My addiction to TV started when I was in school (some time in 1984).The only channel that broadcasted news, entertainment and educational programs was DOORDARSHAN.
If today someone gives me the power to roll back time, I have a few things to do. And the first thing would be going back to the days when Doordarshan aired those lovely serials. They were pure, unadulterated and had a strong storyline with very good script. More importantly, you can watch them with your family.
Yes, I miss them, believe me we all do miss them. I remember, Doordarshan was the only channel when I was kid, and there was only one television in the street. Yes you are reading it right – in the whole street.
One of the advantages of those serials (and one television) was you get to know your neighbors very well. It was a community affair when Chayageet, Mahabharat, Ramayan, He-Man, Sunday movies were telecast. All the kids were made to sit on the floor and the adults occupied the chairs and sofas.
Another advantage of only one channel was that you could discuss it with your friends in school knowing they would have watched the same thing, not like the present day situation when you ask a friend whether he saw the match and he will reply ‘Nahi big boss dekh raha tha’.
Let me bring back those lovely memories, the time when we were kids, the time when doing homework was the most difficult task, when the Sunday movie on TV was the most anticipated event of the week, the time when face and books were different things(unlike FACEBOOK now), the time when friends didn’t know each other by the number of PS2,Beblettes and other computer games they own and the time when news meant only one hour of news(remember Salma Sultan,Rini Khanna,Usha Albequerue,Avinash Kaur -Sarin later – funny that I remember only the ladies,what about men – was it Shammi Narang, Tejeshwar Singh,Rajiv Mehrotra?)) and not the Tamasha(with a lot of sensationalism and zero journalism) they have now degenerated to(Sansani!!!).Even the news for the impaired,news in sanskrit were a result of high class programming!!
TV programs were then a reflection of our culture, source of information of our rich heritage and a medium to provide education.The government was the caretaker of the type of visual material that was allowed to be shown to the Indian public.Now with all the media freedom given,the visual material has slipped quite a few notches…
Some of the serials that had the highest impact on me (and audience generally) are:
1.) Malgudi Days
Everything was just perfect. The village, the goats (even they knew how to act much better than the current saas and bahu), the kids, the houses, the roads, the ladies. The title track was just awesome “Taa Na Na Na Ta Na Na Na Re” (even now some have it as their ringtone). The cartoons were by the famous R.K. Laxman. Without going more into the technical details, I would just like to re-live those days, the feeling and the art of storytelling. The writer shows how to produce stories out of nowhere. Then there was Swami(Master Manjunath, now a corporate manager in real life) and his late night adventures in his father’s office. Those were the child artistes who can make the most matured ones acting in the current “Saas Bahu” serials feel silly. The cricket match (Swamy and his friends), the way his friends just hang round ,their small quarrels were all so absorbing and life-like.
And the all credit goes to “R.K. Narayan”.
2.) Nukkad
It (Street Corner) was the name of a popular TV serial that aired on the Indian Television channel somehwere in1986 - 87. It was co-directed by Kundan Shah and Saeed Akhtar Mirza, starring Dilip Dhawan, Rama Vij, Pavan Malhotra, Sangeeta Naik, Avtaar Gill in lead roles.
The serial dealt with the struggles of urban youth,some of the iconic characters were - Dilip Dhawan - Guru (The Electrician) ,Avtar Gill - Qadir Bhai (The Hotelier) , Khopdi (The Drunk) ,Haider Ali - Raja ,Javed Khan - Karim Hajaam (The Barber) , Pavan Malhotra - Hari (Bicycle-repair guy) ,Sangeeta Naik - Radha ,Rama Vij - Teacherji (The Educator) ,The police constable - Ganpat Hawaldar and some more
This serial was a trend setter in the way Mumbayya language was spoken,the feeling of oneness in the Nukkad community ,happiness shared on the festivals and the lessons learnt by the characters every episode was an example of wholesome entertainment. Every episode ended with a life changing lesson for one of the characters.The way the love story of Guru and Teacherji was depicted, signified of their silent romance for each other and no direct words spoken ever!!
3.) Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi
The episodes revolved around funny happenings in the lives of Ranjit Verma (played by actor Shafi Inamdar) and Renu Verma (played by actress Swaroop Sampat, a former Miss India 1979), who play a married couple along with Renu's unmarried and unemployed younger brother Raja (Rakesh Bedi). Other characters were Ranjit's boss (Tiku Talsania), his Bengali neighbours (actors Vijay Kashyap and Sulabha Arya), etc.
A trademark of the show were the characters played by Satish Shah. In each episode, Shah played a different character who somehow played a key role in the plot. These characters would be from various professions and various regions of India, with some being close family friends of the Vermas and others being total strangers. During the mid-1980s Satish Shah was the undisputed "King of Comedy" as a direct consequence of the multitude characters that he played on the show.
Now,lets see what could be the top 3 serials of this generation
1) Kaun Banega Crorepati
2) Bigg Boss
3) Khatron ke Khiladi
All three are reality shows,giving big cash prize for the winners – so now it is all about a lot of juicy and shocking footages of fisticuffs,abuses(Bigg Boss),a lot of money at stake and nothing to do with our rich Indian heritage,culture(the only saving grace- KBC – anchored by Amitabh himself)
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