Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2001 7:37 pm Posts: 65
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I've never heard of any "additional episodes" (but I haven't seen the sixteenth DVD of the new set).
The 12 DVD set has English subtitles that cannot be removed ("burnt in").
The 16 DVD set has subtitles in software, ie they can be turned off. The English subtitles are different, but neither seems to be better translations than the other, just different. The picture quality of the 16 DVD set is better, but still has a lot of "video artifacts".
Neither version is particularly poor or great, ie both are watchable, and both look like "TV". The 16 DVD set is two to three times more expensive, but evidently many Hindi speaking viewers enjoy having the English subtitles off.
The 12 DVD set, being cheaper, is more prone to the occasional poorly pressed disk that needs to be replaced, so if you buy a new 12 DVD set, be sure that you can get exchanges if a disk is bad.
The Ramayan is a classic story, and outside of some tedious long sections ("you go first", "no it is improper for me to go first", "but it would be dishonorable for me to go first", etc.) - it is appropriate for the whole family.
But, as implied above, the Mahabharat is better in every way - it is filmed with movie production values (by a Bollywood director), instead of TV production values, the sets and costumes are better, the acting is better, the dialogue is more adult, the women are a lot more beautiful :p, the whole thing is less "cartoony" - for example, the Ramayan reuses the same footage over and over (and, suspension of disbelief in the Ramayan is decreased when the actor in the Bear suit comes into view :doze: or for that matter, when the most powerful demon in the world has a paunch ??? ).
PS If you dislike arrows, avoid the Ramayan, you'll be seeing a lot of them! o:
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