BOTTOM LINE
Mythical Tales, Gen-Z Style
PLATFORM
NETFLIX
RUNTIME
25-30 minutes (each episode – 18 in total)
What Is the Series About?
An epic conflict unfolds as the Pandavas and Kauravas head to war after peace talks collapse. Krishna guides a conflicted Arjuna through the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita. The battle claims legendary figures like Bhishma and Dronacharya, with the latter’s strategy leading to the tragic death of Abhimanyu. Enraged, Arjuna vows to kill Jayadratha to avenge his nephew.
Analysis
Many years ago, a famous playwright once observed that Indian mythology is a well that keeps giving, and this truth continues to hold sway. Evolving technological advancements in animation, CGI, and VFX, along with the growing use of artificial intelligence, have collectively presented immense opportunities to reimagine age-old epics in a new light, perfectly catering to a newer generation of audiences.
Kurukshetra, Netflix’s first animated retelling of the Mahabharata, created by Anu Sikka and directed by Ujaan Ganguly, stands as an impressive step in this direction. This magnum opus, cleverly structured across 18 episodes, zeroes in on the essence of the epic through the central 18-day war. It neatly encapsulates the dilemmas, confusions, deceptions, and various conflicting situations experienced by a plethora of characters across its runtime.
The first set of nine episodes is now available on Netflix. While the Mahabharata, with its philosophical richness, layered characters, and expansive storytelling, always merits a revisit in any form, the crucial question remains: how do you make it relevant for contemporary audiences? Kurukshetra makes a sincere effort to present a humane portrait of this larger-than-life epic in crisp episodes, importantly, without oversimplifying the source material.
The show’s character-centric storytelling (instead of a linear approach) is its primary USP. Each episode, centred on a key character from the epic, provides an inkling of their backstory, returns to the present conflict, and thereby offers a strong basis for their actions. The creators ensure a fitting context to the Mahabharata (even for those unfamiliar with it), offer a fair idea of the family trees, and compellingly state why the war is worthy of your attention.
The structuring ensures that the characters do not proceed with their tasks mechanically. Instead, the concepts of good and bad, right and wrong, emerge organically within their conversations and choices, avoiding a simplistic black-and-white approach to morality. The show’s core message is powerfully delivered: that your destiny is largely governed by your actions and ethical stance.
If there’s anything particularly obvious about Kurukshetra visually, it’s the influence of Baahubali in terms of its cinematic canvas, visual aesthetic, and the presentation of the ammunition and war strategies. Additionally, the hat-tip to Hollywood superhero films is quite striking, more so in the episode that focuses on Ghatotkacha, a rare occasion where the virtual caricatures appear far removed from the core ethos of the epic.
Given that Kurukshetra falls under the domain of mythological retelling in animation, one can’t resist a comparison with Hotstar’s The Legend of Hanuman series, set in a similar space. In the case of the latter, one could clearly see that the creators had taken considerable liberties with Ramayana in making it more viewer-friendly, maintaining a playful quality without losing its nuance. Kurukshetra, on that front, takes itself a tad too seriously, playing by the book.
This is by no means to discredit the efforts invested in Kurukshetra, but viewed more in retrospect, as a missed opportunity. The heavy, slightly bombastic music score, nearly asserting its presence and dictating the tone of the show, is another area where one expected more. Yet, the dialogues, in the original version (Hindi) and other dubbed languages, are top-notch, leaving little room for complaints.
Kurukshetra could be a worthy starting point to the Mahabharata in an accessible form – in terms of visuals, dialogues, a storytelling tangent and the crisp runtime (each episode is barely 25 minutes). Though the show gets heavy at times and the attempt to cram in too much information undermines its appeal, Kurukshetra is a show brimming with sincerity, craftiness, and it keeps you hooked.
Highlights?
Crisp without losing out on depth
Well-written dialogues, narrative
Clean dubbing, visually pleasing
Drawbacks?
Employs a textbook style retelling sans much experimentation
Too many influences from Hollywood superhero films, Baahubali
Gets heavy at times, loses its spunk in a few episodes
Did I Enjoy It?
Mostly, yes
Will You Recommend It?
If Indian epics in animated form interest you, go for it
Kurukshetra Netflix Series Review by M9
