Buddha: Rajaon Ka Raja

Excellent TV SERIES about prince Shakyamuni/Buddha!

Sadly enough, there hasn't been any adequate movie about Buddha so far, and this TV production stands out as the first major attempt to correct this oversight.

This series is a REAL GEM for all those who are interested in complete and detailed biography of prince Siddhartha (Buddha) and his Path to enlightenment, and for all those interested in Buddhism generally. Naturally, this TV biopic shows only the _path_ to Buddha's teachings (with multiple examples of how and why different people choose to follow him); it outlines only the basic principles and teachings of Buddha (the focus being mainly on pure ethics of Buddhism, while esoterica of the doctrine is mostly left out).

For some people this biopic may look a bit overloaded with irrelevant situations, exaggerated passions and emotions, lengthy scenes - which is quite typical to most Bollywood dramas; and yet it doesn't look so tiresomely redundant here. In fact, it seems quite important for accurate depiction of the entire surroundings, culture and the very spirit of time: the morals, Brahmanic sacerdotalism, palace intrigues & treachery, envy and greed of court nobility, cruelty & disdain for low castes. Which, in turn, only emphasizes the entire picture and helps us to follow some characters' actions, their choices and gradual spiritual transformations...

However we may need to overlook some liberties and minor inconsistencies (with actual bios and facts of some personages), as the authors of series decided to exercise poetic license to some degree.

Low budget production. But we have to be grateful even for this one! However what this series need is some editing: some 25-30% of footage or more can be cut out easily and it would make it even better.

P.S. This spiritual TV drama series should be properly dubbed in English and made available to the public. It certainly deserves it!

I have never taken any time to write about a TV show before but the quality of this program compelled me to write a review. I stumbled across this program on Netflix and watched the first episode out of curiosity. After that, I cannot stop and my whole family was completely hooked. Unfortunately, there are not many television programs on the life of Buddha, his struggles, teachings and the life around him at the time. But this series is class apart. All the cast members have acted really well. Writing and screenplay just blow you away. Really well made high-quality series. I find its one of the few programs which you can watch with whole family. Himanshu Soni has played fantastic a role and has really bought Buddha alive on the screen. It's a must watch if you are interested in understanding Buddhism and the true meaning of Buddha's message.

I like to express my gratitude and best wishes to the team. I hope BK Modi can continue to make such programs in future.

Along the line of The Game of Thrones, this series dramatizes the story of Buddha, his family, and followers thoroughly. Not only do we gain the more commonly known stories and myths, but we gain insight and context about the period, political situation, and personal jealousies of family and foes.

I volunteer occasionally at a monastery in Nepal, and the older monks who have seen this series also think highly of its quality and recommend it.

I'll keep it simple and short _()_ As it is, I wouldn't rate it more than 6/10, but the way I watched it deserves a 9/10.

The good:

• This show really teaches you something. It depicts Buddha's life with enough accuracy to be considered as a material for your development.
• The sutras are well introduced and the show find a very good balance between realism, respect to the Dhamma and entertainment and thrills. It makes compassion epic.
• It grows your devotion and will to practice the noble path. I'm a young adult and every time I watched an episode of the second half I felt more peaceful and confident in my spirituality.
• The soundtrack is great
• Costumes, stages, etc. are gorgeous
• Photography is good, almost fairy-like
• Globally, once Siddhartha leaves the palace, the show really take off and I wouldn't change much to the second half. But...

The less good:

• Generally, the first half
• Mandala and Devdutt characters. Passed the first quarter of the show, I couldn't handle it anymore and I decided to fast forward every time the character would show on screen. First, I found that her play was way too dramatic and that she was over-acting, which is subjective because I'm not used to the way Indian people express themselves in daily life (I'm French). Secondly, the screen writing puts way too much emphasis on Mangala's and Devdut's plots. Which brings me to...
• The show could be cut down to 40 episodes, seriously. Almost half of the episodes of the first half of the show are talks revolving about plots that aren't really interesting nor entertaining.
• The dialogs' writing is to my sense generally too pushy. The bad people are depicted as ultra bad and they take a very scary face looking at the camera every 5 minutes while talking.
• The cut. You can feel that the budget was a bit tight and that they had to reuse some average shots several times to fill the void. Which keeps me thinking that 40 episodes would have been enough.

Finally, I'd say: watch it, you must see it. But don't feel guilty to just pass the long talks in the palace in the first part of the show once you get bored, because the second half deserves you watch it.

If I had the time and skills, I'd definitely try to do a fan cut of the show, removing half of the pushy face-shot and half of the palace plot's talks, because there is much goodness in what the director achieved with this show.

This show is well presented and the actors have done justice to their roles. I am curious to understand Buddha and his teachings. The depiction of Buddha's earlier life as a prince and his transformation and finally his awakening are shown very well. A nice series to watch and understand the great soul. Now I can delve into the books to go deeper.