Reading Diary B Week 7- Continuing with the Film

For this reading diary, I have continued to watch the film version of The Mahabharata. A link to this film can be found here. The plot picked back up with the Pandava brothers and Draupadi in exile. Draupadi impressed me in these scenes. She spoke frankly and confidently to Yudhishthira, and questioned his motives for the gamble. All of the brothers, including Yudhishthira, respected Draupadi and listened to her concerns even if they disagreed with her. This kind of effective and open communication is rare in many relationships today, and was certainly very ahead of its time for the time period during this story. I appreciated that scene.

Description: Illustrations from the Barddhaman edition of Mahabharata in Bangla, which were printed in wood engraving technique (7).jpg, Author: Maharaja Mahatab Chand Bahadur, Date: between 1820 - 1879, Source: Wikimedia

Amba made a brief re-appearance shortly after the Pandavas has started their exile. I was sure to pay attention in that part since she is one of the characters for my storybook project. Everyone recognized her name and knew her story, and they were all amazed at her determination. She was so focused that she didn't eat, sleep, or age. She barely stopped to discuss anything other than her mission.

Weapons were acquired "by both sides" in these scenes as well. Arjuna went out on his own journey to get a weapon- I appreciated how they only hit the highlights in this part. There were a lot of smaller (and not as relevant) stories/descriptions that could have been shown in the film but were left out. This was probably for the best because the viewers were able to streamline the plot a little bit.

The effects in the movie aren't "state of the art" by any means, but they aren't too cheesy either. The costumes for the demons, for example, weren't super realistic- but they were scary enough to get the point across! All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by this film and think it will help me better understand all of the various characters.