By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
The historical epic teleserial “Mahabharat” was retelecast three years ago to provide entertainment to the viewers sitting idle at homes in the wake of coronavirus outbreak following ‘lockdown’. The serial originally hit the small screen on 2 October 1988 and consisted of 94 episodes.
Produced By Baldev Raj Chopra and ably directed by Ravi Chopra, it had music scored by Rajkamal and screenplay by Rahi Masoom Raza. It was narrated by Harish Bhimani and had an ensemble cast to boast comprising of Kiran Juneja, Gajendra Chauhan Pankaj Dheer, Gufi Paintal, Arjun,Nitish Bhardwaj, Rishabh Shukla, Roopa Ganguly, Nazneen, Puneet Issar, Girja Shankar, Parveen Kumar, Vivek Razdan, Surendra Pal, Raj Babbar and Debashree Roy ( who played Satyavati, Shantanu’s second wife and mother of Vichitravirya and Chitrangada ). She was Bhishma’s step-mother, the subject of this write up.
Initially, many critics and viewers, too, were apprehensive of its success as it followed Ramanand Sagar’s highly popular “Ramayana”. Interestingly, instead of going into reverse gear it surged ahead surprisingly and so successfully too with the loudest bang ever in the television history. The serial became so popular that it made viewers glued to television screens during its telecast on DD Network. The roads were deserted and traffic virtually came to a stand-still.
Mukesh Khanna, unarguably, won hearts of the viewers and his role was applauded throughout the serial. But his silence in the Court, when Draupadi was being disrobed by Duryodhana, continues to intrigue the poets, writers & historians all through ages. He was a celebate, a learned noble man known for his wisdom & valour, yet he witnessed the most shocking scene sitting helplessly along with other noble and royal men.
Bhishma Pitamah was son of Ganga through Shantanu. Vichitravirya was his step-brother. Amba, daughter of Kashya, the King of Kashi, and her two sister- Ambika and Ambalika were abducted by Bhishma during their ‘svayamvara’ ceremony, as brides to marry Vichitravirya, the King of Hastinapura. Before the wedding ceremony, Amba meets Bhishma & reveals her love for King Salva. She is asked to go home & marry the man she loves but to her surprise Salva refuses to marry her. She now urges Bhishma to marry her which he refuses on the ground of having vowed not to get married in life. As Vichitravirya was not sexually potent sage Vyasa was sent into the chamber to impregnate the princesses one after another. Amba refused and instead sent her maid.
Holding Bhishma responsible for the catastrophe, she undergoes penance & is granted a boon by Lord Shiva. As results she takes rebirth as Shikhandi, a transgender, to avenge her misfortune at the hands of Bhishma. Shikhandi becomes the cause of Bhishma’s death during the epic war.
Mukesh Khanna became immensely popular amongst children with tele serial “Shaktimaan”, ” “Chandrakanta” ( 1994),”The Great Maratha” ( 1995) & “Chunni” also starring Girija Shankar in the lead. His notable films include the likes of “Tahalka”,”Rakhwale”,”Amaanat”, ”Saudagar”,”Yalgaar”,”Barsaat”Judge Mujrim” & “Money Back Guarantee”.
