It has several episodes dedicated to southern India such as the history of the Chola empire, and it also shines a spotlight on some of India’s major literary mythological epics, such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Cilappatikaram and Shakuntala. “I developed two viewpoints - one is that of Nehru (narrated by Roshan Seth) and the other is a counter viewpoint (narrated by Om Puri), which is a contemporary voice that fills blanks or brings in different perspectives,” Benegal said in an interview with Prasar Bharti.Īlso read: Fauji: The show that launched a broody, chain-smoking SRK on the path to Bollywood gloryīeginning from the Harappan Civilisation, the show is an epic sweep that covers aspects of Indian history such as the formation of caste, the reign of Chanakya and Chandragupta Maurya and then Ashoka, the rise of the Mughal empire and its descent at the hands of Maratha ruler, Shivaji, the arrival of the British East India Company and the freedom struggle. The ambitious project wasn’t simply a deconstruction of history, but a confluence of its many cultures.īased on Nehru’s book, The Discovery of India, which he wrote while in prison at the Ahmednagar fort for participating in the Quit India movement, the show was an attempt to bring to life what Nehru wrote while also bridging the gaps in between. This was just one of the heavy-duty, vital topics addressed every Sunday at 11 am on Doordarshan in Shyam Benegal’s monumental series, Bharat Ek Khoj.Īired between 1988-89, the 53-episode long series, with each episode spanning anywhere from 30 minutes to 90 minutes depending on the topic being covered, brought to life the 5,000 year-old history of India and the subcontinent in perhaps the most consolidated manner possible. Stationing himself in front of the mic, he asks, “What do you mean by that cry, who was this ‘Bharat Mata’, whose victory do you want?”
Crowds of people walk across a village with cries of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ reverberating as Jawaharlal Nehru takes the stage.
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