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Hollywood Animation Film on Mahabharata Urged Not to Re-Imagine Hinduism

Hindus have urged the makers of under production Hollywood animation film "18 Days: The Mahabharata Retold" to stay true to the story and the spirit of the timeless epic.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that Mahabharata was highly revered in Hinduism. Hollywood was welcome to make a movie about Mahabharata but the final product should be the true depiction of it and not a fantasized or a re-imagined version.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, said that changing Mahabharata to fit the Hollywood machine was likely to hurt the Hindu sentiments.

Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and should not be taken lightly. No faith, larger or smaller, should be plundered; Rajan Zed said, and added that pillaging and inappropriate use of Hindu scriptures and serious spiritual doctrines for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees.

Hindus welcomed Hollywood to immerse in Hinduism but to also take it seriously and respectfully and not refashion Hinduism concepts and symbols for mercantile greed. Hindus, such as Zed, would gladly provide genuine Hollywood seekers the resources they needed for their study and research.

The Mahabharata, also known as the fifth Veda, contains about 100,000 Sanskrit verses divided into 18 books. The Bhagavad-Gita (Song of the Lord) formed its part. It was a veritable encyclopedia of Hinduism and contained various philosophical and theological treatises and doctrinal beliefs and was sacred to Hindus. Lord Krishna, the central figure of Mahabharata, is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and is worshipped by Hindus, Rajan Zed stressed.

Writing "Concept Notes" on the films website, its maker Grant Morrison, 50, Scottish comic books writer, says: "This new version of the Mahabharata... This is like a psychedelic The Lord of the Rings with Star Wars technology... This is not a strictly accurate historical portrayal of events but a poetic, fantastic interpretation of the original text... Krishna stops time to deliver the terrible wisdom of the Gita... with super-real battle scenes, 'Saving Private Ryan'-style... I think this type of 'holographic' structure allows us to plug new stories into the ongoing 18 DAYS War...I'm setting the date for this version somewhere around 10, 000 BC...they have better 'computers'..." Elephants in this proposed film wear gas masks as per Morrison's notes.

Website further says that "18 Days" will be available in Full Hi-Def and in a variety of formats: 2 x 90 minute TV movies, 6 x 30 episodes, extended 200 minute DVD release and as 18 x 10 minute web episodes. It will be supported by on-line and console gaming products, mobile content and other L&M licenses.

It is reportedly a joint venture of Perspective Studios and Liquid Comics. Perspective Studios, with Steven Lehrhoff as Chief Executive Officer, claims to be a leading performance capture and character animation studio based in Santa Monica (California, USA). Liquid Comics, with Sharad Devarajan as the CEO, claims to be an entertainment company focused on creating original stories and modern myths for worldwide audiences.