is something which I always wanted to do because it’s a great epic and was made into a hit serial which international audiences should get to see on the silver screen,” Chopra said. “The film will be made with great special effects like people saw in the film, The Lord of the Rings.”
The Mahabharat television series was inspired by the epic, Mahabharat, one of two Sanskrit epics of ancient India, and was one the biggest television hits in Indian broadcasting history. The most sacred Hindu text – the Bhagavad Gita – forms a part of the Mahabharat, a tale of how two branches of a royal family fight over their kingdom.
In India, people were glued to their television sets and streets emptied of people as its one-hour-long episodes were aired. Trains were delayed at stations as passengers refused to board during broadcasts, while television sets were installed at weddings to ensure guests turned up.
The tale, one of the world’s longest written epics, has been translated into different Indian languages. Its commentary on goodness, charity and prudence is read out to many Indian children by their parents.
“The people loved the television serial and now they should also taste the same at the cinema. I will make it a world-class movie but will not digress from the Indian spirit which the Mahabharat has,” Chopra, son of the legendary Bollywood filmmaker BR Chopra, said. “I will start shooting the film in 2008. I am still finalising the script and then I’ll select the cast.”
Prithwish Ganguly, Reuters
Dance, my heart! dance today with joy.
The strains of the day fill the days and the nights with music,
and the world is listening to its melodies:
Mad with joy, life and death dance to the rhythms of this music. The hills and the sea
and the earth dance. The world of man dances in laughter and tears.
Why put on the robe of the monk, and live aloof from the world in lonely pride?
Behold! my heart dances in the delight of a hundred arts;
and the Creator is well pleased.
Kabir
From: One Hundred Poems of Kabir, translated by Rabindranath Tagore
This is a summary of a speech by Mr Claes Nobel, Chairman of United Earth and the grandnephew of Alfred Nobel (creator of the Nobel Foundation). The speech was given before Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi’s program on Self Realisation and Sahaja Yoga at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Thursday 3 July 1997.
Mr Claes Nobel spoke of his vision of a world in which human beings would live in harmony and peace, both with themselves and with Nature. However, in order to know how to act rightly to achieve this end, we need a reference point. It is Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi who enables us to distinguish what is right by granting spontaneous Self Realisation, through which we can know absolute truth and absolute peace.
He stressed the importance of the inspiring insights of women, such as those of Shri Mataji, particularly in relation to achieving peace. Mr. Nobel distinguished four aspects of peace in his notion of “Earth Ethics”: first, inner peace within the individual; second, the peace among men and nations, religions and races; third, the peaceful relation with Nature and the Earth in which we listen and respect; and fourth, the peace between man and God, which precludes all violence and war. Shri Mataji enables us to perceive the underlying and eternal spiritual laws which govern the cosmos and life on Earth.
Shri Mataji’s followers, whom he had met all over the world, were all radiant with inner peace and balance and should be called “Ambassadors for the Earth.” Shri Mataji’s gift of Self Realisation gives discrimination to know the truth and to avoid the extremes of blind faith and fanaticism.
There had been enough talking about a sustainable future for the Earth. What was needed now was action. An Indian fable pointed the way forward: the greatest fulfilment and satisfaction are attained not by thinking of self, but through a true insight into our collective identity.
There is such a light
which cast no shadow
no shadow in sight
To venture beyond the confines of the mind
this is where you will find
the sun has risen
the light spreads and fills the land
the flowers spread open and start to expand
their fragrance fills the land
To those that this will happen will be blessed
will be blessed with nothing less
than the spirit than the soul
nothing less than the whole
Derek Johannsen