To capture the magnificence, the grandeur and drama of this great epic was the dream of producer-director Dr. B.R. Chopra, one of India eminent filmmakers. B.R. TV has staked enormous resources, to bring to television audiences the richness and the grandeur of the period to which the MAHABHARAT belonged. rated as the most popular TV program on India's Doordarshan, the serial consists of 94 episodes each with a running time of 45 minutes - a total of more than 65 hours.

The Mahabharata (composed between 300 BC and 300 AD) has the honor of being the longest epic in world literature, 100,000 2-line stanzas (although the most recent critical edition edits this down to about 88,000), making it eight times as long as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey together, and over 3 times as long as the Bible (Chaitanya vii). According to the Narasimhan version, only about 4000 lines relate to the main story; the rest contain additional myths and teachings. In other words, the Mahabharata resembles a long journey with many side roads and detours. It is said that "Whatever is here is found elsewhere. But whatever is not here is nowhere else."

The name means "great [story of the] Bharatas." Bharata was an early ancestor of both the Pandavas and Kauravas who fight each other in a great war, but the word is also used generically for the Indian race, so the Mahabharata sometimes is referred to as "the great story of India."

But the historical importance of the Mahabharata is not the main reason to read the Mahabharata. Quite simply, the Mahabharata is a powerful and amazing text that inspires awe and wonder. It presents sweeping visions of the cosmos and humanity and intriguing and frightening glimpses of divinity in an ancient narrative that is accessible, interesting, and compelling for anyone willing to learn the basic themes of India's culture. The Mahabharata definitely is one of those creations of human language and spirit that has traveled far beyond the place of its original creation and will eventually take its rightful place on the highest shelf of world literature beside Homer's epics, the Greek tragedies, the Bible, Shakespeare, and similarly transcendent works

Episode : 1 to 94 - By BR Chopra Total run time : over 70 hours Subtitles : English. Sound is Hindi : 2.0 Digital Surround Special Features : Special DVD Box, 5 hours bonus footage of behind the scenes in the making Region : ALL.