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Bharat Ek Khoj 
Summary
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 India 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]
Cast and episode list edit
| Episode | Title | Cast | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Bharat Mata Ki Jai"[7] | Roshan Seth | Jawaharlal Nehru[1] | |
| 2 | "The Beginnings" | Harish Patel, Lalit Mohan Tiwari, Pallavi Joshi | Draha, Shulgi, Atri | A street play based on the Epic of Gilgamesh is also depicted in the episode.[8] |
| 3 | "The Arrival of the Vedic People" | Anang Desai, K K Raina, Ravi Jhankal | Sardar, Suteja, Bajbandha | |
| 4 | "Caste Formation" | Anang Desai, Salim Ghouse, K K Raina, Lalit Mohan Tiwari, Inayatullah Kantroo, Anuradha Tarafdar, Ila Arun | Chandraprabha, Rama, Narada, Arjuna, Dhanpal, Dhanvati, Sheelvati | Story of Shambuka from Ramayana and Ekalavya from Mahabharata were also part of this episode. |
| 5,6 | "Mahabharata" Part 1 | Teejan Bai, Salim Ghouse, Om Puri, Sujata Mehta, Pankaj Berry, Ila Arun, Salim Ghouse, Sulakshana Khatri | Krishna, Duryodhana, Draupadi, Shakuni, Aswatthama, Gandhari | |
| "Mahabharata" Part 2 | ||||
| 7,8 | "Ramayana" Part 1[1] | Om Puri, Pallavi Joshi, Salim Ghouse[1] , Pankaj Berry, Ravi Jhankal | Sita, Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana | |
| "Ramayana" Part 2 | ||||
| 9 | "Republics and Kingdoms" | Virendra Saxena, K K Raina | Mahaanaman, Virudhaka | |
| 10 | "Negation and Acceptance of Life" | Dhruv Ghanekar, Aanjjan Srivastav, Om Puri, Ashutosh Gowariker | Nachiketa, Yamaraja, Angulimaal, Gautam Buddha | |
| 11, 12 | "Chanakya and Chandragupta" Part 1 | Satyadev Dubey, Ravi Jhankal, Mita Vashisht, Aanjjan Srivastav | Chanakya, Chanragupta, Suhasini | |
| "Chanakya and Chandragupta" Part 2 | ||||
| 13, 14 | "Ashoka" Part 1 | Om Puri, K.K.Raina, Ila Arun, Lucky Ali (credited as Maqsoom Ali) | Ashoka, Radhagupta, Asandhimitra, Prince Tissa | |
| "Ashoka" Part 2 | ||||
| 15, 16 | "The Sangam Period: Silapaddikaram" Part 1 | Pallavi Joshi, Sulabha Deshpande, Virendra Saxena Rakesh Dhar | Kannaki, Kovalan, Kavundi, Pandit | |
| "The Sangam Period: Silapaddikaram" Part 2 | ||||
| 17 | "The Classical Age" | Anjan Srivastav, Harish Patel, Aparjita Krishna | Sansthanaka, Nai, Vasantsena | |
| 18 , 19 | "Kalidas and Shakuntala" Part 1 | Ravi Jhankal, Pallavi Joshi, Virendra Saxena | Kalidas, Mallika, Matul | Excerpts from plays Ashadh Ka Ek Din by Mohan Rakesh and Shakuntala (play) by Kalidasa were used in this episode. |
| "Kalidas and Shakuntala" Part 2 | ||||
| 20 | "Harshavardhana" | Pankaj Berry, K Makhija, Aparajita | Harshavardhana, Prabhakar Vardhana, Queen | |
| 21 | "Bhakti" | Vijay Kashyap, Rajesh Vivek, Mita Vashisht, Harish Patel | Mahendravarman I, Kapalin, Devasoma, Buddhist Monk | |
| 22 | "The Chola Empire" Part 1 | Om Puri, Devendre Malhotra, Sunila Pradhan, Shantanu Chaparia | Raja Raja Chola, Ishanashiva, Mahadevi, Tirumala | |
| 23 | "The Chola Empire" Part 2 | Om Puri, Devendre Malhotra, Sunila Pradhan, Shantanu Chaparia | Raja Raja Chola, Ishanashiva, Mahadevi, Tirumala | |
| 24 | "The Delhi Sultanate" Part 1:The Arrival of Turk-Afghans and Prithviraj Raso | K.K. Raina, Vijay Kashyap, Ravi Jhankal, Ahmed Khan, Irrfan Khan, Achyut Potdar, Vijay Kashyap | Muhammad Ghori, Chand Bardai, Prithviraj Chauhan, Mahmud Ghazni, Ferdowsi, Al-Biruni | |
| 25 | "The Delhi Sultanate" Part 2: Prithviraj Raso and Alauddin Khilji | K.K. Raina, Vijay Kashyap, Ravi Jhankal, Achyut Potdar, Om Puri, Rajendra Gupta, Seema Kelkar | Muhammad Ghori, Chand Bardai, Makwana, Alauddin Khilji, Ratan Singh, Padmavati | |
| 26 | "The Delhi Sultanate" Part 3: Padmavat and Tughlaq dynasty[9] | Om Puri, Rajendra Gupta, Seema Kelkar, | Alauddin Khalji, Ratan Singh, Padmavati | |
| 27 | "Synthesis" | Pankaj Berry | Lorik
[Lubna salim] chanda [Maina] Aparajita |
|
| 28 | "The Vijayanagar Empire" | Om Puri, Salim Ghouse, Aanjjan Srivastav, Fr. Tasso | Krishna Deva Raya, Aliya Rama Raya, Appaji, Domingo Paes | |
| 29 | "Feudalism"[10] | Salim Ghouse, Ila Arun, Pallavi Joshi, Siraj Khan, Ajay Kumar | Aliya Rama Raya, Heggaditi, Mallige, Saguna, Achyuta Deva Raya | |
| 30 | "The Fall of the Vijayanagar Empire" | Salim Ghouse, Anang Desai, Pankaj Berry, Ahmed Khan, Arjun Raina | Aliya Rama Raya, Effendi Aslam Bain, Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah Wali, Hussain Nizam Shah I, Ali Adil Shah I | |
| 31 | "Rana Sanga, Ibrahim Lodi and Babur" | Ravi Jhankal, Anang Desai, Lalit Mohan Tiwari, Mushtaq Khan, Vishal Singh | Rana Sanga, Ibrahim Lodi, Babur | |
| 32, 33 | "Akbar" Part 1 (Din-e Ilahi) | Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Ila Arun, Aparajita Bhushan, Puneet Issar, Surendra Pal, Harish Patel, Irrfan Khan, Rajesh Vivek, Pankaj Berry, Vijay Arora, Virendra Saxena, Arun Bakshi, Deepraj Rana | Akbar, Jahangir, Jodhabai, Maharana Pratap, Man Singh I | |
| "Akbar" Part 2 | ||||
| 34 | "Golden Hind" | Sudhir Kulkarni, Vijay Arora, Ajit Vachhani, Mushtaq Khan | Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Thomas Roe | |
| 35 ,36 | "Aurangzeb" Part 1 | Om Puri, Sudhir Dalvi, Surendra Pal, Surekha Sikri, Navtej Hundal, Dharmesh Tiwari | Aurangzeb, Dara Shikoh, Murad Bakhsh, Shah Shuja, Jahanara Begum, Shah Jahan | |
| "Aurangzeb Part" 2 | ||||
| 37 ,38 | "Shivaji" Part 1 | Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Anang Desai, Achyut Potdar,[11] Ahmed Khan | Shivaji, Jijabai, Dadoji Kondadev, Chandrarao More, Afzal Khan, Aurangzeb, | |
| "Shivaji" Part 2 | ||||
| 39 | "Company Bahadur" (East India Company) | Amrish Puri, Rajendra, Jalal Agha, Tom Alter, Vishal Singh, John Holyer | Robert Clive, Najimuddin Ali Khan, Shuja-ud-Daula, Maharaja Nandakumar, Shah Alam II, Diwani Rights | |
| 40 | "Tipu Sultan" | Salim Ghouse, Vijay Kashyap, Ravi Jhankal, Shreechand Makhija, Tom Alter, John Holyer | Tipu Sultan, Purnaiah, Mir Sadiq, Mahadji Scindia, Nana Phadnavis | |
| 41 | "The Bengal Renaissance and Raja Ram Mohan Roy" | Anang Desai, Urmila Bhatt, Ravi Jhankal, Tom Alter, John Holyer | Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Lord William Bentinck, Bann on Sati (practice) | |
| 42, 43 | "1857" Part 1 | Om Puri, Ravi Jhankal, Piyush Mishra, Mohan Gokhale, Anang Desai, Ratna Pathak Shah, Aanjjan Srivastav, Pankaj Berry, Virendra Razdan, Tom Alter, John Holyer, Bob Christo | Bahadur Shah Zafar, Nanasaheb Peshwa, Wajid Ali Shah, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Tantia Tope, Rani Lakshmibai, Azimullah Khan, Bakht Khan, Mangal Pandey, Lord Dalhousie | |
| "1857" Part 2 | ||||
| 44 | "Indigo Revolt" | Virendra Saxena, Tom Alter, Vijay Kashyap | Madhav | |
| 45 | "Mahatma Phule" | Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Mohan Gokhale, Shubhangi Gokhale, Achyut Potdar, Ashok Banthia | Mahatma Phule, Savitribai Phule, Satyashodak Samaj | |
| 46 | "Sir Syed Ahmed Khan" | Mohan Maharishi, Irrfan Khan | ||
| 47 | "Vivekananda" | Alok Nath | Swami Vivekananda | |
| 48 | "Extremists and Moderates" | Sudhir Kulkarni, Mohan Gokhale, Tom Alter, Achyut Potdar, Kishor Kadam | Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Chapekar brothers, Murder of Walter Charles Rand | |
| 49 | "And Gandhi Came" Part 1 | Om Puri, Ila Arun, Piyush Mishra, Shabana Azmi, Pallavi Joshi, Akhilendra Mishra | ||
| 50 | "And Gandhi Came" Part 2 | |||
| 51 | "Separatism" | S M Zaheer, K K Raina, Harish Patel, Irrfan Khan | ||
| 52 | "Do or Die" | Pankaj Berry, Om Puri, Lucky Ali | Quit India Movement | |
| 53 | Epilogue |
Broadcast edit
The 53 episodes series was launched in November 1988 which coincide 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 edit
References 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.
External links edit
- Bharat Ek Khoj at IMDb
