The nationwide coronavirus lockdown has been extended in India till May 3. P.M. Narendra Modi announced the already expected extension of the complete lockdown of the country while addressing to the nation. This means that people will still be locked up in their homes until 3 May.
In this tough period, many of us are spending our time on social media platforms like facebook, instagram and twitter and binge watching different web series on OTT platforms like netflix, hotstar, and amazon prime to divert our attention and pass the time. These web series has given a big relief from the TV shows featuring "Icchadhari nagins" and saas bahu melodrama.
Definitely most of our TV shows nowadays are suffering from "lack of content" syndrome, poor and loud acting performances, lack of story, ineffective dialogues and irritating sound effects makes them boring and unbearable.
Imagine when we didn't have the luxury of social media, OTT, and YouTube like in the 90's and the late 80's when the TV was a major source of entertainment and Doordarshan was the only TV channel available at that time . The TV shows then were rich in content and performances. It was the time when some of the TV shows were breaking records and making history in terms of viewership, let's have a look at some of the most famous TV shows of Doordarshan at that time.
1.) Ramayana
An Indian mythological epic TV serial aired during 1987-88 on DD national. The series was written, directed and created by Ramanand Sagar. it's a television adaption of the ancient Hindu epic of the same name, based on Valmiki's Ramayana and Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas. The lead character of lord Rama was played by Arun Govil, Deepika chikhalia as Sita, Sunil Lahri as Lakshman, Arun Trivedi as Ravana(main antagonist), Dara singh as Hanuman. With a viewership of 82 percent, it was a record for any indian television series.
2.) Mahabharat
Mahabharat (my favorite) was a historical Indian TV series based on the Indian epic of same name. The epic story of feud between the Pandava princes and their cousins, the Kaurava princes. It was produced by B.R. Chopra and directed by his son Ravi Chopra. The script of the show was written by urdu poet Rahi Masoom Raza, it was originally based on the story by VedaVyasa. The show made the careers of many actors like Mukesh Khanna who played Bhishma Pitamah, Nitish Bhardwaj (as Shri Krishna), Praveen Kumar (as Bheema),Arjun(as Arjuna), Roopa Ganguly(as Draupadi) etc. It was such a famous show that when it used to come on TV, the roads used to get empty and people used to sit in front of their TV sets, it was almost an unannounced lockdown of 60 minutes for the entire nation.
3.) Buniyaad
Buniyaad was an indian soap opera based on the backdrop of partition of India and subsequent circumstances. Directed by Ramesh Sippy and Jyoti and written by Manohar Shyam Joshi, it was first aired in 1986 on DD national. The series featured the story of Master Haveliram a freedom fighter and a patriot (played by Alok Nath) and his family, spanning the life in India between 1916-1978. The main cast other than Alok Nath included Anita Kanwar ( Lajoji - Haveliram's wife), Sudhir Pandey (Lala Gendamal - Haveliram's father), Dalip Tahil (Bhushan - Haveliram's elder son ), Mazhar khan (Roshan - Haveliram's younger son ) and many more. Buniyaad was definitely one of the most iconic TV shows of India, setting the benchmark for the soap operas in India.
4.) Hum Log
Hum Log is considered as the first soap opera of Indian television history. It was first aired on 7 July 1984 on Doordarshan, which was the only television channel in India at that time. The story was based on the life of an Indian middle class family, their daily struggles, dreams, and aspiration. Hum Log was written and scripted by Manohar Shyam Joshi and directed by P. Kumar Vasudev. The characters of the show like 'Lalloo' played by Rajesh Puri, 'Badki' played by Seema Pahwa, 'Chhutki' played by Loveleen Mishra, became household names at that time.
At the end of every episode, veteran actor Ashok Kumar discussed the proceeding story with audience using couplets and would end his famous monologue with words "Hum Log". Hum Log is such an iconic show, that it remains in the memory of people even today.
5.) Malgudi Days
The first thing that comes to mind as soon as you hear the name of "Malgudi Days" is it's music track, simple but reminiscent, exactly like the show itself was. The TV show started in 1986 and was filmed in both english and hindi. the series was based on the collection of short stories written by R.K. Narayan in his books Malgudi Days, A horse and two goats, as well as the novels Swami and friends and the Vendor of Sweets. The series was directed by Shankar Nag, while celebrated cartoonist R.K. Laxman, the younger brother of R.K. Narayan was the sketch artist of the series.
Various famous actors played important roles in the show like Girish Karnad played 'Srinivasan', Deven Bhojani as 'Nitya', Dina pathak as 'Ayah', and Anant Nag as various characters.The show was mostly shot in Agumbe village in Shimoga District of Karnataka. The impact of the show was such that the Indian Railways decided to rename Arasalu Railway station of Shimoga district to Malgudi Railway station as a homage to the show. This show will always be in the sweet memory of 90's kids.
6.) Byomkesh Bakshi
You can call him as the Sherlock Holmes of India or even a better version of that at least for the fans of Byomkesh Bakshi. Byomkesh Bakshi was the hindi television series directed by Basu Chatterjee, based on the character created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, where the role of protagonist was portrayed by Rajit Kapoor and the role of his sidekick or friend Ajitkumar Banerji was presented by K.K. Raina. Byomkesh Bakshi recognizes himself as 'Satyanveshi' meaning 'truth seeker' rather than a detective, that makes him stand apart from his contemporaries as he is more concerned with truth than with the law.
A Bengali detective along with his sidekick taking some threatening cases, solving some unsolved mysteries making each and every episode a thriller and a treat to watch. excellent work from every department be it acting or direction makes it a masterpiece of Indian television history.
7.) Alif Laila
Alif Laila was one another famous show of the 90's, based on "One Thousand and One Night" or "Arabian nights", probably one of the most famous shows of fantasy genre in India. It was produced by Sagar films Pvt.ltd., A creation of Ramanand Sagar. The show was first aired in 1993 on DD National. The name Alif Laila is a short form of the original Arabic title of the "One Thousand and One Night"- Alif Layla wa-Layla.
Each fascinating story gave the message of love, compassion, sacrifice, and other human values. The present generation can be critical of the treatment of such fantasy shows, but the message the show gave was humane and worth learning.
8.) Chandrakanta
Chandrakanta is a very famous Indian fantasy TV series based on the novel of Devaki Nandan Khatri of the same name. Written, produced, and directed by Nirja Guleri, this show was first aired on DD National. The show was again aired on Star Plus and Sony Entertainment television. Many characters of the show became prominent like 'Kroor singh' or 'Yakoo' played by Akhilendra Mishra, 'Maharaja Shiv Dutt' played by Pankaj Dheer, Pandit Jagannath/Shani (twin brothers) played by Rajendra Gupta, The lead character of Princess 'Chandrakanta' played by Shikha Swaroop, the show also marked the presence of Irrfan Khan who played 'Badrinath/Somnath' (twin brothers). Chandrakanta was definitely one of the most engaging and exciting shows of that time.
9.) Shaktimaan
Shaktimaan is probably the first super hero of Indian TV screen. The role of the protagonist Shaktimaan and his alter ego "Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri" was performed by Mukesh Khanna, who was also the producer of the show. It was written by Ghalib Asad Bhopali and Brijmohan Pandey, and directed by Dinkar Jani. The cast of the show also included Kittu Gidwani as reporter "Geeta Vishwas" the love interest of Shaktimaan who was later replaced by Vaishnavi mahant, Surendra pal as "Tamraj Kilvish", Tom Alter as "Mahaguru" and many more.
Shaktimaan fighting with his nemesis Tamraj Kilvish and other villains to save the humanity, gave that generation's kids their superhero, Mukesh Khanna a big boost in his career, and to the later generation it gave the famous "Sorry Shaktimaan" memes.
10.) Bharat Ek Khoj
Bharat Ek Khoj was an Indian historical drama base on the book "The Discovery of India" by Jawaharlal Nehru the first Prime Minister of India. This TV series was actually an introduction to Indian history for many. The series was written, directed, and produced by Shyam Benegal. The cast of the historical drama included celebrated actors like Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Pallavi Joshi, Piyush Mishra, Amrish puri, Irrfan Khan, Ila Arun and many others.
Obviously the collaboration of such great actors and skilled director like Shyam Benegal would deliver a masterpiece, "Bharat Ek Khoj" can be your guide in a journey of reviewing or revisiting Indian history.
That's' all for now, I will be back with the next part, with some more path breaking shows of Indian television history, in the meantime, do take a very good care of yourself.
In this tough period, many of us are spending our time on social media platforms like facebook, instagram and twitter and binge watching different web series on OTT platforms like netflix, hotstar, and amazon prime to divert our attention and pass the time. These web series has given a big relief from the TV shows featuring "Icchadhari nagins" and saas bahu melodrama.
Definitely most of our TV shows nowadays are suffering from "lack of content" syndrome, poor and loud acting performances, lack of story, ineffective dialogues and irritating sound effects makes them boring and unbearable.
Imagine when we didn't have the luxury of social media, OTT, and YouTube like in the 90's and the late 80's when the TV was a major source of entertainment and Doordarshan was the only TV channel available at that time . The TV shows then were rich in content and performances. It was the time when some of the TV shows were breaking records and making history in terms of viewership, let's have a look at some of the most famous TV shows of Doordarshan at that time.
1.) Ramayana
An Indian mythological epic TV serial aired during 1987-88 on DD national. The series was written, directed and created by Ramanand Sagar. it's a television adaption of the ancient Hindu epic of the same name, based on Valmiki's Ramayana and Tulsidas' Ramcharitmanas. The lead character of lord Rama was played by Arun Govil, Deepika chikhalia as Sita, Sunil Lahri as Lakshman, Arun Trivedi as Ravana(main antagonist), Dara singh as Hanuman. With a viewership of 82 percent, it was a record for any indian television series.
2.) Mahabharat
Mahabharat (my favorite) was a historical Indian TV series based on the Indian epic of same name. The epic story of feud between the Pandava princes and their cousins, the Kaurava princes. It was produced by B.R. Chopra and directed by his son Ravi Chopra. The script of the show was written by urdu poet Rahi Masoom Raza, it was originally based on the story by VedaVyasa. The show made the careers of many actors like Mukesh Khanna who played Bhishma Pitamah, Nitish Bhardwaj (as Shri Krishna), Praveen Kumar (as Bheema),Arjun(as Arjuna), Roopa Ganguly(as Draupadi) etc. It was such a famous show that when it used to come on TV, the roads used to get empty and people used to sit in front of their TV sets, it was almost an unannounced lockdown of 60 minutes for the entire nation.
3.) Buniyaad
Buniyaad was an indian soap opera based on the backdrop of partition of India and subsequent circumstances. Directed by Ramesh Sippy and Jyoti and written by Manohar Shyam Joshi, it was first aired in 1986 on DD national. The series featured the story of Master Haveliram a freedom fighter and a patriot (played by Alok Nath) and his family, spanning the life in India between 1916-1978. The main cast other than Alok Nath included Anita Kanwar ( Lajoji - Haveliram's wife), Sudhir Pandey (Lala Gendamal - Haveliram's father), Dalip Tahil (Bhushan - Haveliram's elder son ), Mazhar khan (Roshan - Haveliram's younger son ) and many more. Buniyaad was definitely one of the most iconic TV shows of India, setting the benchmark for the soap operas in India.
4.) Hum Log
Hum Log is considered as the first soap opera of Indian television history. It was first aired on 7 July 1984 on Doordarshan, which was the only television channel in India at that time. The story was based on the life of an Indian middle class family, their daily struggles, dreams, and aspiration. Hum Log was written and scripted by Manohar Shyam Joshi and directed by P. Kumar Vasudev. The characters of the show like 'Lalloo' played by Rajesh Puri, 'Badki' played by Seema Pahwa, 'Chhutki' played by Loveleen Mishra, became household names at that time.
At the end of every episode, veteran actor Ashok Kumar discussed the proceeding story with audience using couplets and would end his famous monologue with words "Hum Log". Hum Log is such an iconic show, that it remains in the memory of people even today.
5.) Malgudi Days
The first thing that comes to mind as soon as you hear the name of "Malgudi Days" is it's music track, simple but reminiscent, exactly like the show itself was. The TV show started in 1986 and was filmed in both english and hindi. the series was based on the collection of short stories written by R.K. Narayan in his books Malgudi Days, A horse and two goats, as well as the novels Swami and friends and the Vendor of Sweets. The series was directed by Shankar Nag, while celebrated cartoonist R.K. Laxman, the younger brother of R.K. Narayan was the sketch artist of the series.
Various famous actors played important roles in the show like Girish Karnad played 'Srinivasan', Deven Bhojani as 'Nitya', Dina pathak as 'Ayah', and Anant Nag as various characters.The show was mostly shot in Agumbe village in Shimoga District of Karnataka. The impact of the show was such that the Indian Railways decided to rename Arasalu Railway station of Shimoga district to Malgudi Railway station as a homage to the show. This show will always be in the sweet memory of 90's kids.
6.) Byomkesh Bakshi
You can call him as the Sherlock Holmes of India or even a better version of that at least for the fans of Byomkesh Bakshi. Byomkesh Bakshi was the hindi television series directed by Basu Chatterjee, based on the character created by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, where the role of protagonist was portrayed by Rajit Kapoor and the role of his sidekick or friend Ajitkumar Banerji was presented by K.K. Raina. Byomkesh Bakshi recognizes himself as 'Satyanveshi' meaning 'truth seeker' rather than a detective, that makes him stand apart from his contemporaries as he is more concerned with truth than with the law.
A Bengali detective along with his sidekick taking some threatening cases, solving some unsolved mysteries making each and every episode a thriller and a treat to watch. excellent work from every department be it acting or direction makes it a masterpiece of Indian television history.
7.) Alif Laila
Alif Laila was one another famous show of the 90's, based on "One Thousand and One Night" or "Arabian nights", probably one of the most famous shows of fantasy genre in India. It was produced by Sagar films Pvt.ltd., A creation of Ramanand Sagar. The show was first aired in 1993 on DD National. The name Alif Laila is a short form of the original Arabic title of the "One Thousand and One Night"- Alif Layla wa-Layla.
Each fascinating story gave the message of love, compassion, sacrifice, and other human values. The present generation can be critical of the treatment of such fantasy shows, but the message the show gave was humane and worth learning.
8.) Chandrakanta
Chandrakanta is a very famous Indian fantasy TV series based on the novel of Devaki Nandan Khatri of the same name. Written, produced, and directed by Nirja Guleri, this show was first aired on DD National. The show was again aired on Star Plus and Sony Entertainment television. Many characters of the show became prominent like 'Kroor singh' or 'Yakoo' played by Akhilendra Mishra, 'Maharaja Shiv Dutt' played by Pankaj Dheer, Pandit Jagannath/Shani (twin brothers) played by Rajendra Gupta, The lead character of Princess 'Chandrakanta' played by Shikha Swaroop, the show also marked the presence of Irrfan Khan who played 'Badrinath/Somnath' (twin brothers). Chandrakanta was definitely one of the most engaging and exciting shows of that time.
9.) Shaktimaan
Shaktimaan is probably the first super hero of Indian TV screen. The role of the protagonist Shaktimaan and his alter ego "Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri" was performed by Mukesh Khanna, who was also the producer of the show. It was written by Ghalib Asad Bhopali and Brijmohan Pandey, and directed by Dinkar Jani. The cast of the show also included Kittu Gidwani as reporter "Geeta Vishwas" the love interest of Shaktimaan who was later replaced by Vaishnavi mahant, Surendra pal as "Tamraj Kilvish", Tom Alter as "Mahaguru" and many more.
Shaktimaan fighting with his nemesis Tamraj Kilvish and other villains to save the humanity, gave that generation's kids their superhero, Mukesh Khanna a big boost in his career, and to the later generation it gave the famous "Sorry Shaktimaan" memes.
10.) Bharat Ek Khoj
Bharat Ek Khoj was an Indian historical drama base on the book "The Discovery of India" by Jawaharlal Nehru the first Prime Minister of India. This TV series was actually an introduction to Indian history for many. The series was written, directed, and produced by Shyam Benegal. The cast of the historical drama included celebrated actors like Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Pallavi Joshi, Piyush Mishra, Amrish puri, Irrfan Khan, Ila Arun and many others.
Obviously the collaboration of such great actors and skilled director like Shyam Benegal would deliver a masterpiece, "Bharat Ek Khoj" can be your guide in a journey of reviewing or revisiting Indian history.
That's' all for now, I will be back with the next part, with some more path breaking shows of Indian television history, in the meantime, do take a very good care of yourself.