Left Right Left on Sab TV: Different from the usual

Rajeev Khandelwal gained prominence as the character playing 'Sujal' in the Balaji late-night serial, Kahin To Hoga. His character was extremely popular, and made him into a semi-star. Of course, his rumoured romance with his co-star, Aamna Shariff of Kahin To Hoga also hit the gossip news. And then, apparently miffed by the turn that the serial was taking, he quit the serial (forcing them to do the usual plastic surgery to get a new person on board). After this, he did a serial called 'Bomblast' which do not do any good.
And then he joined this serial about a military academy called 'Left right Left'. This serial started with many negatives, it was not a serial about family or saas-bahu, there were no big business deals and money of 100 crores casually being tossed around. In addition, it was appearing on Sab TV, which by itself does not have a very strong viewership. However, the serial did start catching on, given that it was heavily promoted, was like a breath of fresh air, and had new faces. In addition, it had a very catchy jingle.

Not the original video, but the tune is there:



The serial is about a military academy called 'Kanchenjunga Military Academy (KMA)' and is essentially about 6 cadets who are part of this academy, being instructed by Captain Rajveer Shekhawat (Rajeev Khandelwal). He is actually there in the academy to catch the spy, who is threatening to steal the nuclear trigger (imagine a nuclear trigger hidden in a military academy). Who is the spy ? It's actually Shweta Salve (who plays the role of Dr. Ritu, the psychiatrist on campus, although most military academies would not believe in the concept of a shrink). She looks terrific, it's too sad that she had to die at the end of season 1 after her truth was revealed. If she was not a spy, there was a good budding romance between her and Rajveer.
What about the other six cadets who are the focus of the serial ? Well, they are most unlike military cadets, not ramrod straight, very rebellious with one of them essentially hating Rajveer. Many times, they refuse to obey orders, and are hardly ever shown training; which makes the serial a bad inspiration to join the army. And I wonder who designed the costumes, given that female cadets do not wear skirts that end above the knee.
Well, some detail about the six cadets who joined the Kanchenjunga Military Academy – Amardeep Huda, is here as a result of a bet put by his mother, Alekh, a criminal who has been sent to the academy to get reformed, Pooja, who has joined the academy so that she can stay in Ambala where her boy friend rohit is suppose to be, Ali who is a third generation from his family to join the army, Yudi, who wants to show his parents he can be a man by joining the army and not going to USA.
Lastly Naina Singh Ahluwalia had joined KMA to find the person who was responsible for her brother’s death. She ended up being the first suspect of Captain Rajveer Shekhawat, who had come to find a spy in the academy. Captain Rajveer found out the truth about Naina that she was Naveen’s sister, his batchmate and one who was declared a traitor by the army. In turn, she found out that Captain Rajveer was the one who actually killed her brother, and her brother was also engaged to Dr. Ritu.
Now in season 2, it is not so popular now; suffering the same fate as other serials, having to push in twists and turns in the storyline so as to keep people interested, and there is only so much drama that you can show in a military academy without having to sacrifice reality.

Bharat Ek Khoj on Doordarshan: Nostalgia

Way back, in the 1980's (1988 to be precise), there used to appear a serial on Doordarshan called Bharat Ek Khoj. It presented in dramatic form, a depiction of the history for India for 5000 years till the year 1957, and was based on a book by Jawaharlal Nehru (first Indian Prime Minister) called Discovery of India. This is a pretty famous book, and the series was very gripping. Written and directed by the famous director, Shyam Benegal, and was an excellent depiction of history, especially for those who either have not been very interested in Indian history, or never got a chance to see it in a connected form, that is, a single series covering 5000 years.
I was a kid at that time, but I remember watching it regularly, and now that I am older, I got a chance to suddenly view the opening track (very impressive) on Youtube,



and memories got suddenly refreshed. I still have not found the DVD of the series, and am actively looking. There were so many things that were great in the series. For one, they had an excellent narrator; Om Puri's voice seems like a perfect fit. And, unlike some of today's serials dealing with mythology or history, there was no excessive dramatization; costumes seemed of the period with seeming artificial.
One needs to of course remember that the serial was based on the writings and evidence available from the period when Jawaharlal Nehru wrote the book, and if such a serial came out at this point of time, just the period of history from the time of the Indus Valley would have sections either not acceptable to the Left, or to the RSS/BJP. In addition, sections dealing with the Marathas vs. the Mughals would be sure to have agitations, given how easily the Shiv Sena is wont to take up controversial series as a part of its appeal to its voter base and to seem relevant.
Having said that, the serial covered so many periods such as the Vedic people and the writings of the Vedas, beginning of the caste system (consider it part of the innocence of youth that I did not understand this part of the serial, of course I would easily understand it now, although whether I would still be able to rationalize it remains to be seen), the period of Chanakya and the invasion of Alexander, Ashoka, classical ages, Kalidasa, the formation and survival of the Delhi sultanate (the slave dynasty and ahead), Mughals, Marathas, British East India Company, the first war of Independence of 1857, and numerous others).
For those who are interested in the lyrics of the opening ditty, a bit of information, it is actually the Nasadiya Sukta from the Rig Veda. For those who are not so interested in the lyrics of this one, please ignore from this point onwards (I for one found it perfectly captivating):

Original lyrics:

Srishtee se pehle sat nahin thaa, asat bhi nahin
Antariksh bhi nahin, akash bhin nahin thaa
chhipaa thaa kyaa kahaan, kisne dhakaa thaa
us pal to agam, atal jal bhi kahaan thaa

Srishtee kaa kaun hai kartaa
Kartaa hai vaa akartaa
Oonche aakash mein rahtaa
Sada adhyaksh banaa rahtaa
Wahin sachmuch mein jaantaa..Yaa nahin bhi jaanataa
Hai kisi ko nahin pataa, nahin pataa,
Nahin hai pataa, nahin hai pataa

Weh tha hiranyagarbh srishti se pehle vidyamaan
Wahi to saare bhoot jaat ka swami mahaan
jo hai astitvamaana dharti aasmaan dhaaran kar
Aise kis devta ki upasana karein hum avi dekar

Jis ke bal par tejomay hai ambar
Prithvi hari bhari sthapit sthir
Swarg aur sooraj bhi sthir
Aise kis devta ki upasana karein hum avi dekar

Garbh mein apne agni dhaaran kar paida kar
Vyapa tha jal idhar udhar neeche upar
Jagaa chuke vo ka ekameva pran bankar
Aise kis devta ki upasana karein hum avi dekar

Om ! Srishti nirmata swarg rachiyata purvaj raksha kar
Satya dharma palak atul jal niyamak raksha kar
Phaili hain dishayen bahu jaisi uski sab mein sab par
Aise hi devta ki upasana kare hum avi dekar
Aise hi devta ki upasana kare hum avi dekar


English translation:

At first was neither Being nor Nonbeing.
There was not air nor yet sky beyond.
What was wrapping? Where? In whose protection?
Was Water there, unfathomable deep?

There was no death then, nor yet deathlessness;
of night or day there was not any sign.
The One breathed without breath by its own impulse
Other than that was nothing at all.

Darkness was there, all wrapped around by darkness,
and all was Water indiscriminate, Then
that which was hidden by Void, that One, emerging,
stirring, through power of Ardor, came to be.

In the beginning Love arose,
which was primal germ cell of mind.
The Seers, searching in their hearts with wisdom,
discovered the connection of Being in Nonbeing.

A crosswise line cut Being from Nonbeing.
What was described above it, what below?
Bearers of seed there were and mighty forces,
thrust from below and forward move above.

Who really knows? Who can presume to tell it?
Whence was it born? Whence issued this creation?
Even the Gods came after its emergence.
Then who can tell from whence it came to be?

That out of which creation has arisen,
whether it held it firm or it did not,
He who surveys it in the highest heaven,
He surely knows - or maybe He does not!

Mile Sur Mera Tumhara: Nostalgia about Doordarshan

A long time back, Doordarshan used to run theme based short clips on national integrity, and they made a few that had an excellent direction and theme. For example, they had this 5 minute clip called Mile Sur Mera Tumhara and featured a number of people from different parts of the country, coming together as a conclusion in the shape of young kids assembling in the form of the national flag. The voice by Lata Mangeshkar was haunting, and overall, when you look at this now, it seems very click and well made.
Here is the YouTube version:




Lyrics of this song (although in English text):

Mile sur mera tumharaa, Thoo sur bane hamaraa.... sur kee nadhiyaan har disha se behkee saagar mein milee. Baadalon ka roop leiker bharse halke halke... Mile sur mera tumharaa.. thoo... sur bane hamaara.. Mile sur mera tumhara...
Chaain taraj tahin nyay tarajek but baniye saayen taraj
Tera sur mile mere sur de naalmilke bane ek nava surtaal
Mile sur mera tumharaa....tho sur bane hamaara..
Mohnja sur tohi desa pyara mile jadein geet ashaanjo madhur tarano bane tadein
Sur ka dariya bahte saagar me mile badlaan da roop leike barasan holle haule
Isaindhal namm iruvarin suramum namadhakum.. Dhisai veru aanalum aazi ser aarugal Mugilai mazaiyai pozivadu pol isai ...Namm isssaiiii.... Thik thakida thathikakidA....thaka thimi thaka junu
Nanna dhwanige ninna dhwani-ya, seridante namma dhwaniya..
Naa swaramu nee swaramu sangammamai, mana swaram ga avatarinchey
Ende swaramum ningalude swaramum otthucheiyum Namudeya swaramai....
Tomaar shoor moder shoor srishti koroor koi ekshoor[2]...
Sriishti karoon woi katha
Toma mora swarer milan srishti kare chalbochatano
Male sur jo taro maro, bane aapno sur niralo
Majhya tumchya julta tara madhur suranchya barasti dhara
Sur ki nadiya har disha se behke saagar mein mile...
Baadlo ka roop leke barse halke halke..
Oh...Mile sur mera tumhara tho....sur bane hamara...
Mile Sur mera tumharatho sur bane hamara tho sur bane hamaratho sur bane hamara

Durgesh Nandini on Sony

Imagine making a serial based on a classic, a book by the name of 'Durgesh Nandini', written by the famous Bengali writer, Bankim Chandra Chaterjee. Based on the concept of a village girl with a heart of gold (but seemingly unsophisticated) coming into money and using her power to reform a family of arrogant people. Sounds familiar? I am sure there must have been a couple of movies made on this topic already. Even the recent movie Taxi Number 9211 was about a person being arrogant with his father's wealth, and then the father makes somebody else the trustee for the money.
Duresh Nandini is a relatively new serial, having started earlier this year and coming at 10 PM on Sony. It was interesting initially, but is now slipping down the interest scale, and seems very boring now. The same problem as faced with other serials; if you try to extend a story down many many episodes, you need to make a compromise with the quality of the script and need to keep on inventing many new happenings so that the serial can keep on continuing.


So what is the serial all about ? The Shrivastava family of Dharamadas Shrivastava are multi-millionaires and the 2 sons along with daughter-in-laws are very arrogant. They are so greedy for wealth that they cause the death of their father and illtreat their mother, wanting her to surrender the entire money to them. However, their father has left them a surprise in his will. He knows the nature of his sons, and hence decides to make the trustee of the entire property to be an unknown person, Durgesh Nandini (Rinku Ghosh), an orphan living in a village. The sons are shocked at this, and try to prevent her from knowing about this and reaching the city.
She is however very strong-willed, and wants to carry out the wishes of the late Dharamdas, who wanted her to reform the sons. At the same time, although she has an innate sneakiness, she is not as nasty as the sons and their daughter-in-laws, who will try at nothing to get her removed from the area; by placing money in her office and getting the police to raid, or trying to get her stuck in a situation where the board of the company doubts her competence, or she gets beaten up by irate employees of the company. Of course, since she is the heroine of the serial, she manages to overcome all these traps. But, in normal life, a person having seen so much treachery from people will not keep on letting them do more of such; but react harshly. Do we really have such major do-gooders in real life ?