Reading Diary A: Peter Brook's Mahabharata

For this weeks reading, I decided to watch Peter Brook's version of the Mahabharata. I thought it would be interesting to watch the film version to get see how the story differs in a different format.

The boy, Ganesh, and Vyasa source: wikimedia

The thing that was most striking about this version was how the beginning of the story was different. There is a young boy who is present for the telling of the tale by Vyasa, and Ganesha has a much more active role in how he questions and talks to Vyasa. Moreover, it was interesting seeing the film use such a huge and diverse cast. I read somewhere that Brook's used actors from many countries to represent the idea that the Mahabharata is the story of all of humanity. This is a really interesting idea that I don't think I really picked up on in the other version. I am really excited to see how the rest of the story develops and to see how the film version differs from the book.