Bharat Ek Khoj (lit. 'India: An Exploration') is a 53-episode Indian historical drama based on the book The Discovery of India (1946) by Jawaharlal Nehru[3] that covers a 5,000-year history of the Indian subcontinent from its beginnings to independence from the British in 1947. The drama was directed, written and produced by Shyam Benegal with cinematographer V. K. Murthy in 1988 for state-owned Doordarshan. Shama Zaidi co-wrote the script.[4] Its cast included Om Puri, Roshan Seth, Tom Alter and Sadashiv Amrapurkar. Jawaharlal Nehru was portrayed by Roshan Seth, the same role he portrayed in the film Gandhi.[5]
| Bharat Ek Khoj | |
|---|---|
 Bharat Ek Khoj DVD cover | |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Created by | Shyam Benegal |
| Based on | The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Written by | Shyam Benegal Shama Zaidi Sunil Shanbag Vasant Dev (dialogues) |
| Starring | Roshan Seth Om Puri Tom Alter Sadashiv Amrapurkar Naseeruddin Shah Lucky Ali Seema Kelkar Mita Vashisht Pallavi Joshi Anjan Srivastav Sohaila Kapur Ila Arun Irrfan Khan Ravi Jhankal Piyush Mishra Kulbhushan Kharbanda Subrat Bose Pankaj Berry |
| Narrated by | Om Puri[1] |
| Opening theme | Vanraj Bhatia |
| Country of origin | India |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 53 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Raj Pius |
| Cinematography | V. K. Murthy |
| Editors |
|
| Production companies | Doordarshan Sahyadri Films |
| Original release | |
| Network | DD National |
| Release | 13 November 1988[1] – 12 November 1989[1] |
Production designer Nitish Roy with assistants Samir Chanda and Nitin Desai built 144 sets.[6]
Episodes
editBroadcast
editThe 53 episodes series was launched in November 1988 which coincided with the birth centenary of Nehru.[1] The series was re-telecasted on DD Bharati from 27 May 2013 on the occasion of 49th death anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru.[12]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Jain, Madhu (20 November 2013). "Bharat Ek Khoj: The making of most extravagant serial ever". India Today.
- ^ "Shyam Benegal on watching Padmaavat: I want to see what all the fuss is about". Mumbai Mirror.
- ^ "What makes Shyam special..." The Hindu. 17 January 2003. Archived from the original on 27 June 2003. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ "Music in her lines Makeup artist Vivek Nayak". The Hindu. 1 October 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ "Roshan Seth waits for right role". The Hindu. 19 November 2001. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ "Samir Chanda's death was devastating: Shyam Benegal". The Times of India. 20 August 2011. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
- ^ "In this first episode of 'Bharat Ek Khoj', Nehru's character quizzes those chanting 'Bharat Mata ki jai' on what the phrase means". Scroll.in. 18 March 2016.
- ^ "Bharat Ek Khoj, Episode 02". 1988.
- ^ "Om Puri had played Alauddin Khilji much before Ranveer Singh". in.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017.
- ^ "How India Became a Republic - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com.
- ^ Chari, Mridula (20 August 2017). "The DD Files: When Shyam Benegal brought India's entire history to TV screens in 'Bharat Ek Khoj'". Scroll.in.
- ^ "DD to commence repeat telecast of 'Bharat Ek Khoj' to mark Nehru's death anniversary". Indian Television Dot Com. 25 May 2013.