The Mahābhārata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the Pāṇḍava princes and their successors.
Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam, known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, six Filmfare Awards South, and numerous awards at various film festivals across the world. In 2002, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri, acknowledging his contributions to film.
Draupadi, also referred to as Krishnaa, Panchali, and Yajnaseni, is the main female protagonist of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, and the common consort of the five Pandava brothers—Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. She is noted for her beauty, courage, and a rare polyandrous marriage.
Duryodhana also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari.
Shakuni is one of the antagonists of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was the prince of the kingdom of Gandhara when introduced, later becoming its king after the death of his father, Subala. He was the brother of Gandhari and the maternal uncle of the Kauravas.
Mayabazar is a 1957 Indian epic Hindu mythological film directed by K. V. Reddy. It was produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani under their banner, Vijaya Productions. The film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil, with a few differences in the cast. The story is an adaptation of the folk tale Sasirekha Parinayam, which is based on the characters of the epic Mahabharata. It revolves around the roles of Krishna and Ghatotkacha, as they try to reunite Arjuna's son Abhimanyu with his love, Balarama's daughter (Savitri). The Telugu version features Gummadi, Mukkamala, Ramana Reddy, and Relangi in supporting roles, with D. Balasubramaniam, R. Balasubramaniam, V. M. Ezhumalai, and K. A. Thangavelu playing those parts in the Tamil version.
François Gautier is a journalist based in India who served as the South Asian correspondent for multiple reputed French-language dailies. He advocates for an Indigenous Aryan narrative.
Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao, known mononymously as Nagarjuna, is an Indian actor, film producer, television presenter, and entrepreneur. Nagarjuna has acted predominantly in Telugu cinema, along with a few Hindi and Tamil language films. He has received nine state Nandi Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and two National Film Awards namely, for Ninne Pelladata (1996), which he produced won the Best Feature Film in Telugu and a Special Mention as actor for Annamayya (1997).
The Kurukshetra War, also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Mahabharata . The conflict arose from a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura. The war laid the foundation for the Bhagavad Gita.
Thalapathi (transl. Commander) is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language gangster drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by G. Venkateswaran. The film stars Rajinikanth and Mammootty with Arvind Swamy in his feature-film debut, Jaishankar, Amrish Puri, Srividya, Bhanupriya, Shobana and Geetha in supporting roles. It is about a courageous slum dweller who befriends a powerful don and the attempts of a district collector to thwart them.
Anand Kumar is an Indian Mathematics educator best known for his Super 30 programme, which he started in Patna, Bihar in 2002, known for coaching underprivileged students for JEE- Main & JEE-Advanced, the entrance examination for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). By 2018, 422 out of 510 students had made it to the IITs and Discovery Channel showcased his work in a documentary. Kumar has spoken at MIT and Harvard about his programs for students from the underprivileged sections of Indian society. Kumar and his school have been the subject of several smear campaigns, some of which have been carried in Indian media sources. His life and work had been portrayed in the 2019 film, Super 30, where Kumar is played by Hrithik Roshan.
Arjun: The Warrior Prince is a 2012 Indian animated action film, directed by Arnab Chaudhuri, written by Rajesh Devraj, and produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Motion Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures. The film was written through Arjun’s point of view, an unsung hero of the Mahabharata. The film was released in India on 25 May 2012. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures held a week-long limited engagement on 1 September 2012 at the El Capitan Theater to qualify for Academy Awards consideration. However, the film was not nominated.
Siva is a 1989 Indian Telugu-language crime action film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma in his directorial debut. Produced by Akkineni Venkat and Yarlagadda Surendra under their banners of Annapurna Studios and SS Creations, Siva stars Nagarjuna, Amala, and Raghuvaran. The film's basic plot, adapted from The Way of the Dragon (1972), revolves around the conflict between college student-turned-gangster Siva and Bhavani, a reputed crime boss mentored by the politician Machiraju. Siva explores the concepts of student exploitation by anti-social elements and the impact of crowd psychology.
Anand Neelakantan is one of India's top selling authors with more than 12 books to his credit. Anand is also a columnist, screenwriter, and public speaker. He is known for writing mythological fictions and has authored Twelve books in English and one in Malayalam. He has also written screenplays for popular television series in Hindi in various GEC and OTT platforms. He has been writing a column named Acute angle in the New Indian Express since 2017. Anand has acted in two Advertisement films and has also played the role of the antagonist Ettappa Naicker in the Doordarshan Television show Swaraj. He follows the style of telling stories based on the perspective of the antagonists or supporting characters of a larger work. His debut work Asura: Tale of the Vanquished (2012) was based on the Indian epic Ramayana, told from the perspective of Ravana—the first book in his Ramayana series. It was followed by series of books based on characters from Mahabharata and Baahubali. His books have been translated to different languages such as Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Assamese, English, and Indonesian. Anand has written screenplays for popular Hindi television serials like Siya Ke Ram in Star TV, Mahabali Hanuman in SONY TV, Chakravarthy Ashoka in Colors TV, Sarfarosh in Netflix, Swaraj in DD National etc.
Sreekumari Ramachandran is a Malayalam–language novelist, short story writer, orator, columnist, trained dancer and an accomplished singer from Kerala, India.
Baahubali: Before the Beginning is an upcoming Indian streaming television series based on Anand Neelakantan's 2017 and 2020 novels The Rise of Sivagami, Chaturanga and Queen of Mahishmathi. A Netflix original and a part of the Bahubali franchise, the series is produced by S. S. Rajamouli and Arka Media Works. The first season consists of nine episodes and acts as a prequel to Baahubali: The Beginning, following the journey of Sivagami's rise to power in the Mahishmati kingdom.
Asura: Tale of the Vanquished is the first novel of Anand Neelakantan. It was published by Leadstart publishing on 14 May 2012. This mythological fiction depicts the tale of Ramayana from the perspective of Ravana and a common Asura, Bhadra.
Kurukshetra is a 2019 Indian Kannada-language mythological war film written by J. K. Bharavi and directed by Naganna. The story is based on the epic poem Gadhayuddha by Ranna, which itself is based on the Indian epic Mahabharata. The story is centred on Duryodhana, the Kaurava king. The film was produced by Munirathna.
Ajaya: Roll of the Dice is a 2013 Indian novel of mythological fiction written by Anand Neelakantan. The first installment of the Ajaya series, it tells the story of the Kauravas. As opposed to the usual tale told from the point of view of the victors, this entire story is written from Duryodhana's point view.
Leadstart is a Traditional, media-tech publishing house, distributor and rights agency platform based in Mumbai, India.
