Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Mahabharata, a film directed by Peter Brook, was screened here on Sunday, the third day of six-day film festival Ekagra.
Brook, a film director based in France since 1970s, was awarded Padma Shri in 2021 for his valuable contributions towards art.
The French and eventual English version of Mahabharata took several years for Brook and Carrière to write and bring to the stage. Three years before the film version was made, Peter Brook staged its adaptation in French at a quarry in Avignon, France.
This and the eventual filmed version were the first time that the entire (albeit abridged) story of Mahabharata was brought to the stage and made into a feature film. In his book, In Search of the Mahabharata: Notes of Travels in India with Peter Brook 1982-1985, Carrière speaks about the difficulty of adapting Sanskrit into the European languages, particularly for choosing the right words.
In 1990, the film won the award for Performing Arts of the International Emmy Awards and the Audience Award for Best Feature at São Paulo International Film Festival.
Chhavi, a movie wing of Bhawan organised the film festival. The audience turnout in the fest was poor. Film, Shatranj ke Khilari, directed by Satyajit Ray will be screened at 6 pm on Monday.
