However, the mendicant had set a condition that the King must meet him under a Banyan tree in the center of the cremation ground beyond the city, at night, on the 14th day of the dark half of the month. He ordered to check all the fruits, and from all fruits came out a fine ruby. One day while handling the fruit, it broke and from the top came out a handy ball of a ruby. King Vikramaditya used to hand over the fruit to the royal storekeeper. Among such visitors was a mendicant who presented the king with fruit on every visit. The King used to accept all the gifts with the same courtesy.
Every day many visitors used to visit the king and gift him something. He was brave, fearless, and with a strong will. He had immense love for learning as well as for adventure. Vikramaditya was a great king who ruled over a prosperous kingdom from his capital at Ujjain. These are spellbinding stories told to the wise King Vikramaditya by the witty ghost Betaal. Vikram Aur Betaal is based on 'Betaal Pachisi', written in the 11th century by Kashmiri poet Somdev Bhatt. The show aired at 4:30 PM Indian Standard Time on Sundays from 1985 to 1986. It is about the legendary king Vikram (identified as Vikramāditya) and the ghost Betaal (identified as Vetala, a spirit analogous to a vampire in western literature). The concept of the program was based on Baital Pachisi, which is also known as Vikram-Betaal (a collection of 25 tales which is narrated by Vetala to Vikram).
The series contained stories from Indian mythology. Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan (Celebrity Interviews)ģ8.Vikram Aur Betaal is an Indian mythology television series that aired on DD National in 1985 & re-telecast in 1988 after the hit Series Ramayan. Nukkad (Comedy/Drama) (Available on Home Video)ģ6. Mulla Nasruddin (Naseeruddin) (Comedy)ģ5. Mirza Ghalib (Poetry – Drama - Historical) (Available on Home Video)ģ4. Malgudi Days (Comedy – Drama - Literature) (Available on Home Video)ģ0. Mahabaharat (Mythological) (Available on Home Video)Ģ9. Moughli (Based on Jungle Book) (Children) (Available on Home Video)Ģ8. Katha Sagar (Drama - Literature) (Available on Home Video)Ģ7. Kakaji Kahin (Social-Political Comedy)Ģ2. Kachhi Dhoop (Drama) (Available on Home Video)Ģ1. Honi Anhoni (Based on Supernatural Stories)ġ9. Flop Show (Comedy) (Available on Home Video)ġ7. Fauji (Drama) (Available on Home Video)ġ5. Ek Do Teen Chaar (Children Mystery/Detective Serial)ġ4. Dada Dadi Ki Kahaniyaan (Children/Educative/Fantasy Tales)ġ3. Chitrahaar (Weekly presentation of new & old songs)ġ2. Bahadur Shah Zafar (Available on Home Video)ġ0.
Barrister Vinod (Crime/Detective Serial)ĩ. Byomkesh Bakshi (Detective Serial) (Available on Net but awaited on Home Video)Ĩ. Bharat Ek Khoj (Historical / Mythological) (Available on Home Video)ħ. Apradhi Kaun (Mystery/Detective Serial)ĥ.
(Most of the friends here may not have heard of it but this is the first serial I can recall watching on Doordarshan in the late 70s or the early 80s.)Ĥ. So let’s go back in our golden days of Television Entertainment reading all these famous serial titles. But the best (or sad) part is that the most of the below mentioned serials still remain the pioneer masterpieces in their different genres and that’s why the Home Video market is rightly bringing them all back in the form of DVDs. Before the Cable Revolution arrived in India around 1991, every person in a household had his own favourite serial as per their choices and they all used to sit glued to the small screen at their fixed times and week-days.
This write-up is like a nostalgic trip down the memory lane when apart from the movie world the only visual entertainment source we had was the Doordarshan.