Stan Wartownik
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!
