Panchali: The Game of Dice

When I saw this graphic novel mentioned on Penguin India's Instagram, I had to buy it immediately. I mean how can I resist anything with the Mahabharata. Only then did I realize it's part of a series but the first book Vyasa was unavailable, so I had to make do with this sequel for now. And what a ride this was.

Firstly, the artwork. Because I'm unfamiliar with the first book, I have to assume the author is going for a very raw, gritty and dark tone for the tale which is why the artwork reflects that with lots of fiery reds, distorted images, gritty landscapes full of stones and skulls and so much more - and it all looks stunning and attention grabbing. Coming to the story, ofcourse it's understandable that the story is condensed and only some of the most important and inciting incidents are mentioned. I was surprised by the author using very modern slang for dialogue but that also gives this series a unique touch. Because the original Mahabharata also starts with an oral telling of the epic, I liked seeing Sauti show up for a bit and the author's use of a bard type character narrating the epic story to a group of villagers was very interesting and a rightful ode to the original.

While I did enjoy the book a lot, I'm not used to reading abridged versions where so much of the story is lost. But I liked the author confirming that his source is the Critical Edition and providing detailed appendix for the same. I was also kinda surprised that for a book titled Panchali, she hardly has 2-3 dialogues, that too only towards the end. But I can't really complain. This was a visual feast of a book that retold the Mahabharata story in its own manner and I'm sure many lovers of the epic will be intrigued. And now I'm really looking forward to the next installment which I'm sure will take a while.