Disney India announces development of the Mahabharata

Disney India's film studio will be bringing the epic Mahabharata to the big screen which will be directed by Abhishek Kapoor and written by renowned author Ashok Banker. 

The film will go into pre-production post the completion of Kapoor's next venture with the studio, Fitoor, which goes on the floors in July.

"Indian mythology has a great wealth of stories which have inspired legions of creative minds and TheMahabharata unarguably is the most ambitious and all-encompassing of them all. We believe this epic which has engaged generations of Indians will translate into a magnificent silver screen saga," said Siddharth Roy Kapur, managing director - Disney India.

The epic has already been seen on the small screen a number of times. Whether it was BR Chopra's version inthe 80's and 90's or the interpretation that is currently being aired on Star India's flagship general entertainment channel, Star India, the epic has caught the fancy of many directors. On the big screen too, the Mahabharat has been seen in animated form as recently as December 2013.

"The Mahabharata expresses the universal truth; it has defined my understanding of spirituality and of all humanity. I aim to translate this onto the big screen, engage minds and deliver a world class cinematic experience," said director of the film Abhishek Kapoor. "There could be no one better than Disney India, with its prowess as a creative and distribution powerhouse, to narrate this epic in the manner that befits it."

"It's an epic as relevant and powerful today as it was millennia ago. Our attempt is to make the Mahabharata that brings alive the great human drama, the terrible conflict, and unforgettable characters, in a way you've never seen or thought of them before," added Ashok K Banker. For the first time in Indian cinema, a single narrative will be told across two movies.