We were the first to tell you about STAR Plus’s plans of producing a new-version Mahabharata. Well, the channel formally announced details of the new small screen epic last week at Mumbai’s Taj Land’s End. To be produced by Bobby Bedi’s Kaleidoscope Entertainment, Mahabharata will be directed by Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi (Pinjar), written by Farrukh Dhondy, with music by Talvin Singh and special effects by Barry Osborne (The Lord of the Rings trilogy).

“Three years back I announced a complete Mahabharata package including a TV serial, an international film and a computer game; well this is the first step, the serial,” Bobby Bedi said. “Why Mahabharata after all these years? Well, I believe the time is now ripe to retell the story because it is now technologically possible to tell it better.”

The obvious comparisons with the groundbreaking BR Chopra version on Doordarshan and the new special effects-laden Ramayan on NDTV Imagine don’t daunt director Dwivedi. “The fight continues. Earlier the Mahabharata fight was for land, now it’s for TRPs,” laughs the man who made a memorable Chanakya for the small screen.

STAR Plus makes no bones about the fact that Mahabharata is its biggest property in the coming months. Keertan Adyanthaya, the general manager and executive vice-president of STAR Plus, says: “Mahabharata has a timeless message. For us, this is an opportunity to enrich the lives of our viewers with the power of wisdom contained in the eternal message of the Mahabharata and the sacred Bhagvad Gita. But all this will be presented with grandeur, finesse and on a scale that will captivate entire families.”

Will there be a fresh take on Ved Vyas’s epic? “The most important line in Mahabharata, according to me, is dharm palan karo… arth, kaam, moksha sab mil jayega…,” Dwivedi explains. “So we will try to be honest to the original text and highlight the futility of war. It will be done from a completely new point of view but entertainment will surely be the priority.”

So when does Mahabharata go on air? Well, the channel claims it’s just a couple of months away. The producer says it should be ready by June. The director says it’s difficult to say at this point. The art team says it’s not possible before next year. So why this hasty announcement? Perhaps it has something to do with Ektaa Kapoor gearing up with Kehta Hai Mahabharat for 9X.