I was completely put off by the fictional retellings of the Mahabharata. I write about it and requested authors to call their fictional retellings "fan fiction" so people don't confuse it with the original.
I also believe, all retellings should have a detailed "author's note" section at the end where they list which parts of their book came from the original itihasa and which parts were their own fictional additions.
I wish this j nd of integrity becomes the details facto standard in retellings.