Bharat Ek Khoj
Bharat Ek Khoj | |
---|---|
Genre | Historical fiction |
Created by | Shyam Benegal |
Based on | The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru |
Written by | Shyam Benegal Shama Zaidi Sunil Shanbag Vasant Dev (dialogues) |
Starring | Roshan Seth Om Puri Tom Alter Sadashiv Amrapurkar Naseeruddin Shah Lucky Ali Seema Kelkar Mita Vashisht Pallavi Joshi Anjan Srivastav Sohaila Kapur Ila Arun Irrfan Khan Ravi Jhankal Piyush Mishra Kulbhushan Kharbanda Subrat Bose, Pankaj Berry |
Narrated by | Om Puri[1] |
Opening theme | Vanraj Bhatia |
Country of origin | India |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 53 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Raj Pius |
Cinematography | V. K. Murthy |
Editors |
|
Production companies | Doordarshan Sahyadri Films |
Release | |
Original network | DD National |
Original release | 13 November 1988[1] – 12 November 1989[1] |
Bharat Ek Khoj (lit. 'India: An Exploration') is a 53-episode Indian historical drama based on the book The Discovery of India (1946) by Jawaharlal Nehru[3] that covers a 5,000-year history of India from its beginnings to independence from the British in 1947. The drama was directed, written and produced by Shyam Benegal with cinematographer V. K. Murthy in 1988 for state-owned Doordarshan. Shama Zaidi co-wrote the script.[4] Its cast included Om Puri, Roshan Seth, Tom Alter and Sadashiv Amrapurkar. Jawaharlal Nehru was portrayed by Roshan Seth, the same role he portrayed in the Oscar-winning film Gandhi.[5]
Production designer Nitish Roy with assistants Samir Chanda and Nitin Desai built 144 sets.[6]
Cast and episode list[]
Episode | Title | Cast | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Bharat Mata Ki Jai"[7] | Roshan Seth | Jawaharlal Nehru[1] | |
2 | "The Beginnings" | Harish Patel, Lalit Mohan Tiwari, Pallavi Joshi | Draha, Shulgi, Atri | A street play based on the Epic of Gilgamesh is also depicted in the episode.[8] |
3 | "The Arrival of the Vedic People" | Anang Desai, K K Raina, Ravi Jhankal | Sardar, Suteja, Bajbandha | |
4 | "Then came Lord Rama and Karna" | Anang Desai, Salim Ghouse, K K Raina, Lalit Mohan Tiwari, Inayatullah Kantroo, Anuradha Tarafdar, Ila Arun | Chandraprabha, Rama, Narada, Karna, Dhanpal,Dhanvati, Sheelvati | Story of Shambuka from Ramayana and Karna from Mahabharata were also part of this episode. |
5,6 | "Mahabharata" Part 1 | Teejan Bai, Samar Jai Singh, Salim Ghouse, Om Puri, Sujata Mehta, Pankaj Berry, Ila Arun, Salim Ghouse | Karna, Krishna, Duryodhana, Draupadi, Shakuni, Aswatthama, Gandhari | |
"Mahabharata" Part 2 | ||||
7,8 | "Ramayana" Part 1[1] | Om Puri, Pallavi Joshi, Salim Ghouse[1] , Pankaj Berry, Ravi Jhankal | Sita, Rama, Bharata , Lakshmana | |
"Ramayana" Part 2 | ||||
9 | "Republics and Kingdoms" | Virendra Saxena, K K Raina | Mahaanaman, Virudhaka | |
10 | "Negation and Acceptance of Life" | Dhruv Ghanekar, Aanjjan Srivastav, Om Puri, Ashutosh Gowariker | Nachiketa, Yamaraja, Angulimaal, Gautam Buddha | |
11 | "Chanakya and Chandragupta" Part 1 | Satyadev Dubey, Ravi Jhankal, Mita Vashisht | Chanakya, Chanragupta, Suhasini | |
12 | "Chanakya and Chandragupta" Part 2 | Satyadev Dubey, Ravi Jhankal, Aanjjan Srivastav | Chanakya, Chanragupta, Dhana Nanda | |
13 | "Ashoka" Part 1 | Om Puri, K.K.Raina, Ila Arun | Ashoka, Radhagupta, Asandhimitra | |
14 | "Ashoka" Part 2 | Om Puri, K.K.Raina, Ila Arun, Lucky Ali (credited as Maqsoom Ali) | Ashoka, Radhagupta, Asandhimitra, Prince Tissa | |
15 | "The Sangam Period: Silapaddikaram" Part 1 | Pallavi Joshi, Rakesh Dhar | Kannaki, Kovalan | |
16 | "The Sangam Period: Silapaddikaram" Part 2 | Pallavi Joshi, Rakesh Dhar, Sulabha Deshpande, Virendra Saxena | Kannaki, Kovalan, Kavundi, Pandit | |
17 | "The Classical Age" | Anjan Srivastav, Harish Patel, Aparjita Krishna | Sansthanaka, Nai, Vasantsena | |
18 | "Kalidas and Shakuntala" Part 1 | Ravi Jhankal, Pallavi Joshi, Virendra Saxena | Kalidas, Mallika, Matul | Excerpts from plays Ashadh Ka Ek Din by Mohan Rakesh and Shakuntala (play) by Kalidasa were used in this episode. |
19 | "Kālidāsa and Shakuntala" Part 2 | Ravi Jhankal, Pallavi Joshi, Virendra Saxena | Kalidas, Mallika, Matul | |
20 | "Harshavardhana" | Pankaj Berry, K Makhija, Aparajita | Harshavardhana, Prabhakar Vardhana, Queen | |
21 | "Bhakti" | Vijay Kashyap, Rajesh Vivek, Mita Vashisht, Harish Patel | Mahendravarman I, Kapalin, Devasoma, Buddhist Monk | |
22 | "The Chola Empire" Part 1 | Om Puri, Devendre Malhotra, Sunila Pradhan, Shantanu Chaparia | Raja Raja Chola, Ishanashiva, Mahadevi, Tirumala | |
23 | "The Chola Empire" Part 2 | Om Puri, Devendre Malhotra, Sunila Pradhan, Shantanu Chaparia | Raja Raja Chola, Ishanashiva, Mahadevi, Tirumala | |
24 | "The Delhi Sultanate" Part 1:The Arrival of Turk-Afghans and Prithviraj Raso | K.K. Raina, Vijay Kashyap, Ravi Jhankal, , Irrfan Khan, Achyut Potdar, Vijay Kashyap | Muhammad Ghori, Chand Bardai, Prithviraj Chauhan, Mahmud Ghazni, Ferdowsi, Al-Biruni | |
25 | "The Delhi Sultanate" Part 2: Prithviraj Raso and Alauddin Khilji | K.K. Raina, Vijay Kashyap, Ravi Jhankal, Achyut Potdar, Om Puri, Rajendra Gupta, | Muhammad Ghori, Chand Bardai, Makwana, Alauddin Khilji, Ratan Singh, Padmavati | |
26 | "The Delhi Sultanate" Part 3: Padmavat and Tughlaq dynasty[9] | Om Puri, Rajendra Gupta, , | Alauddin Khalji, Ratan Singh, Padmavati | |
27 | "Synthesis" | Pankaj Berry | Lorik
[Lubna salim] chanda [Maina] Aparajita |
|
28 | "The Vijayanagar Empire" | Om Puri, Salim Ghouse, Aanjjan Srivastav, Fr. Tasso | Krishna Deva Raya, Aliya Rama Raya, Appaji, Domingo Paes | |
29 | "Feudalism"[10] | Salim Ghouse, Ila Arun, Pallavi Joshi, Siraj Khan, Ajay Kumar | Aliya Rama Raya, Heggaditi, Mallige, Saguna, Achyuta Deva Raya | |
30 | "The Fall of the Vijayanagar Empire" | Salim Ghouse, Anang Desai, Pankaj Berry, Ahmed Khan, Arjun Raina | Aliya Rama Raya, Effendi Aslam Bain, Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali, Hussain Nizam Shah I, Ali Adil Shah I | |
31 | "Rana Sanga, Ibrahim Lodi and Babur" | Ravi Jhankal, Anang Desai, Lalit Mohan Tiwari | Rana Sanga, Ibrahim Lodi, Babur | |
32, 33 | "Akbar" Part 1 (Din-e Ilahi) | Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Ila Arun, , Puneet Issar, Surendra Pal, Harish Patel, Irrfan Khan, Rajesh Vivek, Pankaj Berry, Vijay Arora | Akbar, Jahangir, Jodhabai, Maharana Pratap | |
"Akbar" Part 2 | ||||
34 | "Golden Hind" | , Vijay Arora, Ajit Vachhani | Jahangir | |
35 ,36 | "Aurangzeb" Part 1 | Om Puri, Sudhir Dalvi, Surendra Pal | Aurangzeb, Dara Shikoh, Murad Bakhsh, Shah Shuja, Jahanara Begum, Shah Jahan | |
"Aurangzeb Part" 2 | ||||
37 ,38 | "Shivaji" Part 1 | Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Anang Desai, Achyut Potdar,[11] | Shivaji, Jijabai, Dadoji Kondadev, , Afzal Khan, Aurangzeb, | |
"Shivaji" Part 2 | ||||
39 | "Company Bahadur" (East India Company) | Amrish Puri, Rajendra, Jalal Agha, Tom Alter, Vishal Singh, | Robert Clive, Najimuddin Ali Khan, Shuja-ud-Daula, Maharaja Nandakumar, Shah Alam II, | |
40 | "Tipu Sultan" | Salim Ghouse, Vijay Kashyap, Ravi Jhankal, Shreechand Makhija, Tom Alter, | Tipu Sultan, Purnaiah, Mir Sadiq, Mahadji Scindia, Nana Phadnavis | |
41 | "The Bengal Renaissance and Raja Ram Mohan Roy" | Anang Desai, Urmila Bhatt, Ravi Jhankal, Tom Alter, | Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Lord William Bentinck,Bann on Sati (practice) | |
42, 43 | "1857" Part 1 | Om Puri, Ravi Jhankal, Piyush Mishra, Mohan Gokhale, Anang Desai, Ratna Pathak Shah, Aanjjan Srivastav, Pankaj Berry, Virendra Razdan, Tom Alter, , Bob Christo | Bahadur Shah Zafar, Nana Saheb Peshwa II Wajid Ali Shah, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Tantia Tope, Rani Lakshmibai, Azimullah Khan, Bakht Khan, Mangal Pandey, Lord Dalhousie | |
"1857" Part 2 | ||||
44 | "Indigo Revolt" | Virendra Saxena, Tom Alter, Vijay Kashyap | Madhav | |
45 | "Mahatma Phule" | Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Mohan Gokhale, Shubhangi Gokhale, Achyut Potdar | Mahatma Phule | |
46 | "Sir Syed Ahmed Khan" | Mohan Maharishi, Irrfan Khan | ||
47 | "Vivekananda" | Alok Nath | Swami Vivekananda | |
48 | "Extremists and Moderates" | , Mohan Gokhale, Tom Alter, Achyut Potdar, Kishor Kadam | Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Chapekar brothers, Murder of Walter Charles Rand | |
49 | "And Gandhi Came" Part 1 | Om Puri, Ila Arun, Shabana Azmi, Pallavi Joshi, Akhilendra Mishra | ||
50 | "And Gandhi Came" Part 2 | |||
51 | "Separatism" | S M Zaheer, K K Raina, Harish Patel, Irrfan Khan | ||
52 | "Do or Die" | Pankaj Berry, Om Puri, Lucky Ali | Quit India Movement | |
53 | Epilogue |
Broadcast[]
The 53 episodes series was launched in November 1988 which coincide with the birth centenary of Nehru.[1] The series was re-telecasted on DD Bharati from 27 May 2013 on the occasion of 49th death anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru.[12]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f g Jain, Madhu (20 November 2013). "Bharat Ek Khoj: The making of most extravagant serial ever". India Today.
- ^ "Shyam Benegal on watching Padmaavat: I want to see what all the fuss is about". Mumbai Mirror.
- ^ "What makes Shyam special..." The Hindu. 17 January 2003. Archived from the original on 27 June 2003. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ "Music in her lines Makeup artist Vivek Nayak". The Hindu. 1 October 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ "Roshan Seth waits for right role". The Hindu. 19 November 2001. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ "Samir Chanda's death was devastating: Shyam Benegal". The Times of India. 20 August 2011. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ "In this first episode of 'Bharat Ek Khoj', Nehru's character quizzes those chanting 'Bharat Mata ki jai' on what the phrase means". Scroll.in.
- ^ "Bharat Ek Khoj, Episode 02". 1988.
- ^ "Om Puri had played Alauddin Khilji much before Ranveer Singh". in.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017.
- ^ "How India Became a Republic - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com.
- ^ Chari, Mridula. "The DD Files: When Shyam Benegal brought India's entire history to TV screens in 'Bharat Ek Khoj'". Scroll.in.
- ^ "DD to commence repeat telecast of 'Bharat Ek Khoj' to mark Nehru's death anniversary". Indian Television Dot Com. 25 May 2013.
External links[]
- Indian period television series
- Indian historical television series
- 1980s Indian television series
- Television shows based on non-fiction books
- 1988 Indian television series debuts
- Cultural depictions of Akbar
- Cultural depictions of Mahatma Gandhi
- Cultural depictions of Jawaharlal Nehru
- Mughal Empire in fiction
- DD National original programming
- 1989 Indian television series endings
- Cultural depictions of Shah Jahan
- Cultural depictions of Aurangzeb
- Cultural depictions of Rani Padmini
- Cultural depictions of Indian monarchs
- Television series based on the Ramayana
- Television series based on Mahabharata
- Krishna in popular culture
- Hindu mythology in popular culture
- Television series about Buddhism
- Cultural depictions of Gautama Buddha
- Cultural depictions of Gilgamesh
- Works based on the Epic of Gilgamesh