Mahabharat (1965 film)

This article is about the 1965 Hindi film. For the Indian epic, see Mahābhārata. For the 2013 Amaan Khan film, see Mahabharat 3D Film.

Mahabharat
Directed by	Babubhai Mistri
Produced by	A. A. Nadiadwala
Written by	Veda Vyasa Pandit Madhur C.K. Mast Vishwanath Pande
Starring	Sivaji Ganesan N.T.Rama Rao Dara Singh Padmini Jeevan
Music by	Chitragupta
Cinematography	Narendra Mistry Peter Parreira
Edited by	Kamlakar Karkhanis
Release date	1965
Running time	163 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Mahabharat is a 1965 Hindi adventure fantasy film based on the Indian epic Mahābhārata, starring Sivaji Ganesan as Karna, N. T. Rama Rao as Krishna, Dara Singh as Bhima, Padmini as Draupadi, Tiwari as Duryodhan and Jeevan as Shakuni, and directed by Babubhai Mistri. The score was composed by Chitragupta and the title song was sung by Mohammed Rafi.

The film was dubbed into Tamil with the title Panchali Sabatham and was released in 1966. K. Devanarayanan wrote the dialogues. Kannadasan and Panchu Arunachalam penned the lyrics. Music to the Tamil version was composed by D. Srinivas. The Tamil-language film was produced by N. M. Ramachandran.

Cast

• Sivaji Ganesan as Karna
• N. T. Rama Rao as Krishna
• Dara Singh as Bhima
• Achala Sachdev as Kunti
• Padmini as Draupadi
• Bhushan Tiwari as Duryodhana
• Jeevan as Shakuni
• Pradeep Kumar as Arjuna
• Mumtaz Begum as Bhanumati
• Anoop Kumar as Uttar
• Rajkumar
• Tiger Joginder Singh
• Jeevan Kala

Plot

Pandu and Dhirtrashtra are two brothers who rule Hastinapur. Pandu marries Kunti, who conceives five sons and names them Yudhister, Bhimsen, Arjun, Nakul and Sahdev, while Dhirtrashtra, who is blind, marries Gandhari, and gives birth to a 100 sons, including Duryodhan and Dushasan. Gandhari's brother, Shakuni, also resides with them. After Pandu passes away,Karna challenges Arjuna in a duel and is made the king of Anga.Karna along with Duryodhana go to Bhanumati swayamwara and abduct Bhanumati. Dhirtrashtra decides to bequeath the empire to Yudhister much to the chagrin of Duryodhan, who plots with Shakuni to kill them in a palace made of wax, but the brothers and Kunti manage to escape and live incognito in a forest where Bhimsem meets with, Hidimba, slays her demon brother, Hidimb, marries her and sires a son, an illusionist, Ghatotkach. The brothers do reveal their identity when Arjun wins a competition at Panchal to wed Draupadi defeating Duryodhan, Dushashan, Jarasandh and others. Kunti unwittingly asks the brothers to share Draupadi.Karna manages to save Subhangi from falling off the cliff and love develops but eventually the both could not marry and Karna starts loving Asawari and eventually ends up getting married with Padmavati. Dhirtrashtra acknowledges the enmity between the cousins and asks five brothers to re-locate to Khandavprasth, which is subsequently transformed by Devraj Indra's aide, Vishwakarma, and renamed Indraprasht. Duryodhan is then humiliated by Bheema and Nakula when Duryodhana enters Maya Mahal, who mocks him after which Duryodhana gets jealous of Pandavas. Shakuni then invites the five brothers to gamble at Hastinapur where Yudhister ends up losing Indraprasht, his brothers, his wealth as well as Draupadi herself. Lord Krishna comes to her aid when Dushashan publicly disrobes her as no one comes to her defense. The Pandavas are then sentenced to 13 years in exile, which will be extended by 12 years more if they are discovered during the 13th year.Karna conquers the entire earth and performs the greatest yagya Vaishnava yagya. When the Pandavas return to claim Indraprastha, the Kauravas oppose and challenge them to a war in the Kurkshetra. Duryodhan chooses Lord Krishna's armies, while Arjun chooses Krishna himself, who decides to only be the charioteer for Arjun.Krishna requests Karna.War begins.Lord Krishna who shows his true self to Arjun when he hesitates to kill his relatives, cousins, and gurus.Bhishma dies and meets Karna and Duryodhana. Kunti goes to plead with Karan to show mercy to her five sons, and Pawanputra Hanuman, the elder brother of Bhima, decides to make an incognito appearance, in this epic battle between Good and Evil.

Soundtrack

1. "Bahut Din Beete Puraani Baat Hai" - Mohammed Rafi
2. "Chakravyuh Ka Chakra Gira Hai" - Mohammed Rafi
3. "Champakali Chhup Chhup Jaaye Re" - Asha Bhosle
4. "Hari Hari Dharti Hai" - Lata Mangeshkar
5. "He Rakhi Bandhnewale Kahan Chhupe Ho" - Mohammed Rafi
6. "Meri Chhun Chhun Chhun PaayalSun Tujhko Pukaare" - Kamal Barot & Suman Kalyanpur
7. "O Chanda Aaj Ki Raat Na Dhalana" - Lata Mangeshkar & Mahendra Kapoor
8. "Sakhi Ri Baaje Man Ki Baansuriya" - Lata Mangeshkar
9. "Sukh Jaata Hai Dukh Aata Hai" - Mohammed Rafi
10. "Tan N Dir Dir Dim Dimat Dere Na" - Usha Mangeshkar

Script-making

Several libraries were emptied to visualise different versions of Mahabharata and the poster was scripted by Krishna Ayyar.

Remake

It was remade in Gujarati as Sampoorna Mahabharat in 1983 and dubbed to Hindi, starring Jayshree Gadkar, Arvind kumar.

References

• Mahabharat overview University of Iowa.

External links

• Mahabharat on IMDb