Peter Brook’s The Mahabharata on 2-Disc Blu-ray from the BFI in August

One of the greatest stage-to-screen adaptations ever made, The Mahabharata is at the very heart of Indian culture. This new 4K restoration brings a 2,000-year-old story into sharp, urgent focus. To be released on Blu-ray by the BFI on 10 August, extras include a newly filmed interview with the director’s son, Simon Brook, who recalls his unique memories of the production, the cultural positioning of the film and his father’s legacy.

Performed by a global cast and directed by a legend of world theatre, The Mahabharata is a timeless story of morality, love, power, war and the fragility of human order – one that speaks directly to the conflicts of our own time, and to audiences of all ages. 

Long time collaborators Peter Brook (director) and Jean Claude Carrière (screenwriter) created the three plays that comprise this version of the epic, producing a globally successful nine-hour stage production, a three-hour version for the cinema, and this triptych at just over five hours. 

The central story is that of the lifelong feud between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, two closely related regal families, but the many subplots, diversions, fables and legends turn this mythological epic into a tale of and for all mankind.