Doordarshan: No Longer What It Used To Be !
Doordarshan is a public broadcast television network run by Prasar Bharti. It began in Delhi in 1959. National programes were introduced in 1982. In the same year live telecast of Independence Day parade followed by Asian Games was shown.
With the cable and so many channels coming up, I just wonder whether people still watch Doordarshan because to be very true I don’t. But I truly believe that some of the quality serials that are remembered till now were shown on DD National. I still remember those days (eightees era) when I was a kid and like every child I used to wait for the Sunday to come because all the good serials used to come starting with Rangoli (around 7:30 am if I am not wrong). I still remember my mother used to make ‘pakodis’ for breakfast on Sunday and everything was settled before 9 am because it was the time for mythological dramas like Ramayan (1987-1988) and Mahabharat (1988-1989). Every character fitted so well in these serials, the image that comes to me if I talk about Lord Krishana is Nitish Bhardwaj and Mukesh Khanna as Bhism Pitamah.
Now-a-days you can hear songs on any channel but at that time there were two famous hindi film songs based popular serials, Chitrahaar (how we would wait to see songs on this one) and Rangoli. Crime thrillers like Karamchand, Byomkesh Bakshi (my favourite detective serial till now) and Tahqekaat (lead role played by Vijay Anand) were some good and substantial thrillers. Though Karamchand has started again but I just don’t find that kind of quality detective serials on any channel now.
Soaps like Humlog, Buniyad and Nukkad were very popular. I don’t remember them but I still find people praising about them. I can’t forget two romantic serials because I really liked them and I wish them to start again on any channel, Kashish (Sudesh Berry and Malvika Tiwari) and Farmaan (Kawaljit and Deepika Deshpande). Both were romantic in nature, may be the age I was in when these serials started made me very fond of them. Shanti, the first daily soap started on Doordarshan on one 15th August and after that there was no end to daily soaps. Then came Swabhimaan, Itihaas. No end.
Now Doordarshan is often criticized for poor telecast and presentation quality, the media have regularly criticized the channel for telecasting too many ads in cricket matches often showing 5 of the 6 balls of an over. However, Doordarshan is still the only television provider for a number of people who don’t have cable television. Those were interesting times, one of my other regular memories from that time is of fiddling with the antenna to ensure that reception is good.
I don’t know about the present but some really good quality and my favourite serials came from Doordarshan.
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Apr 14th, 2007 at 12:55 pm | #
I remember some of the serials of that era, I really liked Khaandan, but did not like Hum Log and Buniyaad all that much.
Apr 14th, 2007 at 3:25 pm | #
yes, rangoli used to come at 7:40am to be precise (and has found mention in a lot of my posts as well). You forgot to mention “Idhar udhar” and “yeh ho hai zindagi” – some of the best serials
. Also loved best out of waste, UGC programs and of course the little film division kee bhents.
Apr 17th, 2007 at 12:33 am | #
of course i miss Doordarshan so much, ‘yeh jo hai zindagi’ and ‘idhar udhar’ were my favorites. then i remember ‘Kashish’ too well – used to find it romantic.
Also used to love ‘Fauji’ (‘I say chaps’ guy) there used to some good one like ‘Kachi Dhoop’ based on Little Women and ‘Trishna’ based on Pride and Prejudice.
Also have watched very good regional language National Award winning movies on Sunday afternoons as well as ‘The World this Week’ by Pranoy Roy – wow, so many memories, i need to do a post on this..
Apr 23rd, 2007 at 6:27 pm | #
agree completely..in fact Farmaan is an all time fav of mine as far as romance goes. I wud say it is the last word in the mills&boons genre of series. its being telecast agn on DD Bahrti. & i mis series like trishna & kacchi Dhoop too…and Buniyaad. Oh for those time s wen a serial had a beginning & an ending & made sense as well!!
May 16th, 2007 at 9:45 pm | #
Definitely the old classic quality serials r missing now. kashish , udaan, byomkesh, tehqiqat, star best sellers. getting to see tht gud serials seems impossible. does anybody remember gayab aaya, stone boy, antriksh , sigma aur udantastari ?
May 25th, 2007 at 12:52 pm | #
Oh my god, you’ve made me so nostalgic for my childhood when only DD ruled. I miss the golden days of DD too! Farmaan (God, how I loved this story), Trishna, Fauji, Byomkesh Bakshi. And I totally remember Antriksh and Stone boy!! I was small then and never missed a single episode. Those were the days of quality serials. Fine acting and sensible story-lines. And now, trash!! Maybe not all..but almost all.
Nov 12th, 2007 at 5:46 pm | #
me too missing those golden days… i use to see jain robot, street hawk, stone boy etc
Nov 14th, 2007 at 10:08 pm | #
i am a die hard fan of farmaan it is a wonder full love story between a nawab and ordinary girl can any way i can get those episodes?
Dec 28th, 2007 at 2:55 am | #
I am trying to beg, borrow or steal any of the doordarshan music archives. Can any one help me? I am typically lloking for the programmes of stalwarts like M.S, Bismilla Khan etc
Feb 5th, 2008 at 7:47 am | #
Hello guys , Its really bad that we miss all those series …
Malgudi days one of the most series which i liked…..
do any one of you remember the name of the animated/cartoon series which depicted jesus christ…. its series where there was a time machine and 4 people on board who travel back in time to experience the history for real….
Please can any one tell name of that series……
Thanks
Sep 24th, 2008 at 2:55 pm | #
I loved Giant Robot, Street Hawk and there was this Saeed Jaffrey’s serial called Tandoori Nights. Vinod Dua’s Aap ke Liye, Vikram aur Betaal and Spiderman with Rasna Advts.
Apr 24th, 2009 at 12:16 am | #
Iam badly looking for the hindi drama “Dhai akhar prem ki” which was telecast many times on doordarshan.That was one of my memorable programmes on dd.Sadly I could`nt figure it out in dd archives.I will be grateful if it can be traced out somehow
Sep 27th, 2009 at 1:52 am | #
hey, there was another good one ..forgot the title – man falling in love with a widow who has a daughter…
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