Kurukshetra Movie review: A visual feast with some extraordinary performances

The story of Mahabharata has many central characters and narrated from different perspectives. Naganna’s magnum opus Kurukshetra takes into account Suyodhana and his friendship with Karna as the main theme around which the epic story has been narrated. Although the story is well known, it would be interesting to see how it has been narrated with the given 182 minutes

Suyodhana ( Darshan)offers royal status to Karna ( Arjun Sarja)when he is disqualified to exhibit his skills based on the caste issues. Simply unable to express his sense of gratitude, Karna promises to be a loyal friend to Suyodhana. Shakuni( Ravi Shankar) plots revenge against Suyodhana after his nephew kills all his family. When Pandavas invite Suyodhana to their magical palace, he is completely mesmerised with the warm welcome and the lavish looks of the wonder palace. Once Suyodhana is back with a misunderstanding that Draupadi has made fun of him, Shakuni gets an opportunity to provoke him, suggests suyodhana to invite Pandavas for the game of Dice. When Yudhistira loses everything including himself ,his brother s and Draupadi , Suyodhana insults Drauapdi ( Sneha) in front of everyone. When Dushyasana makes an attempt to disrobe her , Lord Krishna rescues Draupadi and realising his fault Dritharashrta grants Draupadi with 3 boons. After getting back what they have lost , Pandavas are re invited for the game of dice. This time they lose again and sent on vanvaas for 12 years and Agyathvaas for one year

Once they are back , Krishna takes their proposals to Suyodhana which is rejected by him, resulting in the Kurukshetra war. The second half of the movie is about Pandavas dealing with the great warriors from their opponents with the help of Krishna. Tackling of Dronacharya and Bheeshma, Krishna ( Ravichnadran) teaching Arjuna( Sonu sood) Bhagavad Geetha , Abhimanyu’s bravery ,methods to weaken to powerful Karna ,last but not the least ,the final encounter between Suyodhana and Bheema

Director Naganna has been highly successful in narrating the Mahabharata in around 182 minutes. Full marks to him for having such a stellar star cast and extracting best performances. His handling of war sequence has been simply top class. Superb execution of Sarpa vyuha Vs Garuda vyuha, bed of arrows for Bheeshma and Chakravuya indicates creativity at its best. Each frame looks grand with lavish sets and colourful costumes. 3D Effects are amazing and full of surprise especially in the second half. Director Naganna could have avoided 2 songs and instead added some details about vanvaas or Agyathvaas

Darshan completely dominates first half with his portrayal of Suyodhana . He is highly impressive while showing suyodhana’s Pride, arrogance, anger ,friendship and bravery . Arjuna Sarja as Karna excels with is serious looks. His interaction with kunti( Bharathi) and his helplessness when he is forced to attack Abhimanyu indicates his powerful act. Late Ambareesh as Bheeshma is full of dignity ,maturity and grace personified. Ravishankar is simply top class. Ravinchandran is effortless and plays Krishna to perfection .Sonu sood Plays his part well, gets little scope though. Nikhil Kumar is good, gets ample scope to showcase his talent( Audience needs to see him only as an actor playing the role of Abhimanyu). Sneha is first rate. There are some neat performances from rest of the cast which includes, Sreenivas Murthy, Shashikumar,Rockline Venkatesh and Bharathi

This Visually spectacular Mythological drama with spectacular performances is a must watch for the whole family