The story is based on the early life of the Prince Arjuna, loosely taken from the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. The storyline begins with Arjun as a nine-year-old boy, and follows him until he grows into the warrior that the world knows him as. It explores his life with his brothers in Hastinapur, his training and education, and his ultimate discovery of the warrior within himself.
She tells him that Arjun was a student of Drona, and that he learned the art of warfare from him. He was more skilled than all the students of Drona. None of his own brothers, nor his cousins - the hundred Kauravas - could equal him in the art. Duryodhana and the other Kauravas despised the Pandavas, for they feared that they might usurp Duryodhana's throne. When the king Dhritrashtra grew older, the rivalry between his sons, the Kauravas and the Pandavas intensified. Twice, Duryodhana attempted to kill all the Pandavas, but failed. To avoid further conflict, Dhritrashtra proclaimed Duryodhana as the crown prince of Hastinapur, and asked Yudhishthira to be the king of a distant unkempt territory of the empire.
In the meantime, Arjun won a swayamvar, and married the daughter of the King of Panchala, Draupadi. Duryodhana, who loathed the Pandavas, hatched a conspiracy with his uncle Shakuni and won all that belonged to the Pandavas in a betting game called chaupar. After losing everything, Yudhishthira betted his own brothers and Draupadi, and even himself. Draupadi was insulted in front of everyone, but Arjuna could not say anything because Yudhishthira was the king, and the king's words are the last words. The Pandavas, according to the rules of the game, had to go into exile for twelve years and an agyatavasa (hiding) for one year.While all the Pandavas go one way, Arjuna travels North to do tapasya. Before leaving, Draupadi makes him promise that he will take revenge for her insult. He then leaves, and does tapasya, during which he earns a bow from the Lord Shiva.
The story then shifts back to the present day Viratnagar. It is revealed that the Pandavas are spending their secret exile, or 'agyatavasa', there, and are noticed by some of the spies of Duryodhana. According to the outcome of the game, if any one of the Pandavas is found before the end of that one year, the Pandavas will have to again go for a twelve-year exile. The spy informs Duryodhana that the Pandavas are in Viratnagar. So he launches an attack on Viratnagar with the help of his bandit friends. The king of Viratnagar leaves to thrash the marauding bandits. However, that is the bait. From the other direction, Duryodhana's army comes, and it seems that the young prince of Viratnagar is the only one who is left to fight.
Uttar's maid drives the young prince's chariot to the field, but the prince, distraught by the number of enemies, flees. The maid stops him, and reveals her true identity: Brihannala comes out as Arjun. Arjun retrieves his bow and makes prince Uttar drive his chariot. The warrior massacres the army and emerges victorious, and at last, Arjuna alone defeats all Kaurava warriors, including Bhisma and Drona.
The film was released in India on 25 May 2012.[5] In United States, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures held a week-long limited engagement on 1 September 2012 at the El Capitan Theater to qualify for Academy Awards consideration.[6] However, the film was not nominated.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 67% of 9 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10.[7] Anuj Kumar of The Hindu gave the film 4 out of 5, calling it "a world class show with a good old Indian touch".[8] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film 3 stars out of 5, concluding that "I'm going to with three out of five for Arjun: The Warrior Prince. Like its hero, the film too is a valiant effort, and an interesting interpretation of a much-loved mythological story. Worth a watch".[9] Robert Abele of Los Angeles Times gave the film 3 out of 5 stars stating "The animation is at times stiff and presentational, like a rushed rotoscoping job, but there's a charming majesty to the enterprise".[10]
In December 2012, Arnab Chaudhari announced a sequel to the film was in the works. He further stated that "It will take about three years to complete the film."[18] However, the film was never completed and Disney shut down UTV Motion Pictures in 2017.
ArjunDirected byArnab ChaudhuriProduced byRonnie Screwvala Siddharth Roy KapurMusic byVishal ShekharCinematography byHemant ChaturvediStudio(s)UTV Motion Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
IBC AnimationDistributorIBC Motion PicturesReleasedMay 25, 2012LanguageHindiSourceArjun: The Warrior Prince is a 2012 Indian animated action film. The film is directed by Arnab Chaudhuri and produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures. The film was released in India on May 25, 2012.
The story is based on the early life of the Pandava brothers, loosely taken from the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. The storyline begins with Arjun as a nine-year-old boy and follows him until his adulthood. It explores his life with his brothers in Hastinapur (his native city), his training and education, and his ultimate discovery of the warrior within himself.
She tells him that Arjun was a student of the warrior-sage Drona and that he learned the art of warfare from him. He was more skilled than all the students of Drona. None of his own brothers nor his cousins - the hundred Kaurvas - could equal him in the art. Duryodhana and the other Kaurvas despised the Pandavas, for they feared that they might usurp Duryodhana's throne. When King Dhritrashtra grew older, the rivalry between his sons, the Kaurvas and the Pandavas, intensified. Twice, Duryodhana attempted to kill all the Pandavas but failed. To avoid further conflict, Dhritrashtra proclaimed Duryodhana as the crown prince of Hastinapur and asked Yudhisthira to be the king of a distant unkempt territory of the empire.
In the meantime, Arjun won a swayamvar (trial) and married Princess Draupadi. Duryodhana, who loathed the Pandavas, hatched a conspiracy with his uncle Shakuni and won all that belonged to the Pandavas in a betting game called chaupar (similar to ludo). After losing everything, Yudhisthira and the other Pandavas, according to the game's rules, had to go into exile for twelve years and an agyatavasa (disguise) for one year. While all the Pandavas go one way, Arjuna travels North to do Tapasya (penance). Before leaving, Draupadi makes him promise that he will take revenge for her insult. He then leaves and does Tapasya, during which he earns a bow from Lord Shiva, one of his patron gods.
The story then shifts back to the present-day Viratnagar, where the Pandavas are spending their year of disguise and are noticed by some of the spies of Duryodhana. According to the game's outcome, if any one of the Pandavas is found before the end of that one year, the Pandavas will have to again go for a twelve-year exile. The spy informs Duryodhana that the Pandavas are in Viratnagar. So he launches an attack on Viratnagar with the help of his bandit friends. The king of Viratnagar leaves to thrash the marauding bandits, but Duryodhana's army attacks the unprotected capital, and it seems that the young prince of Viratnagar is the only one who is left to fight. He is then inspired by Arjun.
Arjun: The Warrior Prince was also in the running for Indian Selection for Oscar 2013 Nomination in the Category of Best Foreign Film. This is the first time ever in the history of the Indian Selection Process that an Animation film has been considered.
Yudhishthira Yudhishthira / KankaVoiced by: Brajesh Jha (UTV Motion Pictures) (Hindi), (Walt Disney Pictures) (English Subtitled)YudhishthiraClick here to see Yudhishthira as Kanka"You were right. It's not just a city, but a great kingdom that we need to build. We will build it over these ashes... lord Indra's home on earth."Yudhishthira is the First and the eldest son of King Pandu and Kunti and the Deuteragonist to the main character, Arjuna. After the death of Pandu, the Pandavas went to live in Hastinapura where they were brought up together with their cousins, the Kauravas. Along with his brothers and the Kuravas, Yudhishthira studied religion, science, administration and military arts by Acharya Drona, the Kuru princes' teacher and Master of Martial Arts. Because of his analytical and calculating traits and his righteous and religious views, he excelled in religion and administration. He is also a skilled combatant. His weapons are the spear and the chariot. After the Pandavas lose their new home to the fire caused by the Kuravas, they temporarily hide themselves disguised as monks. When they hear about the swayamvar that's been going on in Panchala, Yudhishthira devises up a plan to win the princess' hand and by that they'd recover the throne back and become powerful enough to take on Duryodhana. They win the swayamvar and the princess' hand, and return back to Hastinapura. When the king sees them, he announces that he will divide the kingdom into two. Giving his son the ruling of hastinapura while Yudhishthir, the secluded land of Khandaprastha. When they arrive at Khandaprastha, they discover it's a desolate swamp that seems uninhabited by any soul. As they go further, they are greeted by an unwelcoming frightened citizens. The people apologies and ask their king's forgiveness explaining that they were just defending their home from the bandits. Yudhishthir vows to help them and fixes the problem. With Krishna's help, the pandavas transform the forest into the kingdom of Indraprastha, as new king, Princes and Queen of the City of Gold. Where they all live happily.When the day of his coronation came, the kurus devised a plan to dethrone him. It's customary that once a new king is being crowned, should he be given a challenge, he must not refuse. Thus the infamous gambling game of dice happened. As the game proceeds, Yudhishthira gambles away everything which leads to losing his new kingdom. For Shakuni, the humiliation of the Pandavas was not complete. He prods Yudhishthira that he has not lost everything yet. Bound by the game's rules, Yudhishthira, to the horror of everybody present, puts Arjun up as a bet for the next round. Playing the next round, Shakuni wins. Then Yudhishthira bets Bheem, then Nakul, then Sehdev. Lastly, he bets himself. Eventually he loses his freedom and that of his brothers. Unbeknownst to him that the game was rigged. Their penalty was to spend 12 years in an exile and a year in anonymity. And if they were found out in the last year, their 12 years of exile would restart again.Along with his brothers, Yudhishthira spent his last year of exile in the kingdom of Virata. Adopting new secret identities and new lives, he disguised himself as Kanka, the king's advisor and dice game partner. Before the last day of the exile came to an end, the kuravas found out their hiding and launched an attack on the city. Presumably to steal their cattle. But in reality, they wanted to drag the Pandavas out of anonymity. Kanka, with 3 of his brothers, all went with the king of Virata to thrash the marauding bandits while Arjuna and prince Uttar went to face the Kuru army itself.