?1000 cr Mahabharata film faces protest from pro-Hindu group
Kerala-based group Hindu Aikya Vedi has threatened to stall the release of a film tentatively titled Mahabharatham, which is being made on an estimated budget of ?1000 crore, unless its title is changed. The group president said it cannot be named after the epic as it is not based on Vyasa's Mahabharata, but is an adaptation of MT Vasudevan's Randamoozham.
Lalettan fans are excited to see their favourite actor, Mohanlal, in the big screen adaptation of The Mahabharata. The film, a cinematic adaptation of MT Vasudevan's book Randamoozham, is reportedly going to be made on a budget of Rs 1000 crore, the highest for any Indian film so far. Even before the film has gone on floors, it has run into trouble.Kerala Hindu Aikya Vedi president KP Sasikala has threatened to stall the release of the film unless the name is changed, according to a report in The News Minute. "A big budget film is coming from Kerala named Mahabharatham. We are happy but the Hindus here have a condition - only a film which is close to the story of real Mahabharatham written by Vyasan should carry its name. No other movie can be named Mahabharatham. If the movie is based on Randamoozham let the name of the film also be named same. Veda Vyasan also has his rights," she said.To support her argument, Sasikala said that Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code is another version of the Bible. However, the makers of the film did not use the title 'Bible' and the makers of Mohanlal's film should follow their example.