Satyajit Ray is one of the legendary directors and his cinema is not only appreciated in our country but even greatest of the filmmakers like Martin Scorsese has termed his work inspiring.
An old DD interview of Satyajit Ray has resurfaced on the internet in which he is talking about directing Mahabharata.
© BR Chopra
Satyajit said, “I always wanted to do an epic, I have been fascinated by the Mahabharata, I am still fascinated by the Mahabharata but I don’t think that all of Mahabharata can be tackled. So perhaps a segment of the epic using our traditional stylization using the Kathakaari. I haven’t got a very clear notion of what I want to do but I definitely want to do an epic. A story which everybody knows in forehand. One segment I think one can make a film on is the dice game…just the dice game can make an entire film”.
He also explained the problems in Mahabharata.
Ray said, “One problem in Mahabharata is its characters. If one thinks of an Indian audience, there is no problem because everybody knows about Karna and Krishna etc…but a film of this nature has to be made for the world market”.
You can watch the full interview here.
The interview is getting viral on social media and Reddit users are saying that Ray was a real genius as his vision still prevails in terms of making Mahabharata.
One user wrote, “The fact that these challenges still prevail today. I wonder how his Mahabharata would have been. A true icon of filmmaking”.
© DD National
Another user reacted, “Such a visionary!! He is so right about the challenges which are still relevant today even when the filmmakers will think of adapting it!! Bollywood truly lacks filmmakers with so much clarity of thought and wisdom today!”.
© BollyBlindsNGossip Reddit
One other user reacted, “Story of Mahabharata...Dice Game itself...wow...hope some directors now listen to this”.
© DD National
Apart from Satyajit Ray, SS Rajamouli has also expressed his desire to make Mahabharata several times and called Karn as his favourite character.