Mine is not an adult Mahabharata, says Akshat Verma

The director of the short film, Mama’s Boys, says that there is more to the story of Mahabharata than we imagined. There are other motivations, desires and politics within the situation that might have been possible.

‘Mom, bhajiya nahi laya hun’ says Arujna, the great archer to his mother Kunti when asked to share Draupadi with his four brothers. Giving the Sanskrit epic, Mahabharata an amusing spin, the director of the movie Delly Belly, Akshat Verma has recreated it in a short film titled ‘Mama’s Boys’.

Mama’s Boys has been made by Akshat Verma who earlier made Delhi Belly.

The sixteen-minute long film is trending on social media for reasons - good and bad. While some have termed it as adult version of the epic, some are calling it a refreshing take. Groups like Hindu Mahasabha and Hindu Sena have raised their voice against it but Verma doesn’t count it as an adult film.

Actor Aditi Rao Hydari plays Draupadi in Mama’s Boys.

“I don’t know what makes it adult (content). I am curious to know. At least that’s not the way I looked at it. I made it from the point of what went on in the minds of characters. Bhaiyo ne kya socha hoga, Draupadi ne kya socha hoga and all. There is no adult content in it . We are already passing around a lot of stuff in our country in terms of things like that (adult content),” says Verma, the director of the short film.

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Taking about the idea of remaking an excerpt from the saga, he says, “There are certain expressions in the Mahabharata which I found really fascinating. We all have heard about the epic from our childhood. But there is more to it than we have imagined. There are other motivations, desires and politics within the situation that might have been possible. Mama’s Boys is one version. It is a humorous way of looking at it. If a guy comes by with his bride and he is in love with her and suddenly his mother asked him to share her. Then what happens, what will he feel like?”

A scene from the short film.

On being asked how he chose the star cast, Verma says, “I had a wish list of people I wanted to work with and people I don’t want to work with otherwise. I asked my casting director to talk to them and they all came on-board. It was also amazing working with Razak Khan who played Shakuni in the short film.”

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