Channel: Zee Tv (also on
Doordarshan)
Timing: 11am every Sunday
Rating: 3 Star
Carrying on with the divine intervention on the small screen, Zee TV's latest show " the channel's magnum opus actually " has grabbed our attention, considering that the channel introduced it as a weekly show: BK Modi's Buddha. It instantly transported us back to the days of Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana and BR Chopra's Mahabharata, television's original mythological shows that immortalised the names of its modern-day creators.
Set in 500 BC, Buddha's journey begins in the kingdom of King Suddodana (Sameer Dharmadhikari), who is desperate for an heir to his throne. So consumed is he with this burning desire for a son, that on the advice of Guru Vachaspati (Amit Behl), he holds a Putrakameshti yagya along with his wives, Mayamaya (Deepika Upadhyay) and Prajapati (Gungun Uprari). With the stars auspiciously aligned, Maya conceives a child, promised as the "king of kings". Despite the attempt to kill Maya by a jealous and power hungry Mangala (the king's younger brother's wife, played by Nigaar Khan), Prince Siddharth is born in the enchanted jungles of Lumbini. By accidentally showing Lumbini as part of India, and Buddha's birth here, the show stirred up quite a controversy with the Nepalese audience, who claim Lumbini is in Nepal and that the holding of a yagya and Buddha being born in the same mahurat as Lord Rama was objectionable. Apparently, the channel rendered an apology.
Nevertheless, in spite of running into rough weather, Buddha makes for gripping viewing, and it does so because of its spectacular cinematic appeal. Unlike the computer generated visuals and special effects and shoddy make-up on other mythological shows, Buddha's sets appear real, and its characters look comfortable in their skin. Also, the fact that it is limited to weekly one-hour episodes (52 in all), pushes the makers to give it a definitive and concise shape and presentation.
Interestingly, Buddha was initially supposed to be made into a film. Spice Studios had begun work on a film based on the same subject with filmmakers Shekhar Kapur and Ashutosh Gowariker helming the research and script. However, Modi chose television as he wanted Buddha's story to unfold in all its splendour and reach out to a larger audience.
Just three episodes old, it's fascinating to watch Buddha's first steps, his father's denial of him becoming a sanyasi as predicted by Asit Muni (Kabir Bedi), the forced eviction of the sick and elderly from the kingdom, the power politics and jealousies, the pride and obsession " the layers peel off, one by one, revealing details about how a warrior prince Siddharth who pioneered elephant warfare became Buddha, the enlightened one.
While you tune in for a little bit of hope and faith and those timeless teachings, here's a nugget to nibble on " Kabir Bedi, who plays a sage in Buddha, has a karmic connection with Buddhism. His mother spent 15 years as a Buddhist nun in Tibet. Bedi himself lived a life of a monk for a year in Burma.
comment:
p_commentcount