Mahabharat and Bollywood

Mahabharat finds a place among the best of classics and the most respected mythological epics of India. Hardly anyone can remain out of the charismatic sphere it builds- be it the Bhagvad Gita, the larger than life characters, the situations, the principles, the ethics, the morals and the politics. Mahabharat has inspired a few Bollywood directors- who could base a modern day story on it. Apart from the recent Rajneeti, Kalyug is a rather forgotten classic that inherits from Mahabharat. This 1981 classic directed by Shyam Benegal is a modern day adaptation of Mahabharat. Although a different script entirely, the characters and situations pose a striking similarity with it.


A race to grab government contracts emerges an age old feud between two rival business families- owned by first cousins Dhanraj and BharatRaj. Karan Singh (Shashi Kapoor) plays the protagonist, his role being parallel to that of Karna- the most chivalrous and respected, yet fate deprived character of Mahabharat.

Bhishmachand (Bhishma pitamah) is a life-long bachelor and rears the sons of Ramchand- Khubchand (a physically disabled “Dhritrashtra”) and Puranchand (the impotent “Pandu”). Khubchand begets two sons- Dhanraj (“Duryodhan” played by Victor Banerjee) and SandeepRaj (“Dushasan” played by Akash Khurana).
Dharamraj (“Yudhishtir” played by Raj Babbar), Balraj (a Pandav played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda ) and BharatRaj (“Arjun” played by Anant Nag) are sons of Puranchand (although later discovered to be biologically fathered by “Swamiji”). Karan is an orphan raised by Bhishmachand. Kishan uncle (“Krishna” played by Amrish Puri) is BharatRaj’s proposed father in law and business advisor.

Story begins with Dhanraj (with the help of his trusted and business smart lieutenant Karan) gaining a lucrative government contract defeating his cousins. BharatRaj, unlike his brothers, takes the matter very seriously and smartly grabs the contract through a legal way out. Situation unfurls for worse and this triggers a series of events. Bhishmachand’s futile attempts to mediate make the matters out of control and lead to a tragic turn.

Karan Singh out smarts BharatRaj almost all the time, getting him on BharatRaj’s hit list. Dhanraj, despite Karan Singh’s opposition on moral terms, plots to kill BharatRaj, but his men accidently kill the young son of Balraj. BharatRaj’s hate and prejudice makes him believe it as an act of Karan Singh, and finally BharatRaj’s men kill Karan when he is busy fixing his car tyre (again- Karna was killed by Arjun when the wheel of his chariot got stuck in the mud). Meanwhile a tensed Dhanraj ends himself, and BharatRaj breaks emotionally when he discovers that he had killed his own kin, Karan being the child bore by BharatRaj’s mother out of wedlock. Story finally ends with the destruction of the two families, posing a question over the brittleness of our moral fabric.

Haven't seen a better adaptation of an age old epic in "Kalyug".