[90s ~ A Celebration] - TeleVision #India


Television is one of the most influential invention and perhaps the best electronic innovation. 90s were the period when TV became popular and available in India. It was the Black-White TVs during those days. Doordarshan was the only channel available. It was a National channel that was available for free and was accessed by a long Antenna that came with the TV. Before TVs, Radio ruled the villages and towns of the country. All India Radio and Ceylon Stations were the most listened. After the introduction of TVs, its prominence grew leaps and bounds.

There were a lot of programmes that were aired by Doordarshan which even today stand the best. The TV serials/soaps aired during the 90s were the best in terms of IMDB rating that stand unbroken even today. Most of the serials of those days have over 8/10 rating. As a Kid, I have enjoyed some of the best TV serials that were ever produced. After few years of successful running of DD1, DD Metro and DD Podhigai were launched.

Religious stories were well made, well-acted and directed. B.R Chopra’s Mahabharata and Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana were the best. More than what we get by reading a book/hearing a story, we got the story and moral better by watching those serials. They gave the clear picture of how God descended for man and lived a man’s life – suffered and won. Every character was well shaped based on the Vedas and other religious books and were well executed on screen. Till date there hasn’t been any other serial which has broken the records of those serials. Others to be noted were Jai Hanuman and Shri Krishna. Hanuman and Shri Krishna’s tales were brought to light in every kids’ mind via those awesome creations. As a kid I never used to miss a single episode of them.

Then came a lot of serials which showed the lives of the Kings. Chandrakantha, The Great Maratha, Main Dilli Hoon, Virat to name a few. Of these Chandrakantha was the most celebrated TV serial during those times. It was viewed by a record number of viewers. And it brought tears to many when the programme was prematurely withdrawn. Other Innovative serials which came are Shaktimaan and Captain Vyom. Both serials were the first of their kinds. Shaktimaan became a sensation with the kids and had a long run time. It dealt with Yoga, Good Vs Bad, Karmas, Inner Strength and Divine power. Captain Vyom was the first spaceship story and dealt with aliens in other universes.

Other serials which dealt with everyday life and feelings of the humans were Shanti, Junoon, Swabhimaan. All of them were well received and had a long run time. These serials hit the chords with every human in India. These serials achieved a cult status and were widely followed. Several Comedy serials rocked the nation at prime-time. Shrimaan Shrimathi, All the Best, Tu Tu Main Main – these were perhaps the highly rated comedy serials of all time. The quality in those serials were really appreciable.

Several serials like Suraag, Raja Aur Rancho, Marshall, Betaal Pachisi glorified suspense thrillers. The best thing about them were that they were able to invoke suspense in the minds of the viewers consistently. They took the suspense thriller genre to the next level.

The entire country was glued to watch new songs with Rangoli, Chitrahaar and Superhit Muqabla programmes. We never missed a single episode of them and if we did miss we cried a lot. These were the platforms to catch new movie songs.

Cartoons were a sensation those days. Duck Tales, Scooby Doo, Flintstones, He-Man, Talespin and other cartoons of Jesus’ stories and much more. Every Evening was lighted with these cartoons which every kid enjoyed in Doordarshan. It was the first time when Robots were introduced to cartoons and it became an instant hit and we used to run immediately after the school bell rang to catch the Robot story.

All of these programmes had greater quality and well made which made them highly successful and stand even today in our minds. The programmes made during these days in cable TV channels cannot beat the old programmes which were made with great care. There was life in them and the quality was unbeatable. DD1, DD Metro were the best during the 90s and entertained and educated kids of almost the entire nation with their creations. That record can never be beaten.

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