The magic of Doordarshan (Golden days of Indian Television)

Recently I came across some videos on youtube of the yesteryears hot favorite TV shows on India’s national and only TV channel back in the late 80s – early 90s – DD1. It was like a walk down the memory lane for me. I still love watching TV but back then TV wasn’t an idiot box but rather it was a magic box and DD1 ruled the TRP charts.

I think the earliest graphic memory of TV that I have is of Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan which started airing in Jan’87 on DD1. Though I was very young then, what I distinctly remember is how our drawing room used to get flooded with all the dadajis, dadimas, uncles and aunties of the neighborhood every Sunday morning just to see Arun Govil’s depiction of Sri Ram. I felt bad because for that one hour every week, no body paid any attention to me. Every one remained glued to our small black and white TV kept on the rickety wall almirah. Though I didn’t understand much, I have never seen people watch TV so passionately ever after. They didn’t move an inch even during the recurring “Bacchon ye hai hamare daaton ki banawat” Dabur Lal Dant Manjan ads. But I think that was more to save the small corner of the bed where they were resting their bottoms rather than the awe inspiring ads of DD1. Whatever be the case, Ramanand Sagar’s magnum opus was a huge hit and it pushed viewer ship of DD1 and hence of television itself to the next level in India.

When I grew up a little more I myself became a die hard DD1 fan. My childhood was spent mostly in small towns where sources of recreation were few. TV provided a free and easy substitute. Sundays were awesome. I and most of my friends used to eagerly await for Sundays. My sundays started with Rangoli where most of the songs were frequently repeated across weeks but who cared then. I didn’t even miss the morning Samachar on DD1 after that. News readers can’t be any more boring or soporific. But I think they did justice to their jobs by giving us just the News and not the masala that an AajTak or an India TV delivers today. News was not sensationalized. But still I must say the news readers looked as if they were zombies or permanently constipated.

The 9 AM/9:30 AM slot on Sundays was always reserved for the biggies. The success story that started with Ramayan(87 – 88) was soon followed by BR Chopra’s epic effort in the form of Mahabharat (88 – 89) with its ethereal “Mai Samay hoon” beginning. After some years, Mahabharat was followed by the infinitely stretched, desi precursor to Hollywood’s LOTR , “Chandrakanta”. Kroor Singh and his “Yakku” dominated the Indian tele space. It ran for some record episodes and finally left not only the audiences but the script writers themselves utterly confused. However it had made its mark in the memories of millions of DD viewers like me. It was then replaced by Krishna. This was yet another successful mythological serial from the Sagar camp. As most of us had nothing else to do on a lazy Sunday morning, we all started watching it and finally liking it. An entire generation grew up in India watching these works of over dramatic melodramas. Surprisingly mythological serials were amazingly successful back then. Some of the actors in these serials became very popular. They were the first telestars of India. Nitish Bharadwaj, who played Lord Krishna in Mahabharat went on to win an election for Lok Sabha in 1996.

Meanwhile an animated series was quickly catching the nation’s attention. This was Mowgli and his friends in the Jungle book.

The title song was extremely catchy with words by Gulzar and music by Vishal Bharadwaj. I still remember the booming voice of Sher Khan given by Nana Patekar. The impact of this animated series was huge among children. This was the first popular hindi animated series and for millions of Indians Jungle book still means the serial which came every sunday noon on DD1 and not the book written by Rudyard Kipling in late 1800s.

I also loved Shyam Benegal’s  Bharat Ek khoj which was aired Sunday late evenings around 9 PM if I am not wrong, with Rohan Seth as Nehru. Interestingly I can still remember the ending track of this wonderfully simple yet powerful show about our history.

There were many more shows which are part of my fond memories of my childhood as they are for a generation of Indians. Sometimes in the evenings on a rainy day I even watched “Krishi Darshan” on DD1 where they talked about the problems Indian farmers faced.

It was presented in an utterly boring fashion not like the interesting documentaries of Nat Geo or Discovery. But back then when there was no Nat Geo or Discovery channel even Krishi Dashan was watchable.

Some of the other shows which I loved are –

Malgudi Days

Based on RK Narayan’s novel, Malgudi days was one of the most simple yet intriguing serials which can only be made for or by DD1. This was the story of Swami and his childhood in Malgudi. For many years I believed that Malgudi did exist. The title track of “Ta na na na na na na na” is still very much alive in my head.

Surabhi

Surabhi was and still is, one of the best cultural programs telecasted in India. It presented the diverse faces of Indian life in a very interesting way. Nothing was ever spiced up in this serial. They presented facts and people as they truly were.

The serial was hosted by the popular duo of Siddharath Kak and Renuka Shahne. It was a popular combination, with the slightly more serious Kak and the ever-smiling Renuka. One of the hottest point about the serial was the involvement of the audience, with audiences being asked a question at the end of every episode and the numerous responses that it got was an evidence of DD’s viewership (I believe that they had a record of 10 lakh postcards for one episode).

Byomkesh Bakshi

Perhaps the most successful detective series on Indian television. Here was our desi Holmes.

Rajit Kapoor immortalized this character on television, originally created by Sharadindu Bandopadhyay, with his immaculate portrayal of the bhodrolok detective of Kolkata. The book is also good but the teleseries was much more interesting.

Chanakya

The serial was very well-researched, and the producers had spent a lot of time and efforts to make the entire portrayal including the sets, which seemed very authentic.

The director and lead actor (Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi) essayed the role in a very genuine way. This was perhaps India’s first political drama.

Vikram aur Betal

Another Arun Govil starer series, another of my favorites. I think this was telecasted every Saturday afternoon.

I remember that I used to watch it right after my relaxing Saturday post lunch nap after the half day school on Saturdays.

I am sure there were many more memorable serials on DD1 during its hey days. And then there were those amazing cultural clips and some extremely popular ads on DD1 –

Ek Chidiya anek chidiya – How can one forget this retro clip, a frequently aired one on DD1 just before the prime time events? This was produced by the Films division of the cultural ministry way back in 1974 as is evident in its naive animation. Have you ever seen any other clip so simple yet so powerful and focused in its message? I haven’t.

Baje Sargam – This musical montage was telecasted almost every morning. Staring with the tabla jugalbandi of ustad Zakir Hussain and his father, Baje Sargam was a collage of Indian music across all regions and languages. Just amazing!

Spreading the light of freedom – Another very common DD1 telecast, this relay race comprising of celebrities carrying the flame of freedom had a surreal feel to it – a feel of national unity.

Mile sur mera tumhara – This is the original mile sur – Ek sur. I liked the new one too but for me this will always remain the one and the only one. It has that nostalgic feeling to it.

The original Bajaj Ad – We all grew up watching this ad – the Humara Bajaj ad. This ad struck a cord with every middle class Indian family. One of the most successful ads made in India, much before the days of professional ad agencies.

Those were really the golden days of Indian television which now a days is either dominated by Saas Bahu serials or more recently by the Reality shows. We often had loss of transmissions and those long “Rukaawat ke liye Khed hai” breaks back then. Still we all waited patiently and didn’t change the channels may be because we didn’t have any alternative but also because of the simplicity of the DD1 programs. Those programs had an Indian touch to it which is missing in todays Indianized versions of American shows. Today we may have hundreds of channels and numerous programs but TV isn’t that interesting anymore.