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The greatest story ever

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Jaskiran Kapoor

Posted: Mar 03, 2008 at 0342 hrs IST

But why Mahabharata all over again? “Why not? There’s no bigger challenge than this. The relevance of Mahabharata goes beyond words, one can associate with it to date. We all grow up on tales told over and over again, and I see no problem if they are made every few years,” Dr Chandraprakash Diwedi knows he has failed once at this grand attempt. Ek Aur Mahabharata, which aired at a ‘lost’ time slot on Zee, was a disaster. “And I accept that failure. But in the process, I learnt that you can’t play with the audience’s mind, you can’t break it all in a day,” Dr Diwedi is now all set to replay, to bring back the greatest story ever told, on Star Plus. With a team that involves Bandit Queen producer Bobby Bedi, Lord of the Rings’ Barrie Osborne, design master Amardeep Behl, writer Farrukh Dhondy, and music composer Talvin Singh, Dr Diwedi, who gave Indian television Chanakya, will now break barriers with an all-new, power-packed Mahabharata.

“The beauty of Mahabharata lies in its relevance that transcends time and generations. It’s part of the Indian culture and diaspora. I know no one can compete with Vyas, but this is my way of dealing with the truth. It’s my quest to understand society in that era, the culture, the governance, the trade and commerce, traditions, lifestyle...I’m trying to find life in this story, life of that time,” Diwedi, who also directed the award-winning film Pinjar, is a man following his ‘dharma’. It’s not easy, though, to follow the righteous path. To open locked doors, turn pages and dive into a time so sacred to man. Perhaps that’s what attracts this doctor to history. “Literature, art, culture, history...I did my medical, but never practised it for more than 28 days. I left it and came back with a microscope, one that could read this language. You see, we are so far from truth, that it’s mythology to us in simplified language,” his search. “I am a wanderer, in search of truth, and I look for it in books, the past, in ruins, for perhaps I haven’t found moksha,” Dr Diwedi is also working on Upanishads and has shot 26 episodes. As for Mahabharata, the saga will be live action television, replete with special effects and grandiose and a whole new star cast. It takes off later this year. “First aim is entertainment. I don’t want this tale to be a burden on my viewer,” he says. Well, news is that Ekta Kapoor too is eyeing her own Mahabharata. This will be one battleground!

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