Islam says, “I learnt to respect my elders. The actors, nostalgically remember that the show would be on air every Sunday at 4 pm. Arun Govil and Sajjan are too difficult to even think about competing with.” We have to get there and then maybe do better.
Khanna says, “We’re not competing with the original, it’s our benchmark. I want to watch that story to get my context right,” she states.įor Badrul Islam and Tarun Khanna, Betaal and Vikram this time around, this is a big show because it’s their first as a lead. “In one of the episodes, they show a man marrying a man. She watched the show sitting in her grandmother’s lap.
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Prachi Desai, who also played Bani in Kasamh Se on Zee TV its, says that she would want to relive childhood memories. We would wonder how that skinny man flew all the time,” she chuckles. “Thankfully no one was injured but we had a lot of fun. Gurdeep Kohli, who played Bani in Kasamh Se, says that not only did she and her sister like the show, they even tried the flying stunt at home. “That’s how our generation is more cultured and grounded,” she smiles. She still remembers the spooky laughter of Betaal and a lot of neeti seekh given with every episode of the show.
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Rajev Paul, Madan of Mere Ghar Aayi Ek Nanhi Pari on Colors, apart from watching the show, remembers reading the series in Amar Chitra Katha and Chandamama comics.īarkha Bisht, who plays Anupama in Doli Saja Ke on Sahara One, says that she loved the way Betaal flew back to the tree whenever Vikram spoke. “I was too young when the show came but I still remember this.” Sapnaa Babul Ka Bidaai on Star Plus, says that he remembers watching Vikram carrying Betaal on his shoulders. Angad Hasija, who plays the lead Alekh in Meanwhile, the rest of the younger tellyworld is quite upbeat about the show. He says, “Had Ekta Kapoor not tampered with the look and flow of the story, her Mahabharat would also have worked.” The contract for the show right now is only for a year but the Sagars are hopeful it will go on for longer.Īt a time when remakes don’t seem to work on TV, Shiv Sagar is positive his Vikram aur Betaal will work. So they could approach Colors with it and remake the show for a younger audience. This time, there will be more stories added than what’s there in Betaal Pachhisi.Īccording to him, the national network never kept the rights with them. The Sagars, Shiv says, could remake the show because they have the rights. We not only got into it, we registered the highest ratings ever in the history of TV.” “Everyone had warned papaji to not get into TV. He says they couldn’t have found a better Betaal than him. Prem Sagar remembers the days when his family stayed at Sajjan’s house, who later played Betaal. The Sagars have done the casting and the script. Even today, he will be coordinating the episodes with Randeep from Mumbai. But when he directed it, he used to finish an episode in a day. And my father can’t be on the sets all the time now. The reason: “All of us are busy with our own shows. He informs that though his father is the director, Randeep Mahadik will helm the show’s episodes on a daily basis. Shiv Sagar, whose father directed the original, gets nostalgic. This time, the channel is Colors, the producers are the same and the day is the same.
Twenty-four years later, the same stories are being retold to another generation, which so far has been oblivious to them. So Arun Govil, who played Raja Vikramaditya, was cast as Ram and Deepika who often appeared as a princess in most of the stories became Sita. Once Prem Sagar had admitted that the show was actually made to finalise the cast for Ramayana, which was being scripted from the original text. Since the medium wasn’t as cluttered then and the concept of adapting a popular series like Betaal Pachhisi (in Sanskrit) was considered novel, the show worked wonders for its creators with ratings like never before. when they stepped out of movies into the tubezone. That was the first TV show, which Ramanand Sagar’s (of Ramayan fame) company ever produced. Circa 1985, Vikram aur Betaal, adapted and directed by Prem Sagar, went on air in a weird 4 pm slot on Doordarshan on a Sunday.