Mythological Characters

Stories that your grandmom (or grandpa) told you usually stay with you. Some characters from the stories/myths that stayed with me-

Ghatotkacha, Bheema's son. The lasting impression is from a Telugu film about his adventures, from the film Mayabazaar. A song from the film while he devours an entire wedding feast by himself was a highlight.

Narada, the sage who appears and disappears at will. He keeps chanting Narayan, Narayan, as he is a bhakt (devout follower) of Vishnu, and keeps carrying tales from one place to another, sometimes causing consternation, if not mayhem. There is also a funny story about Vishnu giving him a test to see if he still chants his name while carrying a bowl of oil filled to the brim. His task is to carry it around the world without spilling  a drop. Naturally, he forgets to chant Vishnu's name in the process.

Abhimanyu, the brave son of Arjuna who gets into an enemy formation called the Chakravyuha, knowing fully well he may not come out alive. He doesn't.

Karna, the son of Kunti, along with the major Pandava brothers, Arjuna, Bheema and Yudhishthira. Their tales of bravery and righteous behaviour would keep everyone glued. B.R. Chopra's retelling of the Mahabharat was a masterpiece, with Shakuni being played brilliantly by a goofy guy called Goofi Paintal. Kunti and Draupadi were strong female characters.

Remembering Mahabharat- by BR Chopra

The TV series made a great impression on me when I first saw it. Its beauty (to me) lies in the fact that it shows a realistic world fuelled by desire for power, crooked uncles (Shakuni is a great character, played effortlessly by Gufi Paintal), casteism, idealism (Bhishma) gone wrong, the good, the bad and the in-between, indecisiveness, a mother's power over sons (in asking them to share a wife), and so much more.

I particularly liked the way Krishna was portrayed by Nitish Bharadwaj- I still remember the smiling visage, as a friend of the Pandavas, and his exasperation at some of their oaths. He asks them to think before they utter some of the more consequential ones, at one point.

Mahendra Kapoor's soulful song which rounded off each episode also was memorable. Draupadi played by Roopa Ganguly was also a powerful character. Mukesh Khanna had a role of a lifetime, and so did many of the Pandavas, and Duryodhana and Karna. Later, I read Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, which tells the story from Draupadi's point of view. That was great too.