There's plenty to be said about the strong and weak points of this show naturally subjected to individual preference, and here's my main points without nitpicking too much. It's not going to beat Br Chopras need I say, but it so beats watching any other serial on Star plus.
Plus points: I love Gandhari, Dhritarashtra, Bheeshma, Shakuni, they each have a great screen presence, are terrifically engaging and so stand out the most for me and Satyavati too to a point,. I refrain from mentioning other weaker frail actors here incase my valid reasoning is misconstrued for bashing, and as it is I can't care for petty minds.
so negative points that don't include choice of actors: I don't like the overuse of the Mahabharat theme music because its becoming less and less effective in implying the significance of a moment in history instead using it relentlessly to dramatize every single situation, and frankly speaking some moments are too ordinary to warrant it. There ll come to a point when a scene of due importance won't feel as vital for example if that music is used in the moments leading up to war or in the dice game when the seed of war was planted or even in exact moment of the official announcement of war, it has got to be used moderately in order to drive a point home but the music is losing its efficiency by aiming to accentuate every moment of drama, as if the acting alone couldn't suffice. infact generally speaking there does seem to be a tendency to reinforce everything, such that as a contrast watching Bheeshmas somewhat understated and restrained performance is refreshing, but contrary to some thoughts I do enjoy the compelling portrayal of a young Dhritarashtra, the way he's been sketched out allows us to imagine him in his early pre-duryodhana days before it'll be a change of chapter once Duryodhana arrives on scene and he starts surrendering to his sons whims thus waning and weakening with time, by showing us this we get to see the fall of power from his hands rather than seeing Dhritarashtra immediately.from that weak persona that we a priori attach to his character.
I agree with genral consensus regarding the fact that the story want to stay close to the origin. With all the palacial splendour and extravagance that decorates the show, you already have that vast open space for creatively envisioning that world so why the need to add further intricacies by completely misinterpreting and going off course? Ie why do we have Madri being presented as a vamp, is this some vain attempt to draw a contrast with pure virgin Kunti, its unnecessary really, when we are already familiar with these characters and what they represent, I'm all for revealing more behind characters via their mental states but this cant be something to fall back on all the time granted that they were both competing for Pandus love but still the manner in which it has been done seems too drawn out.
A big let.down also was Gangas hilarious appearance as she posed like catwalk model, that was reductive to the etherealness of what Ganga ought to evoke.
Overall the pluses outweigh the minuses for me and I look forward to watching each episode. It's a staggering effort from the creative team to have fabricated the look of the larger than life story, places and characters that inhabit that time verging on the brink of Kaliyug, for us to transport ourselves into that period where the values as practiced and illustrated by characters are applicable as ever to our present age of hypocrisy and ignorance.
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