Mahabharata Archives - Lokmarg

Mahabharata Set To Make Its UK Premiere At London’s Barbican Theatre

By LokMarg 24th July 2023

A new stage adaptation of the ancient Indian epic ‘Mahabharata’ is in the works. As per Variety, the stage adaptation of Mahabharata is all set to make its UK premiere at London’s Barbican Theatre this fall.

The retelling of the revered text, which follows a devastating family feud and explores profound philosophical and spiritual ideas, is from Canada’s Why Not Theatre and had its world premiere at The Shaw Festival Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada in March.
The production is presented in two parts and narrated by a storyteller (Miriam Fernandes). “Karma” (part 1), is the origin story of the rival Pandava and Kaurava clans. In “Dharma” (part 2), a great battle destroys the planet and the survivors are left behind to rebuild.

“Mahabharata” is performed by a company from across four continents, all from the South Asian diaspora. The cast includes UK-based performers Ajay Chhabra (“Rough Diamonds,” Netflix), Neil D’Souza (“How To Hold Your Breath,” Royal Court), Darren Kuppan (“Let The Right One In,” Manchester Royal Exchange), Goldy Notay (“Life of Pi,” U.K. tour) and Sakuntala Ramanee (“Life of Pi,” West End), who are joined by Canadian and other international performers Shawn Ahmed, Jay Emmanuel, Fernandes, Navtej Sandhu, Anaka Maharaj-Sandhu, Ellora Patnaik, Meher Pavri, Munish Sharma and Sukania Venugopal, and understudies Varun Guru, Karthik Kadam, Suma Nair, Ronica Sajnani and Ishan Sandhu.

The adaption is by Why Not Theatre’s founding artistic director Ravi Jain, who also directs, and co-artistic director Fernandes, using poetry from Carole Satyamurti’s “Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling.”

The original concept was developed with Jenny Koons. Set design is by Lorenzo Savoini, costume design by Gillian Gallow, lighting design by Kevin Lamotte, projections by Hana S Kim, sound design by John Gzowski and Suba Sankaran, original music by John Gzowski and Sankaran, with contributions from Dylan Bell, Gurtej Singh Hunjan, Zaheer-Abbas Janmohamed and Hasheel Lodhia, and choreography by Brandy Leary with contributions by Jay Emmanuel and Ellora Patnaik. Lead producers are Michelle Yagi and Kevin Matthew Wong, with production manager Crystal Lee.

The audience can see the stage adaptation of ‘Mahabharata’ from October 1 to October 7. (ANI)

Lilaur Lake Getting Poisonous, Migrant Bird Numbers Fall

By LokMarg 24th November 2022

Known to be the witness of the conversation between Yaksha and Yudhishthir in Mahabharata, the water of Lilaur lake in Bareilley’s Aonla tehsil is getting poisonous for migrant birds.

It has been witnessed that for the last so many years the migrant birds have largely stopped coming to Lilaur Lake. When research was conducted by the Zoology department of Bareilly College regarding the fall in the arrival of migrant birds, several disturbing revelations came to light. The presence of heavy metals in the lake water was found to be the main reason behind the fall in the number of migratory birds. As per experts, the presence of heavy metals above the prescribed limit in water is hazardous to the flora and fauna of a particular area.
Migrant birds are coming here in fewer numbers also because of a lack of facilities for hatching and food. The historic lake also faces an existential crisis due to a lack of water.

Professor of Zoology, Rajendra Singh, conducted a study on five other lakes of the state and found that the presence of lead, cobalt, mercury, manganese, molybdenum, and cadmium is killing birds. (ANI)

Samantha, Dev’s Shaakuntalam Motion Poster, Release Date Out

By LokMarg 23rd September 2022

Makers of the upcoming mythological romantic drama film ‘Shaakuntalam’, on Friday, unveiled the motion poster release date of the film.

Taking to Instagram, actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu shared the motion poster which she captioned, “Witness the #EpicLoveStory #Shaakuntalam in Theatres from November 4th 2022 Worldwide!
#ShaakuntalamOnNov4.”

Helmed by Gunasekhar, the film star south actors Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Dev Mohan in the lead roles and is all set to hit the theatres on November 4, 2022, in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam & Kannada.

The story of ‘Shaakuntalam’ revolves around the epic love story of Shakuntala and King Dushyant from Mahabharata, portrayed by Samantha and Dev Mohan.

The first poster of the film came out recently and the audiences were mesmerized and their enthusiasm elevated to the highest level to watch this upcoming mythological drama.

Apart from them, the film also stars Sachin Khedekar Kabir Bedi, Dr M.Mohan Babu, Prakash Raj, Madhubala, Gautami, Aditi Balan, Ananya Nagalla and Jisshu Sengupta in pivotal roles.

Soon after the motion poster was unveiled, fans swamped the comment section with heart and red heart emoticons.

“SOOO GORGROUS,” a fan commented.

Meanwhile, Samantha will be also seen in an upcoming fiction thriller Pan-India film ‘Yashoda’, and in a romantic drama film ‘Khusi’ opposite actor Vijay Deverakonda, which is all set to hit the theatres on December 23, 2022.

Apart from that, she will be seen in Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming web series with actor Varun Dhawan. Helmed by director duo Raj and DK, the series is said to be an official remake of the Hollywood series ‘Citadel’. (ANI)