This article is about 1988 television series produced by B.R. Chopra.

For the 2013 Star

Plus series produced by Swastik Pictures, see Mahabharat (2013 TV series).

Mahabharat

Genre History

Created by B. R. Chopra

Based on Mahabharata by Vyasa

Written by Pandit Narendra Sharma

Rahi Masoom Raza

Screenplay by Rahi Masoom Raza

Directed by B. R. Chopra
Ravi Chopra

Creative director Yashwant Mahilwar

Starring Nitish Bharadwaj

Mukesh Khanna
Gajendra Chauhan
Praveen Kumar
Arjun
Roopa Ganguly
Puneet Issar
Pankaj Dheer
Gufi Paintal
 Virendra Razdan

Narrated by Harish Bhimani

Composer Raj Kamal

Country of origin India

Original language Hindi

No. of seasons 1

No. of episodes 94

Production

Executive producer D.H. Vengurlekar

Producer B. R. Chopra

Cinematography Dharam Chopra

Editors Shailendra Doke

Birpal Singh

Running time 60 minutes

Production company B R Films

Release

Original network DD National DD Bharati

Picture format 576i

Original release 2 October 1988 –

 24 June 1990

Chronology

Followed by Mahabharat Katha

Mahabharat is an epic Indian television series based on the ancient Sanskrit epic of the

same name. The original airing consisted of a total of ninety-four episodes [1] and were
broadcast from 2 October 1988 to 24 June 1990 on Doordarshan.[2][3] It was produced by B.
R. Chopra and directed by his son, Ravi Chopra.[4] The music was composed by Raj Kamal.
The script was written by Pandit Narendra Sharma and the Hindi/Urdu poet Rahi Masoom
Raza, based on the original story by Vyasa. Costumes for the series were provided
by Maganlal Dresswala.[5]
Each episode is approximately 60 minutes and begins with a title song that consisted of
lyrical content and two verses from the Bhagavad Gita.[6] The title song was sung and the
verses rendered by singer Mahendra Kapoor. The title song is followed by a narration by
Indian voice-artist Harish Bhimani as a personification of Time, detailing the current
circumstances and highlighting the spiritual significance of the content of the episode. It is
the most successful Mahabharata series ever produced for television. [7]
Mahabharat Katha Part II, the story of Barbarik and Veer Babhruvahan, was a spin-off
series that contained portions left out of Mahabharat.

Contents

 1Premise
 2Cast
o 2.1Main
 3Episodes
 4Production
o 4.1Development
o 4.2Casting
 5Music
 6Broadcast
 7Reception
 8Home media
 9Legacy
 10See also
 11References
 12External links

Premise[edit]
The series covers the incidents of epic Mahabharata revolving around Lord
Krishna, Pandavas, Kauravas, Karna, Draupadi etc.
The show begins with Emperor Bharata giving more importance to 'Capacity' over 'Birth'.
The latter shows the birth of Bheeshma and his oath, birth of Pandu, Dhitarashtra and Vidur
and birth of Pandavas and Kauravas. The story then focuses on the childhood of Lord
Krishna.
Elsewhere, Dronacharya teaches Pandavas and Kauravas and asks to defeat Drupad
as Guru Dakshina. Pandavas do so and give half of his kingdom to Drona. For revenge,
Drupad obtains Dhrishthadhyumna and Draupadi. Dhritarashtra makes Yudhishthir the
crown prince of Hastinapur. Shakuni (the maternal uncle of the Kauravas) and Duryodhan
hatch a plan to burn Pandavas and Kunti alive, but they survive and go into incognito.
Duryodhan is made crown prince of Hastinapur.
Arjuna wins Draupadi in her swayamvara but later shows her marriage with all five
Pandavas. Later, Yudhishthir is made the king of Indraprastha and Pandavas
conduct Rajsuya Yagna where Draupadi insults Duryodhana. Latter shows Duryodhana's
revenge by trying to disrobe her and sending Pandavas along with Draupadi for an exile of
12 years and 1 year of anonymity. Duryodhana argues that the Pandavas violated the
condition of anonymity in their last year of exile, therefore they must spend another 12 years
in exile followed by another year of exile in anonymity. This conflict begins to sows the seed
for the Mahabharata War.
After 13 years, Arjun and Subhadra's son Abhimanyu marries Uttara. Krishna tries to make
peace between both parties. Indra in the disguise of a Brahmin took Karna's armor and
earrings. Krishna reveals Karna's true identity of being the eldest Pandava.
Before Mahabharata War, Shri Krishna enlightens Arjuna about the "Bhagavad Gita" and
showed his Virata Swaroopa to Arjuna. The latter shows the deaths of Bheeshma, Drona,
Karna, Abhimanyu, Shalya, Shakuni, Jayadrata, Ghatotkacha, 100 Kauravas, 5 sons of
Draupadi and many other warriors in the war leading to the victory of Pandavas over
Kauravas. Gandhari holds Krishna responsible for her son's death and curses that his
family will also get destroyed. The show ends with Yudhishthir's Rajyabhishek and
Bhishma's death.

Cast[edit]
Main[edit]

 Nitish Bharadwaj as Shri Krishna, Devaki-Vasudev's eighth son/ Foster son of Nand

and Yashoda/ Balaram and Subhadra's brother/ Pandavas' cousin/Radha's Consort;
husband of Rukmini, Satyabhama and other 16106 queens/Lord Rama in the song
sabso Uchi prem sagaai.
o Kewal Shah as Adolescent Krishna
 Mukesh Khanna as "Devavrata" Bhishma, Shantanu-Ganga's eighth son /
eighth Vasu / Satyavati's step-son/ Elder Half-Brother of Chitrangada and Vichitravirya/
Paternal Uncle of Dhritrashtra, Pandu, and Vidur/ Paternal Grand-Uncle of
the Kauravas and the Pandavas/ Eldest of the Kuru Clan during the Kurukshetra battle
o Daboo Malik as Adolescent Bhishma
 Gajendra Chauhan as Yudhishthir, first Pandav / son of Kunti and Yama / eldest son
of Kuru Clan / King of Indraprasthaand later Hastinapura / husband of Draupadi
o Sonu as Young Yudhishthir
 Praveen Kumar as Bhim, second Pandav / son of Kunti and Vayu / Yuvraaj(crown
Prince) of Indraprastha / husband of Draupadi and Hidimba / father of Ghatotkacha.
o Mallik as Young Bhim
 Arjun aka Firoz Khan as Arjuna, third Pandava / son of Kunti and Indra/ husband
of Draupadi, Uloopi, Chitrangada and Subhadra / brother-in-law of Balaram-Krishna/
father of Abhimanyu
o Ankur Javeri as Young Arjun
 Sameer Chitre as Nakul, fourth Pandav, son of Madri and Ashwini Kumara/husband
of Draupadi
 Sanjeev Chitre as Sahadeva, fifth Pandav, son of Madri and Ashwini
Kumara/husband of Draupadi
 Roopa Ganguly as Draupadi, wife of all Pandavas / also called as Panchali /
Yagyaseni / younger daughter of Drupad/ Princess of Panchala / sister of
Dhrishtadhyumna and Shikhandi / mother of Upapandavas
 Puneet Issar as Duryodhan, eldest son of Gandhari and Dhritarashtra / elder brother
of 99 Kauravas / husband of Bhanumati
o Amit Shukla as young Duryodhan
 Pankaj Dheer as Karna, son of Kunti and Surya / Adhiratha-Radha's foster son /
King of Anga
o Harendra Paintal as Young Karna
 Vinod Kapoor as Dushasan, the Second son of Gandhari and Dhritarashtra /
Duryodhan's younger brother
o Kaushal Shah as Young Dushasan
 Gufi Paintal as Shakuni, Gandhari's brother / later King of Gandhara / maternal uncle
of Duryodhan and his 99 brothers.
 Girija Shankar as Dhritrashtra, Vichitravirya's son from Ambika(eldest) / later king
of Hastinapur / father of Kauravas
 Renuka Israni as Gandhari, wife of Dhritrashtra / Queen of Hastinapur / mother of
Kauravas / princess of Gandhara / sister of Shakuni
 Nazneen as Kunti, Pandu's first wife/mother of Karna, Yudhisthira, Bhim and Arjun /
daughter of Shoorsen / Vasudev's sister / Yadava princess / foster daughter of
Kuntibhoj
 Virendra Razdan as Vidur, the Mahaa Mantri of Hastinapur / son of Ambika's head
maid, Parishrami / Fathered by Vyasa /half-brother to the
kings Dhritarashtra and Pandu of Hastinapura and also the uncle
of Pandavas and Kauravas
 Surendra Pal as Dronacharya, Kauravas and Pandavas' guru / Ashwatthama's father
 Pradeep Rawat as Ashwatthama, son of Dronacharya
Recurring

 Harish Bhimani as Samay / narrator

 Sagar Salunkhe as Balram, Krishna's elder brother
o Chetan Hansraj as adolescent Balram
 Aloka Mukherjee as Subhadra, Arjuna's fourth wife/ Abhimanyu's mother / Vasudev's
and Rohini's daughter / Krishna-Balaram's younger sister / Yadava Princess
 Raj Babbar as Bharat, Paternal Ancestor of the Kauravas and Pandavas / son of
King Dushyanta and Shakuntala
 Ashalata Wabgaonkar as Shakuntala, Bharata's mother / King Dushyanta's wife
 Rishabh Shukla as Shantanu, descendant of King Bharata/ Husband
of Ganga and Satyavati/ Father of Bhishma, Chitrangada, and Vichitravirya/ Paternal
Grandfather of Dhritarashtra and Pandu/ Paternal Great-Grandfather of
the Kauravas and the Pandavas
 Kiran Juneja as Ganga, Shantanu's first wife / Bhishma's mother / the holy river
of Hindus.
 Debashree Roy as Satyavati, King Shantanu's second wife / Vyasa, Chitrangada,
and Vichitravirya's mother / Bhishma's step-mother/ Paternal Grandmother
of Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidur/ Paternal Great-Grandmother of the Kauravasand
the Pandavas
 Rajesh Vivek as Maharishi Ved Vyas, son of sage Parashara and Satyavati/ father
of Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura/ partial incarnation of Lor