The reports of Mukesh Ambani backing Aamir Khan’s Mahabharata with an amount of whopping Rs 1000 crore have been spreading on social media like fire. Time and again, Aamir has expressed his desire to do a film on THE Mahabharata and now, looks like things are eventually falling into place. We are assuming the ambitious project, which has been on Aamir’s mind since a very long time might take off soon once he wraps up the shoot of Thugs Of Hindostan.

Now making a film on the epic Mahabharata is a big deal in itself and comes with a lot of risks. In the recent past, umpteen Bollywood films have portrayed mythological and historical stories and failed miserably at the box office. Not just numbers, but these stories haven’t been very well accepted by the audience.

Close Curation of story, cast, costumes

Take for instance, Abhishek Bachchan’s Drona (2008), Shah Rukh Khan’s Asoka, (2001), Abhishek’s Raavan (2010) or even Salman Khan’s Veer (2010) for that matter – all the above mentioned films that had references from folklore, failed to appeal the audience. Apart from not distorting facts, it is also important to ensure that the cast, costumes, locations are closely curated.

What Padmaavat had to go through...

The nation knows what Sanjay Leela Bhansali had to go through to convince certain people about his latest film, Padmaavati (now changed to Padmaavat). There were protests happening in certain parts of the country where a certain group demanded the ban of the film.

There are exceptions though

Of course there are films like Bajirao Mastani and Baahubali on the other hand that have done exceptionally well, the risk factor that comes with such films is pretty high. Also, considering that these are stories that are of immense importance in our culture, it is a topic that’s a tad bit too sensitive.

Considering that Aamir is known to be a perfectionist, it goes without saying that he will closely curate each and every minor detail about the storyline and how every character is portrayed is onscreen. But it still does leave us with one question – Will Mahabharata meet the same fate as Abhishek Bachchan’s Raavan or Shah Rukh Khan’s Asoka? Well, let’s just hope that Aamir Khan manages to do complete justice to this epic saga.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 22, 2018 12:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).