Thiruvananthapuram: A 'Mahabharata' controversy is brewing over the reports that the proposed epic film adaptation of M.T. Vasudevan Nair’s novel ‘Randamoozham’ will be named as ‘Mahabharata.’ The row has been triggered by vedic scholar Prof. Thuravoor Viswambharan who said MT’s Randamoozham is not about Ved Vyasa’s epic. “A few chapters from the original Mahabharata have been adapted in MT’s version. If I take MT’s novel Varanasi and re-name it as ‘Kanyakumari,’ will he or the literary lovers tolerate it,” asked Prof. Viswambharan.
It may be recalled that Prof. Viswambharan had contested from Thripunithura in the 2016 Assembly elections as BJP candidate and has been holding discourses on different Hindu epic, vedic and science topics in the Amrita TV programme, Bharatha Dharshanam. The Rs 1,000-crore, most expensive Indian film is being produced by UAE-based entrepreneur B. R. Shetty and will be directed by ad film maker V. A. Shrikumar Menon with Mohanlal in the lead. It is set to go on the floors in September next year.
MT has already written the script and the director has been negotiating with many Oscar winning talents to work for it. Prof Viswambharan added that the makers of the film should not distort the original work. MT’s work retells Mahabharata from the perspective of Bhima, the second Pandava, and his association with Panchali along with his four siblings. Mohanlal will enact the role of Bheema. “The new generation after watching the film will jump to the conclusion that this is the real Mahabharata and will develop wrong notions about it. Hence, the film should not be titled as Mahabharata, he added.
