Movies on Ganesh

Ganesh Chaturthi is a very popular Indian festival celebrated all over India with a lot of fanfaronade, especially in the states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. It commences in the month of Bhapdrapada according to Hindu religion. It is also celebrated globally in the countries of Nepal, United States, China, and Mauritius. Due to the popularity of this festival, many animated and Bollywood movies on Ganesh have been directed to entice the Indian audience.

Movies Made on Lord Ganesh

All along it has been seen that Indians are infatuated with Indian mythological figures. As a result epics like Mahabharata, Ramayana have gained a lot of importance and many films and serials have been made on the same. Given the immense popularity of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, movies on Ganesh are hugely popular among Bollywood directors who have created quite a few films on the life of Lord Ganesh.

Bal Ganesh is a 2007 computer-animated musical feature film directed by Pankaj Sharma. The film is about the adventures and the boisterous escapades of Lord Ganesh during his childhood years. This animated movie was released on 26th October, 2007 by Shemaroo Entertainment Astute Media Vision.

This animated movie revolves around the myriad adventures of the elephant-headed deity, Lord Ganesh. While Goddess Parvati was bathing, she used turmeric to create a human figure and infusde life into it. She then named the boy Ganesh. He was created for the purpose of guarding the door while she bathed. Ganesh strictly follows Goddess Parvati’s instructions and lets no one inside; not even Lord Shiva. This infuriates God Shiva and he beheads Ganesh with his trishul in a fit of rage. Parvati becomes very upset and angry and urges the deity to bring Ganesh back to life. Shiva orders his men to bring him the head of the first living creature they see and that happens to be an elephant. Shiva puts the elephant’s head on the body of Ganesh and infuses life into it, bringing Ganesh back to life. This is how Lord Ganesh is reborn as the elephant-headed deity. The film depicts the diverse enthralling adventures of baby Ganesh with his associate rat, Mooshak. The duo engages in a whole lot of pranks and steals Modak, which is a kind of sweet relished by Lord Ganesh. They deride Shiv’s companion Nandi Bail and the other ganas. In this story, Kartikeya, brother of Ganesh is born and the two fight against evil powers like Tadkeshwar, Supketan and so on. All these intriguing incidents are narrated by a mouse.

Balesh Ganesh-2 was made as a sequel to Bal Ganesh, and released in 2009. It is a computer animated musical film spinning around Gajmukhasur and Lord Ganesh.

This movie introduces the character of Gajmukhasur, whom Lord Shiva grants a wish, being fascinated with his perseverance and dedication. As a result, Gajmukhasur becomes all powerful and indestructible. Neither animal, any Gods or humans are able to defeat him. This movie splendidly portrays how a young Ganesh inflicts defeat and curbs the all mighty Gajmukhasur. Interesting incidents woven into this fantastic plot make the story even more gripping. It depicts little Ganesh’s colossal achievements marvellously, making the movie interesting and entertaining, especially for children.

It seems that the Indian audience love fictitious, allegorical figures and directors enjoy making animated movies on Ganesh. Bal Ganesh 2 is a brilliantly made film, better than its prequel released in 2007. The story begins with a group of mice discussing about Lord Ganesh. To make it more interesting, director Pankaj Sharma makes a mouse wear sunglasses, ride a sports car and speak in Tapori language, while another is clad in dhoti etc. The movie is divided into three sections. The first one shows how a cat pesters Mooshak, the mouse and companion of Lord Ganesh. The deity teaches the errant cat a lesson but is told not to harm animals. Thus the moral of the story as depicted through the movie lies in the fact that animals are not to be injured. To make the movie peppy, director Pankaj Sharma keeps the tone of the film entertaining and light throughout. Bhangra beats are incorporated into the film to enliven the atmosphere of the narrative.

The stories of Bal Ganesh, Krishna and Hanuman are beautifully depicted is this animated movie released in 2009.

Various deeds of Lord Ganesha as a boy are brought out in the movie. This animated movie spins around various events and activities of Lord Ganesha along with Lord Krishna and Hanuman. It depicts the childhood tales of all these deities. This movie directed by Pankaj Sharma beautifully illustrates how baby Ganesh acquires a mouse as his vehicle. Among the other events woven into the broader story frame is that of how Ganesh safeguards a hermit whose priceless gem is taken away by a prince. The childhood days of Lord Krishna in Gokul are also sublimely portrayed in this film. It delineates how Krishna shows the universe to his foster mother Yashoda in his mouth and all the pranks he plays while stealing butter from various houses in Gokula. The perky manner by which Krishna expedites demons is fun to watch. This animated film further portrays the fascinating tales of Lord Hanuman as a child. Innumerable pranks played by the three deities are immensely pleasurable for children.

Indian audience is obsessed with mythological figures and the animated movies on Ganesh have thus proved to be a huge success with the Indian audience, especially with children.