Resurrected yet again!

Mythology has been the eternal muse for creative minds. Writers and film-makers have continually delved deep into Indian mythological crevices to dig out stories of valour.

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are still the most recurring epics in all formats — TV shows, films and books.

Characters like Rama, Krishna, Bheem, Ganesha, and, more recently, Ravana have repeatedly been explored across all genres. Now, an untold story of Karna from the Mahabharata will unfold on the celluloid, as Vimanika Comics’s The Sixth: Legend of Karna gears up to be remade into a live action film by Chetan Desai of the 3D Ramayana fame.

Educating the youth about Indian culture, heritage and spiritual values propelled Karan Vir Arora, founder of Vimanika Comics, to take up mythology as the subject for his comic books. The Sixth presented a story hitherto unexplored: “My Karna is modern but based on the myth. He has the attributes of a true warrior but hasn’t been written enough about. The film will offer a chance to know Karna.”

According to AK Madhavan, CEO of an animation film studio that produced
Alpha & Omega, says, “To licence a popular story is expensive, so it’s easier to lay one’s hands on stories which are in the public domain. Mythology then becomes a natural choice, as most Indians relate to it very easily.”

Film-maker Chetan feels that myth when repackaged with originality clicks with audience. Interestingly, almost 65 per cent of the movie will be shot with chroma screen and use technology never attempted in Indian cinema before, the kind used in Pirates of the Caribbean, Skyline and District 9: “We’re in talks with the team who worked on Pirates to get them on board. But ultimately the story has to be told well to find a connect with the viewers.”

Comic strips like Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha pioneered re-telling stories of mythological heroes. The original TV shows — Ramayan and Mahabharat continue to have reruns.

Films, mostly animated, like Pandavas, Bal Ganesha, Krishna; TV shows like Chhota Bheem, Hanuman, Mata Ki Chowki and even fiction like The Immortals of Meluha have managed to create their own niche space.

Sukesh Motwane, Zee TV fiction head, says reality shows can never beat mythological content: “These stories are part of Indian culture, we’ve grown up listening to mythological tales. There is a universal appeal for such tales.”