Legends are coming on the big screen, Which one you want to see?

The journey of Ashya Kumar's brand new film began with Ramjanmabhoomi in Ayodhya. It came with Akshay and fellow actors Nusrat Bharucha and Sri Lankan actress Jacqueline Fernandes in a private jet to seek Lord Ram's 'blessings'. On Diwali last year, Kumar announced "Ram Setu" on social media under the direction of Abhishek Sharma (Tere Bin Laden) and creative production of Chandraprakash Dwivedi (known by TV show Chanakya). He wrote on Instagram, "True or fantasy. For ages, let us build a bridge this Diwali to preserve and conserve the sacred memories of Lord Ram, the great man and superhero of The Nation of India, in the Indian public mind, which will keep generations connected with Ram. Ram Setu is our humble effort in this direction.

Ram Setu

The film is one of the many projects that bring to light the current passion of the Indian film industry to present stories arising from Hindu epics and their characters. The multilingual film "Adipurush" is being shot in which Prabhas plays Ram, Kirti Sanon plays Sita and Saif Ali Khan plays Ravan. The second such announced project includes 'Mahagatha of Forgotten Warriors of Mahabharata' and Suryaputra Mahavir Karna written by poet and former political Kumar Vishwas and Uri director Aditya Kumar, starring Vicky Kaushal, in the film 'The Immortal Ashwatthama'. Nitesh Tiwari's 'Ramayana', Kangana Ranaut's directorial aparajit 'Ayodhya' and Deepika Padukone's production also make Draupadi adorned with her performances. Adorned with the performances of Ranveer Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Amitabh Bachchan, 'Brahmastra' is completed but because of pandemic and big budget this mega starrer is waiting for it's release.

During the tenure of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Manoj Kumar made a favour which echoed the slogan 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan', and Indira Gandhi's emergency saw filmmakers cashing in on people's anger towards the power establishment through films like 'Kissa Kursi Ka' and 'Ankush'. Vishwas mentions Prakash Jha's 'Satyagraha' which was built on him and Arvind Kejriwal's anti-corruption movement. "Public discourse changes with changing power and I don't think it's wrong or bad," he says. Politics affects us all. Now the BJP's slogan of 'Jai Shri Ram' is echoing within the filmmakers. Vishwas got a chance to work on Karna when producer Vashu Bhagnani saw the poet talking about the warriors of the Mahabharata in a video on YouTube. Describing himself as a student of history, Viswas says that he intends to tell the story with authenticity and responsibility. They claim to reject parts that were different from the Mahabharata. They believe that it is entirely the responsibility of filmmakers to earn the trust of the audience.

Om Raut, director of the 2020 most successful film Tanhaji: The Unsang Warrior and working on Adipurush, is also cautious about the responsibility. He says that investigations may be done but not all films based on historical characters and events hurt public sentiments. "Some films tampered with common beliefs and facts," says Raut, "so we can't put everyone in a groove and say that every film from a historical background will have to face a sharp reaction. If you maintain the purity of the characters, the chances of a mistake will be minimal. This is the confidence that makes Raut draw inspiration from the vast wealth of India's history.

Many producers are investing money in epics and are developed in many languages and using visual effects openly. Madhu Mantena is one such producer whose name is associated with both Tiwari's Ramayana and Padukone's Draupadi. He says that the journey of Indian cinema began with stories from our mythological history like Dadasaheb Phalke's silent film Raja Harishchandra. Decades later, Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana and B.R. Chopra's Mahabharat on DD National kept millions of viewers hooked to their televisions. Mantena says that today's generation needs to narrate epics through 'new tools of technology'. He also says that his Ramayana is for Indians not only in India but all over the world

What inspired the emergence of big budget films of this genre?

Hindu epics never go old for Jackie Bhagnani, the creator of Suryaputra Mahavir Karna. They think their evergreen charm is in their many "inspiring, emotional and powerful stories". "I think the Mahabharata can be narrated from different eyes because many layers of it are yet to open," he says. The old saying is that most stories are inspired by the Mahabharata.

Vishwas believes that films always give a glimpse of the interests of the current political nizam. "Public discourse has changed over the last 6-7 years," he says. A party is in power for which our culture and religion are a priority." But believe. that no one is decreeing what kind of films to make, but the political climate is creating a conducive environment for such films," he also says, "when a left-wing government comes to power, issues like freedom of expression, women's empowerment and LGBTQ rights come forward. Nowadays Ayurveda, Yoga, Dharma and Ram are relevant, "

The purpose of cinema is to bring entertainment, if it is filled with some social message and still entertain that can be possible in mythological stories which is now in the list of filmmakers, 'Bahubali' opened the door of big budgeted costume drama, which can create money on box office and now cinema takes it to the next level with big budget star studded films in the queue, Amir Khan also want to make Mahabharat, but because of several reason the project get shelved, hybrid releases are going to be the future of cinema if the corona crisis don't get over, Salman Khan's Radhe is the first to make a Hybrid release. Let's hope that cinema can give a relaxation to the audience and bring smiles on the faces in this tough times.

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