Can you imagine Television programs for about 4 hours a day, with only one channel to choose from? Well that was a reality not that long back. I am talking about the late 1970s and early 1980s. This blogpost is an attempt to simply list the programs, serials, characters and advertisements from those Black & White TV days. Hoping that readers will contribute further to this list, as well as share their thoughts around these programs.
Television made its debut in Mumbai in the early 1970s. The production and broadcasting organization was known as ‘Mumbai Doordarshan’ (Doordarshan = Remote/Distant View). The reach of this programming was soon extended to Pune, via the Sinhagad fort transmission tower.
Throughout the 70s, the programming was limited to a few evening hours. There were no ‘commercially’ produced shows. Essentially, majority of the programming was developed by the Mumbai Doordarshan Studios in Worli. There were some real good international programs as well. Cricket matches were one exception when programming was available all day. Infact my earliest memory of watching TV is the 1974 India England tour, when Tony Greg was the England captain.
Here is a list of TV programs that come to mind…
Marathi
Marathi programming was quite prominent in those days, prior to the ‘National Programming’ invasion from Delhi around the time of the 1982 Asiad Games.
’Gajra’ – This was a weekly program focussing on a variety of small skits that were very well made. The program was light and funny, and was one of the stars of the week.
‘Chimanrao Ani Gundyabhau’ – This was probably one of the first (if not the first) Marathi serials on Mumbai Doordarshan. And it was a classic. Even today, it is probably the gold standard for Marathi comedy serials. The serial was based on the ever popular book series by C.V. Joshi. Dilip Prabhavalkar was simply amazing as Chimanrao, with Bal Karve playing the interesting character of Gundyabhau.
‘Saptahiki’ – This program summarized the upcoming weekly programming. It was like a weekly ‘TV guide’.
‘Amchi Mati Amchi Mansa’ – This program was targetted for the farmers. It provided a lot of valuable information as well as some entertainment.
‘Kilbil’ - No! I am not talking about the Quentin Tarrantino movie 
. This was a speciality children’s programming.
‘Batmya’ – For many years, the Marathi news were set at 7:30pm. Famous news personalities included the likes of Bhakti Barve.
‘Saturday Marathi Movie’.
Gujarati
After Marathi, Gujarati programming was also given a good deal of priority. Note, I only understood a little bit of Gujarati, but my father and grandparents had spent many years living in Ahmedabad and were fluent in the language. Hence these programs were watched with good interest at our home.
‘Aao Mare Sathi’ – This program was analogous to the Marathi ‘Gajra’.
‘Santakukdi’ – This program was similar to Marathi ‘Kilbil’ and was targetted towards the children.
Hindi
‘Chayageet’ – This was one of the most watched programs. As the name suggests, this program presented a nice medley of Hindi film songs.
‘Phool Khile hai Gulshan Gulshan’ – Interesting program focussed on ‘Bollywood’. The anchor, Tabassum was extremely good at interviewing the celebrity guests.
‘Sunday Hindi Movie’ – This program was probably the most anticipated program of the week. In the days before the VCR, this was the only opportunity to watch a Hindi movie outside a movie theater.
‘Samachar’ – The Hindi news were scheduled everyday at 9pm.
English
‘Magic Lamp’ – This program was targeted towards the children.
‘Sports Roundup’ – This was a weekly program that was anchored really well by Frendrun Devitre
‘What’s the Good Word?’ – One of my favorites. This quiz-type show was a classic. Sabira Merchant anchored it in her distinctive style.
‘News’ – The English News were set for 10pm everyday.
International
These shows were terrific. They were usually sourced from UK and US.
Charlie Chaplin
I love Lucy
Goodies
Fire Ball XL5
Tele-Match (This was another one of my big favorites)
Advertisements
Even back then, the ads were quite interesting!
Thumps Up – Happy days are here again
Fabina Suiting
L.D. Obron Suiting
Babubhai Jagjeevandas (BJ)
Mahabaleshwar Fountain Hotel
Vicco Turmeric Cream
Palmolive (starring Sunil Gavaskar)
Closing Thoughts
As I mentioned this list is just a beginning, and I am hoping that readers will contribute more! I also wanted to point the readers to a great blog-post that I enjoyed reading tremendously – ‘Doordharshan, Mumbai and I’ from the blog ‘Straying Around’ by Abodh. This post describes the Mumbai Doordarshan programming in the mid-80s, after the advent of color.
Oh did I mention the TV hardware in the 1970s?! We had a 19 inch one channel Black & White TV, manufactured by ‘EC’. And in those days, they were expensive! I think in 1975, this model cost around Rs. 2800.
27 responses so far ↓
Neeran // June 29, 2009 at 10:57 am
Thanks for tripping off some nostalgia, Amit.
By the way, a better translation of “Doordarshan” would simply be “Television”
Another programme that many (including me) watched with morbid fascination was “Aapan yanna pahilat ka?” — where a bunch of missing persons would be described, along with instructions to report sightings to the police!
“What’s the good word?” was one of my favourites as well. And when the same Sabira Merchant did an interview of the visiting Boney M, wow, that made my day!
A litte later perhaps, Harsha Bhogle made his first appearance on TV, hosting a Sports Quiz. Fredun De Vitre of Sports Roundup has written a book full of wonderful cricketing anecdotes… must re-read it soon. And speaking of cricket, there was the programme “Looking Forward, Looking Back” hosted by the great commentator AFS Talyarkhan.
Talking of the newscasters, surely you haven’t forgotten that Smita Patil started her screen career as one? A long-time stalwart was Pradeep Bhide, whom I had the pleasure of meeting once in my school-days. Closest I’d got to a “celebrity” in those days
Amit Paranjape // June 29, 2009 at 11:21 am
Neeran,
Thanks for your comments. Yes, ‘Apan Yanna Pahilat Ka’ was an ‘interesting’ program. Another one that I forgot to mention was ‘Mulka Vegli Manasa’.
Mayur Bhave // June 29, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Advertisements back then were ’static’; they showed only text and images. Also when telecast would start in the evening, there was some animation (Doordarshan Logo) that we watched many times. Another feature was ‘Tuunnnnn…’ when transmission was lost frequently. Antenna was a must and in Nashik the Antenna was about 15-20 feet big to catch few waves.
Sam // June 29, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Great post Amit.
BTW it was a 1976 Crown TV for us. I sold it for 1500Rs in full functional state when we bought the color tv.
Even then I was a TV fanatic and used to watch most of the program mentioned in the post.
I used to watch all english programs – Charlie chaplin, I love lucy, Old Fox, fireball, Telematches were my favorites. Sunday morning favorite was baban prabhu’s show [don't remember name]
I very distinctly remember Boney M being interviewed and also performing some songs. Thats the only time I remember having put the TV on full volume
With so little technology available, the quality of programs was so good that we can really remember them even now. Esp today, with so much crap being thrown at us by all the TV channels!
Niranjan // June 29, 2009 at 1:48 pm
‘Aapan yaannaa paahilat kaa?’
My grandmother used to often pair up the people who were missing: “This guy must have run away with the girl they showed earlier!” Good fun.
In Marathi, one could also add ‘Kaamgaar Vishwa’, ‘Dnyaandeep’, ‘Pratibha aani Pratima’
)
The Sports Quiz was also often hosted by Dr. Narottam Puri.
Kaushal // June 29, 2009 at 1:50 pm
“Dnyanadeep” hosted by Akash Anand !
Abhay Patil // June 29, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Thanks Amit and Neeran. BTW I used to travel from Bandra (East) to Nana Chowk (Grant Road), to my uncle’s place, to watch the Sunday movie. Later we too acquired the best B&W TV ever made – EC. I used to check out the circle in the Doordarshan’s logo with my compass and call the tech support if it appeared even a little distorted
While AFS “Bobby” Talyarkhan’s program was called “Looking Forward, L B”, the camera never used to move
It used to be the same frame, with the grand old man’s talking head, throughout the 15 or 30 minutes! As for the newsreaders I recall – Luku Sanyal (English)- whose voice had traces of legendary singer Pahadi Sanyal (who was her father or grandfather), and of course Harish Bhimani (Hindi). As for Marathi, bearded and serious Anant Bhave was my favorite.
suhaskelkar // June 29, 2009 at 2:16 pm
How can you not mention “Dnyandeep”?
Also another one was “pratibha aaNi pratimaa” on Sunday mornings.
Most of your blog entries are on nostalgic topics. When are you going to start writing about today topics? or better yet write about tomorrow?
Just kidding. Keep writing.
Sojwal // June 29, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Amit,
Wow..never thought I could feel nostalgic about good old Doordarshan especially those early days..
Some features I remember other than mentioned here:
- Magic Lamp: The english language equivalent of ‘Kilbil’ & ‘Santakukdi’.
- Pratibha Ani Pratima: Discussions/interviews on Marathi literature & theatre.
- Kamgar Vishwa: Equivalent of ‘Amchi Mati Amchi Mansa’ for workers.
..and above all:
- Wyatyay!: i.e. ‘Sorry for interruption!”, which was quite frequent, especially when something interesting was on. (these days Tata Sky recreates this sometimes..)
Advt.s:
- ‘Thril’ & ‘Do It’, 2 substitute cola drinks other than Thums Up..the former had Rati Agnihotri in the advt. if I remember right.
Amit, would be good to do a similar list for 80s TV.
Nikhil Ambekar // June 29, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Good post amit,
2 Marathi Programs came to my mind immediately while reading the post.
“pratibha ani pratima” where famous writers and poets were interviewed and “Sundar maza ghar” was first ladies special program before Saas bahu serials.:)
who can forget “Street hawk” and “Star-trek”.it had an almost cult like followers.
sandeep // June 29, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Some Marathi Programs I remember are “kamgar vishwa” and “dnyandeep”. There used to be a short film after the Hindi movie on Sunday. Those were very popular. I still remember one of those titled “The Tree”
Amit Paranjape // June 29, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Mayur, Sameer, Sandeep, Nikhil, Sojwal, Suhas, Abhay, Kaushal, Niranjan:
Many thanks for your feedback and additions! I will wait for a few days, and then update my post with this.
One question – was Dnyanadeep being telecast in the 1970s? I thought it started a little later in the early 1980s.
One more gem that I had forgotten, was Films Division produced short films. How can one forget those Black & White classics?!
Remember – ‘Ramu…ek Shetkari…Nashibaney, tyala sagla dila…’. Or…’Tyala Apla Mhana..’ Or… ‘Ek Chidiya…Ek Ek Kar Ke Anek Chidiya..’
Amit
Girija // June 29, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Amit, you just reminded me of one rather shocking fact I heard recently. Dilip Prabhavalkar mentioned to my dad that Doordarshan erased *all* his classic Chimanrao tapes! The reason? They did not have enough space and needed to reuse them for some other programming!! The only episode that survived was one for which the tape happened to be temporarily in another location. Took me a while to get over this! Wonder if anyone has recorded those programs?
Amit Paranjape // June 29, 2009 at 6:00 pm
This is really sad! I hope they have some back-ups somewhere.
Nickhil Jakatdar // June 29, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Amit, I cant recall when they started showing Star Trek on Sunday mornings but that was one serial I looked forward to. The latest Star Trek movie with the young James Kirk and Spock and the old Leonary Nimoy were a fun throwback to those times. Thanks for the great post.
Amit Paranjape // June 29, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Nickhil,
Thanks for your comments. Actually, I am pretty sure Star Trek started after Aug 1983 (since I remember watching it from the very beginning…and I have always watched it in Color).
Yes, I am looking forward to seeing the ‘new’ Star Trek.
Amit
shaista // June 30, 2009 at 12:21 am
Thank you Amit!! I loved reading this one a lot!! Brought back many memories from my childhood!! I had thought of a lot things.. but after the blog when i read the posts above.. they have covered pretty much everything I had to say!!
I still hum the “Ek Chidiya.. Anek Chidiya” to my girls.. and i remember “the Tree” too!!
Fireball.. that rings a bell.. was that the space cartoon?
or was that Thunderbird? cant remember
I do remember “Apan yahla pahilat ka”… i was very young.. and used to wonder why the lady kept repeating “passport” “passport” but later realized she was saying “Panch foot” for the missing people’s height!!
My Grandfather used to work for Godrej.. and he was probably a small technician.. but when Godrej ads came.. he would swell up with pride!!
Thank you once again..
Shaista
Nilesh Sane // July 1, 2009 at 10:33 am
Nice post. Took me on a nostalgic trip just like everyone else on here.
, but I do recall the serials of the 80’s pretty well. An incident which I can recall is from the early 90’s and the cartoon series of Jungle Book. It was such a hugh hit that 3 of my friends dropped out of NCC because they didnt want to miss the serial 
. Fortunately I had a programmable VCR and continued my drills and watched the serial when I was back.
I wasent too much into TV in the 70’s (due to age factor)
We used to crash out early in those days, and I saw my first 10pm serial (Karam Chand) when I was in 8th
Thanks for the trip.
Manisha // July 1, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Thanks for taking us down memory lane.
Some of the things I remember are
‘Vyatyay’ – I guess someone has already mentioned it.
Sundar Maze Ghar – Suhasini Mulgaokar with her special hairstyle and smile!
English News- Dolly Thakor,
Hindi News – Sarita Sethi, Kumud Mirani and later Salma Sultana
Marathi news – Smita Talwalkar, Charushila Patwardhan
There used to be hindi show by Kamaleshwar , but don’t remember the name.
English serials – ‘To the Manor Born’, ‘Yes Minister’, ‘Odd Couple’, ‘I love Lucy’, ‘Spiderman’ and of course ‘Star Trek’
Earlier the show time used to be 6 Pm to 10 PM. We used to wait for the Doordarshan opening score to start and have also watched those color bars many times.
And the ads! Remember Neena Gupta in ‘Hawkins ki siti baji !’ , the garden vareli saris and RoopSangam
It was so simple and still entertaining!
Amit Paranjape // July 1, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Manisha,
Thanks for the additions.
Originally, I was thinking of updating this post, but with the amount of new info that readers have contributed, I might even think of a ‘Part 2′ of this post.
One point – except for ‘I Love Lucy’ all the other English serials you have mentioned were post the 1982 Asiad (Color TV era).
Sam // July 1, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Amit – Do write a circa 1980
The most hilarious brit comedy I still remember from 80’s is “R u being served?” among others.
Unmesh Mayekar // July 1, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Anyone remember the cartoon “Swimmy”? One hindi word I had picked up from it was “khadeda” (that was when the big fish devours all the little ones). Another thing I remember is a snippet of a cartoon where the happy ending shows folks dancing around a tree with the music going something like “tana na tanan tanan”
getting old
Neeran // July 2, 2009 at 10:17 am
Interesting how you can guess people’s ages by the DD programmes they remember
Amit: Any thoughts on doing a similar blog post on Radio circa 1970s-80s? I fondly remember being glued to the Bournvita Quiz Contest, “Cricket with Vijay Merchant” and so on… before I switched to the Beeb on shortwave.
Amit Paranjape // July 2, 2009 at 10:47 am
Sameer – Not sure about a circa 1980s post..but with all these comments, might write a follow-up (Part 2) of this one. Lot of good information out there.
Unmesh – Do remember that cartoon
Neeran – Not sure if I remember too much of the 1970s radio programming…but now that you mentioned, I do vividly recollect the Bournvita Quiz and Cricket with Vijay Merchant (including the theme musics of both shows!). They were really good. Sadly, doubt if there were any good follow-ups.
As far as BBC was concerned, I didn’t switch to it actively until 1988, when I got this great 10 SW Band Sony World Receiver Radio. After that, I was literally ’surfing’ across these SW channels..remember listening to broadcasts from over 20 countries..maybe someday will write a post on that.
Amit
api // July 4, 2009 at 3:40 pm
remembered our childhood days in pune !!!! great
Saket Jamkar // July 11, 2009 at 8:03 am
Remember Zakaku? Some rather elementary sci-fi show in Hindi that used to follow Star Trek. (?) That used to be hilarious.
Also remember DeeDee’s comedy show!
I used to like this other Hindi sci-fi show about a kid making a time-machine. He uses it to into the future. Can’t remember the name though.
suneal // September 7, 2009 at 12:07 am
Prateebha ani Prateema