Ramayan: The cult classic was first aired in the year 1986, the series was produced by one of the most famous television content producer Ramanand Sagar and was based on the Hindu epic Ramayan. Recently amongst the nation-wide lockdown, Ramayan was aired again and it broke all records of viewership across the world with 7.7 crore viewership on Television.
Malgudi days: The theme tone of the show itself was so beautiful, that every time you hear it, it will take you the best nostalgic moments of your childhood. This much-loved TV show was aired on Doordarshan. It was based on author RK Narayan‘s acclaimed work of the same name. It followed the adventures of Swami, a 10-year-old boy, and his friends in a remote village in Karnataka set in pre-independence India. The show included award winning actor Girish Karnad.
Fauji: The serial that made Shah Rukh Khan loved by millions. Fauji was based on the life of Indian army soldiers in the commando regiment. Fauji is most famous for SRK’s later-hyped debut in the history of Indian television as Abhimanyu Rai.
Shaktiman: We cannot thank this serial enough for gifting us our favourite superhero. The impact it had on us as kids was huge. Back in 1990’s a lot of us just wanted to be the next Shaktiman, wanted to buy the costume and how can forget, ‘Sorry Shaktiman’. The magic that it created, got us spellbound. Shaktimaan was, is and will always be the superhero who is closest to our hearts.
There were some speculations of its comeback but nothing has been out yet. In the end we just wanted to tell you that, ‘Gangadhar hi Shaktimaan hai’, oops sorry for the spoiler.
Office Office: This 2001 premiered, was conceptual fiction based on the working of government offices, a sattiracal comedy with veteran actor Pankaj Kapoor playing the lead, ‘Mussadilal’, also included Hindi film cinema talents like Sanjay Mishra and Manoj Pawa. Office Office quickly became one of the most critically acclaimed TV series which was loved my many in the early aughts.
Shakalaka Boom Boom: We all wanted Sanju’s Magic Pencil as kids and to be honest who doesn’t wish for a pencil which can bring your drawings to reality, only if you draw really well. The most funny villains, great friends, a show which completed our childhood.
Sarabhai vs Sarabhai: This early 2000’s comedy with a spectacular cast of Satish Shah, Ratna Pathak, Sumeet Raghavan, and Rupali Ganguly is one of the most-loved shows in our country. Probably one of the funniest shows to have ever aired. This show projected the Indian class divide within a family (albeit in a humorous manner) with Maya Sarabhai, being this sophisticated South Bombay lady with a lot of classy humour and her daughter-in-law Monisha, who is just like us middle-class people fighting for ‘dhaniya’.
Khichdi: ‘Hansa, Hansa’, ‘Babujee mai laya”, “Praful, Suicide matlab”, these dialogues are enough to just remind us of the hysterical drama this show was. Show revolved a family ‘The Parekhs’ who lived in an old mansion in Mumbai and solved typical everyday situations and problems in an atypical fashion, because of their peculiarities. The performances and writing were stars of the show.
It will not be too much to ask for these shows to come back but sometimes some masterpieces should be left like that, we can surely always visit them whenever we want, thanks to the digitalisation.