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When we talk about streaming culture, we’re usually enthusing about what’s new, but one of the best things about streaming is how it’s made old and obscure cult hits available to a new generation. Presenting Cult Corner: your weekly look into hidden gems and long-lost curiosities that you can find on streaming.
If you had to go to trial before being sent to heaven or hell, what would that look like? That’s the mythological question behind one of Netflix’s most popular Indian series, Dharmakshetra. Framed as a court drama set in limbo, the series follows a series of characters as they try to argue why they belong in heaven. The stakes are high, the graphics are silly, but the result is highly watchable.
Though you can easily watch the series without knowing much about the text it’s based on, there’s a lot of backstory to Dharmakshetra. The drama is about the Sanskrit epic narrative the Mahābhārata, which is often referred to as the longest epic poem to ever exist. Longer and more intricate than either the Iliad or the Odyssey combined, Mahābhārata tells the story of the Kurukṣetra War, a dynastic struggle that lasted for 18 days and was a product of decades of warring between two families. However, all you need to know for the series is that there are two families that hate each other and a history of deception, disagreements, and disloyalty.
In this way, the Indian drama shares some narrative threads with STARZ’s summer hit, American Gods. Both are supernatural morality plays that prominently feature average people casually interacting with gods. However, whereas one of American Gods’ greatest strengths is its gorgeous visual style, that’s not exactly the case for Dharmakshetra. The effect-heavy series often uses elements that wouldn’t look out of place in a beginner’s animation class. However, the way the show’s actors fail to react to the subpar graphics that surround them oddly gives the series an even more otherworldly feel. The backgrounds may be weird and unbelievable, but the trials at the center of the series are anything but.
If you’re craving something a bit out there that questions the morality of man, take a chance on Dharmakshetra. You really can’t find higher stakes than this Hindi-language drama all about heaven and hell.
