Leave your high expectations home and enjoy the film for what it is
Director: Arnab Chaudhuri
None from my family was interested in watching this film and so I went on my own.
THE STORY: The young prince of Virat refuses to go to sleep unless his nursemaid tells him a bedtime story. That’s when she tells him the life story of Arjun, The Warrior Prince. This unfolds into the film over three sessions. It begins when Arjun and the other Pandava princes are sent to Dronacharya for learning the art of warfare. The film goes on to show how Arjun becomes brave over time and becomes a great warrior.
MY PERCEPTION: The animation was very good. The background structures of Drona’s training centre, forests, cities and more were well sketched out. The film moved fast and ran for about an hour and a half. The cattle, sheep, horses and elephants were simply gorgeous.
I felt it could have been more colourful. There was a lot of green, brown, black and white with very less colour otherwise. Even the crowning ceremony scene of King Yudhishthira was quite dull. A lot of creative license has been taken with the story of Prince Arjun. Like the scene of Draupadi’s swayamvara – the version where Arjun dives into the water to pierce an arrow in the fish was quite surprising. And I have read many versions of Mahabharata.
The scenes kept jumping from one bit to another. Anyone who does not know his mythology well is bound to be quite confused. It could have been better streamlined.
Another shock was the complexion of many of the characters. Why so dark? They looked like tribals living out in the sun instead of royals. The worst was that of Lord Krishna. I just about managed to recognize the chocolate brown Krishna because of the peacock feather that was fitted on his head. Thumbs down for this!
One scene stood out best – the last war scene when Brihannala changes into Arjun and takes on the mighty Kaurava force headed by Bheeshma Pithama along with the young Virat prince. The battle formation and fight sequences were excellently made. Kudos to that!
VERDICT: It’s worth a see! Leave your high expectations back home and just enjoy the film for what it is.
RATING: ***1/2 (More than Smart but less than Snazzy)
*Silly
**Shaky
***Smart
****Snazzy
*****Super
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