Walt Disney’s video streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar has unveiled plans to make a series of movies based on the ancient Indian “Mahabharata” poem.
Gaurav Banerjee, Disney+ Hotstar’s head of content and development, told fans at the annual 'D23 Expo' in California that the planned movie, which has been touted as an ambitious, big-budget project, will be made in collaboration with “Udta Punjab” famed Bollywood producer Madhu Mantena, along with Mythoversestudios and Allu Entertainment.
Set to release in 2024, the movie is said to be a daunting project for the filmmaker as “Mahabharata” is roughly ten times the length of the ancient Greek epic poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey” combined.
While the star cast of the movie is yet to be finalized, Disney is hoping that the "Mahabharata" movie series will strike gold for India and earn it a stronger foothold in the rising global entertainment streaming markets.
In reference to another popular Indian mythological TV series "Ramayana" of the 1980s, which became one of the most-watched programs and was 78 episodes long, Mihir Shah, the Mumbai-based vice president at consultancy firm Media Partners Asia, opined that mythology has always been one of the most popular genres in Indian television.
“The announcement of Mahabharata on Disney+ Hotstar is a move to extend this success into the world of online streaming," Shah told Bloomberg.
Indian filmmaker SS Rajamouli, who is famous for making action-filled epic movies like "Baahubali" is rumored to be working on directing this magnum opus.
During an interview with Bloomberg earlier this year, Rajamouli shared that he was girding himself to eventually tackle a cinematic version of the “Mahabharata.”