By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On His Birth Anniversary
The historical epic TV serial “Mahabharat” was re-telecast last year to provide entertainment the viewers sitting idle at homes in the wake of coronavirus outbreak following ‘lockdown’. The serial originally hit the small screen on 2 October 1988 and consisted of 94 episodes.
Produced By Baldev Raj Chopra and ably directed by Ravi Chopra, it had music scored by Raj Kamal and screenplay by Rahi Masoom Raza. It was narrated by Harish Bhimani and had an ensemble cast to boast comprising of Kiran Juneja, Gajendra Chauhan Pankaj Dheer, Gufi Paintal, Arjun,Nitish Bhardwaj, Rishabh Shukla, Roopa Ganguly, Nazneen, Puneet Issar, Girja Shankar, Parveen Kumar, Vivek Razdan, Surendra Pal, Raj Babbar and Debashree Roy ( who played Satyavati, Shantanu’s second wife and mother of Vichitravirya and Chitrangada ) . She was Bhishma’s step-mother, the subject of this write up.
Initially, many critics and viewers, too, were apprehensive of its success as it followed Ramanand Sagar’s highly popular “Ramayana”. Interestingly, instead of going into reverse gear it surged ahead surprisingly and so successfully too with the loudest bang ever in the television history. The serial became so popular that it made viewers glued to television screens during its telecast on DD Network. The roads were deserted and traffic virtually came to a stand-still.
Mukesh Khanna, unarguably, won hearts of the viewers and his role was applauded throughout the serial. But his silence in the Court, when Draupadi was being disrobed by Duryodhana, continues to intrigue the poets, writers & historians all through ages. He was a celebate, a learned noble man known for his wisdom & valour, yet he witnessed the most shocking scene sitting helplessly along with other noble and royal men.
Mukesh Khanna became immensely popular amongst children with tele serial “Shaktimaan”, ” Chandrakanta” ( 1994),”The Great Maratha” ( 1995) & “Chunni” also starring Girija Shankar in the lead. His notable films include the likes of “Tahalka”, ”Rakhwale”, ”Amaanat”, ”Saudagar”, ”Yalgaar”, ”Barsaat” ,”Judge Mujrim” & “Money Back Guarantee”.
I was asked to cover the shooting of the serial on the last day. When I reached Film City the shooting was under way. Mukesh Khanna who played Bhishma was the first I interviewed. When asked how he undertook the pressure, headaches, and mental agony to portray the character of legendary Bhishma, the actor made me sit on the throne, by his side, to feel the pressure and mental agony he underwent . Gufi Paintal was the next I interviewed. I also took time to ask director Ravi Chopra a few questions. I was lucky enough to later attend the grand concluding party of the serial at Hotel Centaur, Juhu which was largely attended . I interviewed most characters including Roopa Ganguly who played Draupadi, the major bone of contention between the Kaurvas & Pandavas eventually leading to the Mahabharat ‘Yudh’. The serial originally concluded on 24 June 1990.
