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 tells the story from Arjun’s point of view.[1] The film was released in India on 25 May 2012.
| Arjun: The Warrior Prince | |
|---|---|
 Film Poster | |
| Directed by | Arnab Chaudhuri |
| Written by | Rajesh Devraj |
| Produced by | Ronnie Screwvala Siddharth Roy Kapur |
| Cinematography | Hemant Chaturvedi |
| Edited by | A. Sreekar Prasad |
| Music by | Songs: Vishal–Shekhar Background Score: Dhruv Ghanekar |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | UTV Motion Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 96 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
A sequel to the film was planned but it was never completed and Disney shut down UTV Motion Pictures in 2017.
Plot edit
The story is based on the early life of the Prince Arjuna, loosely taken from the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. The storyline begins with Arjun as a nine-year-old boy, and follows him until he grows into the warrior that the world knows him as. It explores his life with his brothers in Hastinapur, his training and education, and his ultimate discovery of the warrior within himself.
The film begins with Uttar, the young prince of Viratnagar (Kingdom of king Virata), asking a maid (Brihannala) to tell him a story. The maid narrates him the story of Arjun.
She tells him that Arjun was a student of Drona, and that he learned the art of warfare from him. He was more skilled than all the students of Drona. None of his own brothers, nor his cousins - the hundred Kauravas - could equal him in the art. Duryodhana and the other Kauravas despised the Pandavas, for they feared that they might usurp Duryodhana's throne. When the king Dhritrashtra grew older, the rivalry between his sons, the Kauravas and the Pandavas intensified. Twice, Duryodhana attempted to kill all the Pandavas, but failed. To avoid further conflict, Dhritrashtra proclaimed Duryodhana as the crown prince of Hastinapur, and asked Yudhishthira to be the king of a distant unkempt territory of the empire.
In the meantime, Arjun won a swayamvar, and married the daughter of the King of Panchala, Draupadi. Duryodhana, who loathed the Pandavas, hatched a conspiracy with his uncle Shakuni and won all that belonged to the Pandavas in a betting game called chaupar. After losing everything, Yudhishthira betted his own brothers and Draupadi, and even himself. Draupadi was insulted in front of everyone, but Arjuna could not say anything because Yudhishthira was the king, and the king's words are the last words. The Pandavas, according to the rules of the game, had to go into exile for twelve years and an agyatavasa (hiding) for one year. While all the Pandavas go one way, Arjuna travels North to do tapasya. Before leaving, Draupadi makes him promise that he will take revenge for her insult. He then leaves, and does tapasya, during which he earns a bow from the Lord Shiva.
The story then shifts back to the present day Viratnagar. It is revealed that the Pandavas are spending their secret exile, or 'agyatavasa', there, and are noticed by some of the spies of Duryodhana. According to the outcome of the game, if any one of the Pandavas is found before the end of that one year, the Pandavas will have to again go for a twelve-year exile. The spy informs Duryodhana that the Pandavas are in Viratnagar. So he launches an attack on Viratnagar with the help of his bandit friends. The king of Viratnagar leaves to thrash the marauding bandits. However, that is the bait. From the other direction, Duryodhana's army comes, and it seems that the young prince of Viratnagar is the only one who is left to fight.
Uttar's maid drives the young prince's chariot to the field, but the prince, distraught by the number of enemies, flees. The maid stops him, and reveals her true identity: Brihannala comes out as Arjun. Arjun retrieves his bow and makes prince Uttar drive his chariot. The warrior massacres the army and emerges victorious, and at last, Arjuna alone defeats all Kaurava warriors, including Bhisma and Drona.
Cast edit
- Yuddvir Bakolia as Arjun
- Aanjjan Srivastav as Kirat/Lord Shiva
- Sachin Khedekar as Lord Krishna
- Rajeshwari Sachdev as Draupadi
- Ashok Banthia as Bheem
- Ravi Khanwilkar as Drona
- Hemant Mahaur as Duryodhan
- Brijesh Jha as Yudhishthir
- Vijay Kashyap as Shakuni
- Ila Arun as Kunti
- Vishnu Sharma as Bheeshma
Development and production edit
Animation for the film is provided by Tata Elxsi. According to Chaudhary, "When UTV pitched the idea of ‘Arjun' to me, I was thrilled. I had trained in animation at National Institute of Design years back. My writer Rajesh Devraj and I started developing the story and pooled in talent from NID for everything from character design to costume design. We eventually had a team of 300 professionals including those from Tata Elxsi."[2]
Chaudhary told The Telegraph, " We took a theatre group that is run by K.K. Raina and Ila Arun and did the whole voiceover in the form of a play. As a result, what you get is people interacting with each other and lending their voices to the characters in my film instead of dubbing them from separate booths." And "for the action, we did a two-week workshop with a Kalaripayattu troupe from Kerala and a Thang-Ta troupe from Manipur — both of which represent very diverse martial art forms. We put them together on a mountaintop for two weeks and made them fight each other. What we got were results that I wouldn’t even hope to achieve if I was using live-action actors."[3]
Soundtrack edit
| Arjun: The Warrior Prince | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 2012 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Language | Hindi | |||
| Label | UTV Music | |||
| Producer | Ronnie Screwvala | |||
| Vishal–Shekhar chronology | ||||
| ||||
Distributed and released by Walt Disney Records and UTV Music, the soundtrack of Arjun: The Warrior Prince is composed by Vishal–Shekhar with lyrics by Piyush Mishra, while Dhruv Ghanekar composed the background score.[4]
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Daanav" | Vishal Dadlani, Shankar Mahadevan | 3:37 |
| 2. | "Karam Ki Talwar" | Sukhwinder Singh | 4:19 |
| 3. | "Manva" | Swanand Kirkire, Shreya Ghoshal, Piyush Mishra, Raja Hasan | 4:29 |
| 4. | "Kabhi Na Dekhe Hastinapur Mein" | Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shubha Mudgal, Ila Arun | 3:02 |
| 5. | "Samay" | Shekhar Ravjiani, Hemant Brijwasi | 5:32 |
| 6. | "Khandav" | Keerthi Sagathia | 4:09 |
Release edit
The film was released in India on 25 May 2012.[5] In United States, 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.[6] However, the film was not nominated.
Reception edit
Critical response edit
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of 9 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10.[7] Anuj Kumar of The Hindu gave the film 4 out of 5, calling it "a world class show with a good old Indian touch".[8] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film 3 stars out of 5, concluding that "I'm going to with three out of five for Arjun: The Warrior Prince. Like its hero, the film too is a valiant effort, and an interesting interpretation of a much-loved mythological story. Worth a watch".[9] Robert Abele of Los Angeles Times gave the film 3 out of 5 stars stating "The animation is at times stiff and presentational, like a rushed rotoscoping job, but there's a charming majesty to the enterprise".[10]
Coversely, Rachel Saltz of The New York Times gave the film 2 out of 5, writing, "An action movie, 'Arjun' takes story liberties, but not always in the service of clarity. (The script is by Rajesh Devraj.) Children will probably be confused, and adults familiar with the tale may wonder where all the good bits went."[11] Lou Lumenick of New York Post gave the film 2 out of 5, writing, "Even though the title character vaguely resembles Disney’s Tarzan, nobody is going to mistake the less-than-state-of-the-art, computer-game-style 2-D animation for the work of the American parent, much less its Pixar subsidiary."[12]
Box office edit
The film earned ₹24.4 million worldwide against the budget of ₹75 million.[13]
Accolades edit
| Year | Name of Competition\Award | Category | Result | Recipient(s)/Nominee(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | FICCI BAF Awards | Best Indian Animated Feature Film[Theatrical Release] | Won | Tata Elxsi[14] |
| 2013 Annecy International Animated Film Festival | Cristal Award for Best Film | Nominated | Arnab Chaudhuri[15] | |
| 19th Screen Awards | Best Animation | Nominated | Arjun: The Warrior Prince[16] |
Other Media edit
An adventure video game was released for mobile platforms to accompany the film's release by UTV Indiagames.[17]
Cancelled sequel edit
In December 2012, Arnab Chaudhari announced a sequel to the film was in the works. He further stated that "It will take about three years to complete the film."[18] However, the film was never completed and Disney shut down UTV Motion Pictures in 2017.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Deccan Herald reviews the Arjun the warrior Prince". Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- ^ Udasi, Harshikaa (23 May 2012). "Mythology comes alive". The Hindu. Chennai. Archived from the original on 22 April 2024. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
- ^ Chaudhri, Arnab (16 May 2012). "Arjun: The Warrior Prince" (Interview). Interviewed by Telegraph Team. Kolkata: The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- ^ "Arjun – the Warrior Prince | Box Office India : India's premier film trade magazine". Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 2014-06-08.
- ^ "Friday Release: Animated action film 'Arjun'". News18. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ "Disney's "Arjun" opens in Hollywood". 2 September 2012. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ "Arjun: The Warrior Prince". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on 4 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
- ^ Anuj Kumar (28 May 2012). "A world-class show with good old Indian touch". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- ^ "Masand: 'Arjun: The Warrior Prince' is a valiant effort". DNA Indiai. 25 May 2012. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2014.
- ^ Abele, Robert (25 May 2012). "Film Review: Hero's tale 'Arjun' is charming". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 17 December 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
- ^ Saltz, Rachel (24 May 2012). "An Animated Mahabharata Story". The New York Times. Manhattan. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
- ^ Lumenick, Lou (25 May 2012). "Arjun: The Warrior Prince". New York Post. New York. Archived from the original on 17 December 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
- ^ "Arjun: The Warrior Prince". Boxofficeindia.com. 25 May 2012. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
- ^ "FICCI BAF AWARDS 2012 - WINNERS" (PDF). Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "Arjun: The Warrior Prince Nominated for Annecy Cristal Award 2013". Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
- ^ "Nominations: 19th Annual Colors Screen Awards". Bollywood Hungama. Bollywood Hungama News Network. 2 January 2013. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- ^ "Arjun: The Warrior Prince". phoneky.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ Pathak, Rika Aash (28 December 2012). "Script for the sequel of Arjun The Warrior ... complete". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
