Bharat Ek Khoj (Old Doordarshan TV Serial)
Bharat Ek Khoj is a television show based on the discovery and history of India. Produced and Directed by the ace film maker Shyam Benegal, the series aired on Doordarshan Channel with 53 episodes. The show was based on the book written by Jawaharlal Nehru, The discovery of India, published in 1946. The book contains the 5000 years old history of India, how it was discovered and how things went till independence. The show Bharat Ek Khoj was based on the book and the total 53 episodes showed the transformation of the country from being discovered to earn independence. Actors like Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Alok Nath, Tom Alter and many more were seen in the show in different characters.
| Artists | Characters Played |
| Om Puri | Duryadhan, Ravana, Angulimaal, Ashoka, Alauddin Khilji, Krishna Deva Raya, Aurangazeb |
| Naseeruddin Shah | Shivaji |
| Sadashiv Amrapurkar | Mahatma Phule |
| Alok Nath | Swami Vivekananda |
| Roshan Seth | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Pallavi Joshi | Atri, Sita |
| Pankaj Berry | Harshavardhan, Lorik |
| Harish Patel | Draha |
| Virendra Saxena | Vashithak |
| Piyush Mishra | Sipahi |
| Mita Vashisht | Suhasini |
The Creators of the Show
Shyam Benegal, the director, producer and writer of the show was an ace film maker at that time. He has picked up the book The Discovery of India to make this amazing show. Shyam Benegal, along with the other makers of the show, V.K. Murthy, the cinematographer of the series, had put some of the best actors together and brought the show to the audience.
Doordarshan channel was the co-producer for the show while Raj Pius was the executive producer of the series. The show was first telecasted in the year 1988. Before the show Benegal was already directed so many hot movies such as Manthan, Ankur, Nishant, Bhumika and much more. Manthan released in the year 1976 brought The Padma Shree award for him. He came to lime light immediately after his first movie came out namely Ankur. Seven times National Award winner director, Benegal, released this show in 1988.
Story Line
| Name of the show | Bharat Ek Khoj |
| Director / Writer / Producer | Shyam Benegal |
| Co-Writer | Shama Zaida |
| Executive Producer | Raj Pius |
| Telecasted network | Doordarshan |
| Telecasted in | 1988 |
| Season | 1 |
| Episodes | 53 |
| Cinematographer | V. K. Murthy |
| Company | Shayadri Films |
The story of the series was based on 5000 years of Indian history. The story was taken from Jawaharlal Nehru’s book on India, The Discovery of India. The show came up with 53 episodes and each episode showed different states and times of Indian history. The first episode namely Bharat Mata Ki Jai started with the introduction and discovery of the nation, followed by the other episodes like The Beginning, Arrival of Vedic People, Caste formation and such. Then the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Chanakya, Ashoka, Kalidas, Shakuntala, Raja Harshavardhan, Chola Empire, Sulatanate and then Mughal Empire came one after another. IN last 10 episodes Benegal showed the independence era and the fights against British rules that included Gandhi, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Indigo Revolt, Mahatma Phule and finally the do or die movement by the freedom fighters. Those 53 episodes covered everything related to Indian history from discovery to independence.
Some Interesting Facts about the Show
- Shyam Benegal before directing the show had already won one of the biggest Indian awards Padma Shri for his movie Manthan in the year 1976.
- The show was co-produced by the channel Doordarshan.
- Shama Zaidi was a script writer in Hindi Film Industry at that point of time and she worked in several movies like Bhumika, Manthan and such with Benegal before this drama happened to her.
- This drama had then leading actors and actresses from Hindi Film Industry. On Puri is one such actor who was not only acted in several episodes but also narrated the show.
Relevance today
Bharat Ek Khoj is one of a kind show that cannot be irrelevant in any generation. It is always necessary to know two things in life, where we are now and where we came from. This means geography and history of the place we belong to is always necessary to know. The drama depicted the entire history of our country some of which we have studied in our school probably.
The book by Jawaharlal Nehru is an asset and still has the same value like before as it is always important to know from where we came to existence, what we were and how we evolved. Not only the book but also the show holds a very important place in today’s literature and Indian history.
Today’s generation, especially the kids who are more into gadgets than paper books must watch the show to know more about the origin of our country. Very few or we can say no schools have such elaborate history about India in their syllabus. So watching this show will not only be an entertaining thing but also will be a part of their education.
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