Talaash (Old Doordarshan TV Show)
Talaash is one of the most popular Indian dramas aired on Doordarshan during 90s. The drama was based on searching a person who was a close friend of the lead character played by Alok Nath. Talaash, means search, is an emotional drama taken from a Bengali novel, written by freedom fighter Shree Ashutosh Mukherjee namely Sonar Kathi Rupor Kathi (golden stick silver stick). The show was released 26 episodes and aired in the year 1992. Ace Hindi and Bengali film director Hrishikesh Mukherjee directed the drama while Joyanta Mukherjee produces the show.
| Cast | Character |
| Alok Nath | Shankarlal Shrivastava |
| Vijayendra Ghatge | Sudhir |
| Beena | Shankarlal’s Wife |
| Dina Pathak | Sudhir’s Mother |
| Moushumi Chatterjee | Urmila |
The creator of the Show
Hrishikesh Mukherjee, the director of the drama, was well known and a popular film maker at that time. He was famous for his comedy Bengali movies. Hrishikesh Mukherjee was one of those directors who were not only made a good position in Bengali Film industry but also became one of the biggest names in Hindi Film Industry. Before directing this drama, Hrishikesh had already done a series of block buster movies like Gol Maal, Chupke Chupke, Mili, Bawarchi, Khubsoorat, Abhimaan, Bemisal and a lot more.
Hrishikesh, popularly known as Hrishi Da in film industry, was the first ever director who had introduced the action hero Dharmendra as a comedy actor in Chupke Chupke. The movie and the character of Parimal Tripathi is still loved by new generation.
Talaash is a completely different genre that Hrishi Da directed for Doordarshan. The show was based on emotional plot and was taken from Sonar Kathi Rupor Kathi by Ashutosh Mukherjee.
Story Line
| Show name | Talaash |
| Director | Hrishikesh Mukherjee |
| Producer | Jayanta Mukherjee |
| Music | Hemanta Kumar Mukherjee |
| Editor | Deepak Kapoor |
| Based on | Novel Sonar Kathi Rupor Kathi |
| Seasons | 1 |
| Episodes | 26 |
| Telecasted Network | Doordarshan |
| Telecasted Time | 23 minutes approx |
| Telecasted in | 1992 |
The story of the drama was based on searching of a specific person. The leading character, Shankarlal played by Alok Nath, was an author in the drama and was travelling by train. He was returning back home from an event when he heard about a village namely ‘Sarsavan’. The name immediately stuck on his head but unfortunately he could not remember how the name was so familiar to him. He decided to get down to the village and he did exactly the same. Once he reached the village he could remember how he knew the name.
His childhood friend Sudhir, who was a son of Shankarlal’s mother’s best friend, had written his last letter from this village. Shankarlal’s mother and Sudhir’s mother (played by Dina Pathak) used to be best of friends and were like sisters. So the bond between the sons grew up tighter by the time. Sudhir, played by Vijayendra Ghatge, had shifted to this village for his job and used to write letters from here only. Suddenly he stopped contacting any of the family members including Shankarlal. He didn’t appear even when Sudhir’s mother was counting her last days. When Shankarlal reached to the village, he started searching for his long lost close friend and experienced a lot of things. Gradually he came to know about his friend’s state and the reason behind his sudden disappearance. The story was based on more of a journey for searching the truth and the friend.
Some Interesting Facts about Talaash
- Talaash was originally created by Gitanjali Minidub.
- Hrishikesh Mukherjee was an editor in his early career life.
- Singer Anup Jalota had also played a small role in the show.
- The story was adapted and re-created by Anil Ghosh.
- Comedian Harish Patel was also played a very serious character in this drama.
Relevance Today
The drama unfolded many sides of a common man. The very basic thing of the show was a man who was searching for his long lost friend. Today, in our daily competitive life we often lose many of our friends, we miss them but most of the time we don’t bother to search for them. Do we? We take them for granted. But relationships are not as easy as it looks. Shankarlal could easily pass by the village and could wait for his friend’s next letter. But he didn’t do that, rather he chose to get down and search for his friend.
On the other, even today we often miss out the truth behind the behaviour of any of our friends. If he is not talking to me, why should I talk to him? Most of us follow this rule. But we forget the fact that he/she can have a tough time, there might be something that bothers him/her, and we must find it. We don’t do that. The drama taught us that we must not let go of loved ones easily. We must find the truth, we must make some more effort to carry a relationship and of course when we put so much effort, it definitely brings smile on our face. We can win over any difficulties that arise in relationships.
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