CELEBRATING 64 YEARS OF DOORDARSHAN:

On the 15^th of September 2023 Doordarshan (hereinafter referred to as DD), completed 64 years of its existence. It began with a commitment for the nation and is still going along with equal dedication. For about a decade it ruled people’s hearts with its varied offerings. However, it slowly lost its sheen and its audience with the advent of private satellite channels. But there is this one thing about DD. We, as an audience, do not have as fond a memory of any other channel as we have of DD.

So, let us celebrate DD@64 and our connection with DD as viewers- past, present and future.

CELEBRATIONS AT MANDI HOUSE:

To celebrate DD’s 64 years journey a program was held in its studio, bringing together lots of memories and people who made it memorable. Specially, some of the news readers and anchors we loved to watch and listen to. Salma Sultan, Shammi Narang, Niti Ravindran, Meenu Talwar, Suneet Tandon, were among the faces I saw after a long time.

After listening to the experiences and stories of the anchors, one cannot help but appreciate their hold on language and level of intellect. I am now sure about one thing. The soft corner we have for DD is not pure nostalgia. Our respect and love for DD has stemmed from the quality and gravity it had provided in presentation and people. Which by the way is sorely lacking today.

DOORDARSHAN- A BRIEF HISTORY:

Doordarshan began as an experimental public service broadcaster on September 15,1959. It reached homes in Delhi by 1965 and extended to Mumbai and Amritsar in 1972 and gradually to seven more cities by 1975. Nation wide telecast began in 1982, with 1982 Asian Games being telecast in colour. Till about 1991-1992, it was at the top of its game.

Well, it was only one in the game.

With the flux of private channels like Zee, Sony, Star etc, audience had much more to choose from and DD tried to keep up. If I remember right, I believe DD became synonymous with bore around the turn of century. 

The options before us today are in one word “humongous”.

But all the same we still do miss DD.

MY MEMORY OF DD:

Going to someone else’s house or someone else gathering at your own home is widely shared anecdote of DD.

Before my parents brought our “Neighbours envy, owners’ pride” home, I too remember going to a neighbour’s home to watch “Sinhasan Batissi” on Sundays for a few episodes.

Even with its limited hours DD has entertained and educated us with a wide variety of offerings. Something for everyone. Things you could always watch with family, no awkward, embarrassing moments. I would like to share a little anecdote here. Long back some family friends were visiting and the subject of movies came up. Aunty told my mother that once she was watching a movie with her teenage son on DD. As a possible awkward moment approached, Aunty started to get up. Her son promptly said- “Are mummy baith jao, yeh DD hai, yeh sab kaat ke dikhata hai.” (Mummy sit down, this is DD, it shows after cutting such scenes).

Anyways, let’s commemorate our good old DD from a viewer’s perspective. DD of past, present and hopefully future.

OLD MOVIE SONGS AND DD:

The programmes best remembered and which are still on air are of course “Chitrahaar & Rangoli”. Chitrahaar which used to air on Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 P.M. was our first introduction to old Hindi songs, i.e., along with visuals. The appreciation for singers, musicians, lyricists came quite later. What attracted me most was the picturisation. Some songs like “Yeh chaand sa roshan chehra”, “Main kahin kavi na ban jaun”, “Dil tera, jan teri” or “Ek chatur naar” were telecast more often and the sheer enjoyment of watching them kept us glued to screens.

SERIALS, EDUCATION, NEWS, KIDS- ALL IN ONE:

DD was a power package of a variety of programmes. These included entertainment, education, science, culture. That too in different formats.

Let’s use this opportunity to look at DD@64 by celebrating 64 years of Doordarshan and  recap into the diverse category of programmes we enjoyed on the channel. Here goes.

1. ENTERTAINMENT:

First things first. The entertainment DD provided has- as per a widely quoted term these days- stood the test of time. There is a huge list of such entertaining programmes and the different formats that were telecast like serials, telefilms.

“Dekh Bhai Dekh, Ramayan, Mahabharat, Indradhanush, Aa Bail Mujhe Maar, Guldasta, Circus, Fauji, Byomkesh Bakshi, Buniyad, Kashish, Neev.” Then there were telefilms which said so much within that one or two hours. Uphaar, Roshni et al. Frankly I remember the telefilms but not their names.

I can go on and on and cover pages with such names, so kindly add your own favourites here.

2. EDUCATION:

Educational and informational services were generally under the aegis of UGC. Besides that, some other were “Jaan hai to jahaan hai”, and the longest running show of Indian TV “Krishi Darshan”. In the DD@64 show telecast on 15^th September 2023, Chaudhary Raghunath Singh informed that “Krishi Darshan” was in fact the brain child of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. Turning Point is yet another example of DD’s commitment to education.

3. CULTURE:

Who can forget the Sunday feature “Spirit of Unity Concert”. Our introduction as kids to the stalwarts of Indian Classical Music. And the cultural magazine show “Surabhi”.

4. KIDS:

Afternoons mostly belonged to shows for kids, and some women-oriented series. I hope you all remember “Baingan Raja” and learned how eating all vegetables is important. My own favourite, “Miya Gumsum, Batto Rani”, or “Lal Bujhakkad”. CIET, like UGC used to make shows directed at kids, like- CIET le kar aye “Tarang” (CIET brings “Tarang”). We actually did make a kaleidoscope with broken bangle pieces after Chacha Lal Bujhakkad taught it. I was also introduced to the world of “CFSI films“ through DD.

Do you remember any more such shows? Add your own favourites.

5. FROM FOREIGN LANDS:

“Transtel” was a major collaborator for such telecasts which included “Derek”, “Old Fox”, “The Investigator”. Before that there was Grenada’s “Sherlock Holmes”. And later on, my very own favourite “Agatha Christie’s Poirot”. Oh Yes! there was- the Man, the Machine: “Street Hawk”.

Nostalgia is taking me over rapidly, so I will put a stop on this post right now. Because we still got to discuss what currently DD is up to and what I as an audience expect from it in future.

But do share your memories connected with DD and feel free to add names of as many shows and programmes you like and miss.

See you soon in the second part of DD@64- Celebrating 64 Doordarshan.

DISCLAIMER: The screenshots, stills and/or videos included here are only for the purpose of information, entertainment and in connection with the matter of this post. The copyright/ ownership over the serials, programmes telecast rests with Doordarshan and/ or the owners/ producers of those serials, programmes etc.