Maat Pitah Ke Charno Mein - Swarg

Maat Pitah Ke Charno Mein Swarg is a modern day take on the Ramayan. Here too you have the elder, step son going on a self imposed exile to honour the love that he feels for his parents. Shubh who is devoted to his father Satya Narayan Tripathi and his step mother Yashoda, falls victim to all the evil plotting carried on by his younger brother Arjun and his wife Lolita. The two weave an intricate plot of lies and deceit and manage to convince Yashoda that Shubh and his wife Suhaani, do not have the best interest of the family in their hearts. Ansh, the youngest brother does not agree with this tale of lies and tries to make his mother see reason.

Blinded by maternal love, just as Kaikeyi had been, Yashoda starts to dislike Shubh whom she had loved as her own flesh and blood. Shubh is able to understand that his mother has had a change of heart regarding his claim to her love and care and unwilling to create more tension in the household decides to leave the family. Satya Narayan is heart broken over this development and loses his will to live that reduces him to the status of a vegetable; unable to talk, hear, move. Lolita still concerned by the fact that she has not been crowned queen of all her father-in-law’s wealth sets off a local goon Madhukar in Shubh’s trail. Madhukar traces the two down and in a showdown injures Shubh seriously and kidnaps Suhani.

In the meanwhile, Yahoda too comes to realize the error of her past behaviour as Arjun and Lolita refuse to spend money on their father’s treatment and ill treats her. As she laments upon their greedy and evil ways news reaches the family that Shubh and Suhani has been killed. Yashoda’s sorrow now knows no bound as she realises the importance of Shubh in her family and how he had always been her ‘true’ son. Shubh however is not dead and has sworn to avenge himself by punishing Arjun and Lolita. He soon sets his plan into action by convincing Lolita that he has come back from the dead to haunt these evil-doers. Ansh (like the loyal Laxman) has also distanced himself from his blood brother as he blames him for the death of his half brother, Shubh.
Whether Shubh will be able to carry out his revenge and return to his rightful place in the family and in his mother’s heart remains to be seen. In the meanwhile, the journey of his life makes for very interesting viewing for all the viewers.

The new Ramayana on NDTV Imagine - Last episode on June 26th, 2009

A long time back (1987-1988), Ramanand Sagar (from Sagar Entertainment) had made a serial based on the Ramayana, and it was extremely popular. In 2008, on NDTV Imagine, Sagar Entertainment again created a new Ramayana, using new effects, with a new sophistication, and with new actors. It has also proved very popular. The series went through the entire timeline from the initial years of Ram's life, his marriage to Sita, exile based on his father's promise, Sita's abduction by Ravan, the search, the bitter battle, return to Ayodhya, Sita's banishment from the court and settlement in the ashram, Luv and Kush's story, and final return to the court.



The serial had a lot of new effects, with the one that I really liked being the one where when Ram fires the arrow which kills an enemy, there is a small light that comes from the skies and settles on the arrow. The serial had some great performances, with Gurmeet Choudhary playing the role of Lord Ram with great skill. Some of the lead characters:
Gurmeet Choudhary as Lord Ram
Debina Banerjee as Mata Sita
Ankit Arora as Lakshman
Vikram Sharma as Lord Hanuman
Akhilendra Mishra as Demon King Ravana
Punkaj Kalraa as King Dashrath
Vijay Bhatia as Bharat
Lalit Negi as Shatrughna
Rajni Chandra as Kaushalya
Jaya Ojha as Mandodari
Kavita as Kaikeyi

The serial has got the Most Promising New Show of the Year award at theIndiantelevision.com's New Talent Awards held this year. Gurmeet Choudhary who plays the lead role of Lord Rama also won the Most Promising New Talent of Tomorrow award. The serial had some of the previous staff as well, with Ravindra Jain, who was the music director for the original series, returns as music director for this series, with Kavita Krishnamurthy and Suresh Wadkar as playback singers. It is directed by Anand Sagar, son of Ramanand Sagar.

Title track of the serial on Youtube:



Scene of Sita's swayamwara and the breaking of Shiva Dhanush