Thread: Kya din the woh !!!!.....down the memory lane - 2

Before Buniyaad it was Hum Log.Hum Log was the first soap Opera of Indian Televison History and it is the mother of all saops.

It depicted the story and daily life struggle of a lower middle class family in Delhi.It was so popular that the actors were known by the character they played in the serial rather than by their own name like Nanhe( Abhinav Chaturvedi), Lallu ( Rajesh Puri ) etc..

Buniyaad was superlatively written by Manohar Shyam Joshi and extremely well directed by Ramesh Sippy. It was original, had a compelling story that was beautifully weaven and hence the serial was superb. Very few serials come close to this one (Hum Log is other one that matched it). The later part of Buniyaad became a little drab.

Hum Log was also written by Manohar Shyam Joshi and as Navgemi said ushered the soap opera concept in India. Hum Log was comparatively weak in story but still immensely watchable. If there is a re-run today, I am sure that people will watch it again.

The two serials are remembered even today because they connected to the common man. Unlike today's saas-bahu episode which show filthy rich households, weird drama, exaggerated acting, and that twang-twang-twang music (repeated 3 times) after every scene.

Well, Mahabharat and Ramayan were even bigger hits but I am not considering them because the story and the market was more or less assured as long as depiction was decent.

Another point that I forgot to mention. In those days DD was the only TV channel and there was tremendous demand for prime time slots. The only slot given to entertainment was 9 PM to 9:30 PM and 10 PM to 11 PM (Mon-Sat). The daily format was

5:30 PM to 8:30 PM - regional language TV with 7:30 to 7:45 for regional news
8:30 PM - start of National network
8:30 PM to 9 PM - Hindi News
9 PM to 9:30 PM - Entertainment
9:30 PM to 10 PM - English News
10 PM to 11 PM - Entertainment

Sunday the TV started at 9 AM and continued till 12 or 1 AM.

Because of the limited slots available for serials, Prasar Bharati used to allow 26 episodes per serial. Hum Log and Buniyaad were given special allocation for 52 weeks while Ramayan and Mahabharat ran much longer (78 and 94 respectively).

Originally Posted by just4kix

Hum Log was comparatively weak in story but still immensely watchable. If there is a re-run today, I am sure that people will watch it again.

I agree with you.At least I won't like to miss.

Originally Posted by just4kix

The two serials are remembered even today because they connected to the common man. Unlike today's saas-bahu episode which show filthy rich households, weird drama, exaggerated acting, and that twang-twang-twang music (repeated 3 times) after every scene.

Well said...

Originally Posted by just4kix

Another point that I forgot to mention. In those days DD was the only TV channel and there was tremendous demand for prime time slots. The only slot given to entertainment was 9 PM to 9:30 PM and 10 PM to 11 PM (Mon-Sat).

I guess that was the precise reason for the excellent quality of programs.The competition to grab the slot in prime time brought best for the veiwers.

that was a nice slice of info. thanks to both navvy and j4k for sharing this with people like me who were not exactly present at that time period.

Originally Posted by Evander Leopold

that was a nice slice of info. thanks to both navvy and j4k for sharing this with people like me who were not exactly present at that time period.

these serials should be included in your History Books

-------offtopic

the last time i had history in my course was in 10th grade, do u want me to switch to History honours now ??? :lol:

Originally Posted by Evander Leopold

-------offtopic

the last time i had history in my course was in 10th grade, do u want me to switch to History honours now ??? :lol:

offcourse, why not