Mumbai Doordarshan circa 1970s – The Black and White TV Era
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.
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
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’.
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.
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!
‘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.
“Dnyanadeep” hosted by Akash Anand !
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”
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
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?
This is really sad! I hope they have some back-ups somewhere.
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.
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
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
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.
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!
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).
Amit – Do write a circa 1980
The most hilarious brit comedy I still remember from 80′s is “R u being served?” among others.
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
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.
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
remembered our childhood days in pune !!!! great
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.
Prateebha ani Prateema
Nice post Amit! How can one forget the quintessential Chitrahaar on Wednesday evenings??!!
Amit, its a wonderful post. While reading, I was recollecting the Black & White images which we used to see on the tv when we were young. Very eager to wait for Sunday evening movie announcement during the week and if and good movie, then we used to finish our studies before 5 pm. Those were the day, even in limited hours of telecast, we were happy. We all should once request Doordarshan to revive their old archives and re-telecast old serials like Chimanrao, Phool Khile hain Gulshan Gulshan, Kilbil etc.etc…including those old ads also. Hope some body reads my request. Good work Amit
Vijay
Muscat
Manisha
Serial name of Kamleshwar as Parikrama. If I am right, this used to be on Monday or Tuesday. I am not sure. And as you mentioned, the signal bar in black and white will always be in our memory. Present generation has missed this real fun what we enjoyed
gr8888888
And how can we forget the famous Doordarshan Tune which used to play before start of evening broadcast?
I am from Mumbai and I wish to share my thoughts on this topic.
The best part of these programs was to see the enthusiam in eyes of the kids to see the shows by visiting the neighbours house. Sometimes, while walking on streets and if did hear the audio of the program, you would know what day of week it was ( O that is start of Chaaya Geet , so it is Thursday ).
If some one put the old gajra programs on You tube it will be great.
I remember once seeting Nata Samrat on TV and it was excellent.
Hi Viswanath, Thanks for your comments. Haven’t watched ‘Nat Samrat’ in ages..need to get a DVD! Amit
There used to be programmes featuring Manohar Mahajan for Children in Hindi ,Surabhi by Renuka Shahane and Siddarth kak on culture curry,In marathi there was a programme hosted and compared by a girl by surname Naik for children,Another personality was Prof Yash Pal who used to do a programme on science
Nice review about doordarshan.
http://www.ddnational.blogspot.com has more such nostalgia.
Suman, Thanks for your comments, and for the link. Will check it out.
Nice post Amit
Nice post and comments, this took me to my child age and i staretd remembering old tv programs.
Amit,
It was such a wonderful experience to be taken down memory lane (around 35-40 years) back to the era of the advent of B & W TVs in gud old Bombay.
During those days, just a handful TV manufacturers existed, & consumers had to choose from either a JK TV, or a Televista, or a Telerad brand. A TV purchase was a big event in the family, & I vividly remember when my parents started considering buying a TV, my Mom & myself being with him at some big TV-store in Dadar, & the salesman explaining us all the technicalities to us & eventually Telerad was the 1st TV to enter our home
The DD Programs that come to mind are:
Sundays: Science (9 am), followed by Saptahiki (I think 10.45 or 11 am), & the evening Hindi movie (5 or 6 pm);
Thursdays: Chhaya Geet (8 or 9 pm);
Fridays: Phool Khile Hai Gulshan Gulshan with the ever smiling & jovial Tabassum (9 pm).
Other notable Programs that come to mind were:
Tele-Match – awesome & imaginative, & v.enjoyable & always hillarious competitions;
Amchi Mati Amchi Mansa – even though it made little sense to me as a kid, I still watched it;
Fireball XL5 initailly, & later Star Trek – both these serials fired-up my imagination & interests in astronomy & the galaxies;
Here’s Lucy, I Love Lucy – though as a kid, I had a hard time understanding Lucille Balls’ fast-paced American accent, I enjoyed & tried to understand the intended humour in both these serials.
What’s the Good Word – Thank You Sabira Merchant for increasing my English vocabulary during an important phase of High School;
Hillarious joke shows by Babban Prabhu & Yakub Sayeed.
Der Alte (German)/Old Fox (English) – great serial for the investigative minded folks, that came later on.
News Readers: Dolly Thakore, Luku Sanyal, Bhakti Barve, Pradeep Bhide, Sarita Sethi, Salma Sultan, all of them bring on vivid memories of my childhood.
Socializing was also different … building neighbours, alongwith their kids used to sit glued in front of the TV when it was time for some popular program like Chhaya Geet, or Sunday evening movie, etc.
Watching any TV-Program was strictly only after the School home-work was finished with. Since it was the pre-VCR era, watching the Sunday evening Hindi movie was the only alternative to visiting the cinema hall … watching a Hindi movie free of cost was the understanding … so missing that was not an option at all, LOL ! All tasks needed to be completed before the start of such programs. I used to watch this Sunday evening movie so that I could participate in discussions with my class-mates next day during the lunch-break at School (otherwise I’d be left out of a v.important discussion/exercise with my class-buddies)
Oh yes, no Sports/Cricket fan could forget that signature/theme tune of Fredun de Vitre’s Sports Round-Up
It was such a swinging & a lively (maybe an African or a Caribbean) instrumental ping-pong ball type sounding tune, played/created on either a bongo or a congo (or maybe I’m mistaken) instrument. Ever since the advent of the Net, I’ve been searching for that tune so that I can make it my mobile’s ring-tone. Does anyone remember this tune, or it’s name or its composer … most importantly & does anyone know where (which web-site ?) on the Net can one download this famous track from ? I just couldn’t locate this on You Tube, as I have no clue of this track’s or composer’s name !
Shantanu
Hi Shantanu, Thanks for your detailed comments! Yes, that Sports Round-Up tune was great. Do let me know if you find it.
Amit
I REMEMBER – STAR TREK / PRATIBHA ANI PRATIMA / HAAS PARIHAAS BY BABAN PRABHU AND YAKUB SAID / A SERIAL PROGRAMME IN “AMCHI MATI AMCHI MANSA”
BY SHIVAJI FULSUNDAR WITH RAVI PATVARDHAN, JAYANT OK AND CHARACTER HAUSABAI, DON’T REMEMBER THE ARTIST. SAPTAHIKI. ALSO NOTE SOME OLD ADS SERIALS ON DD CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM SITE – oldidiotboxblogspot.com
BY THE WAY P L HAS SELECTED “PRAKASHWANI” FOR DD
Amit, since you plan to write another nostalgia piece on Bombay Doordarshan, please make it a wee bit more cosmopolitan. There were several noteworthy programmes in Hindi & English also. Arohi gave Kavita Krishnamurthy, Pankaj Udhas, Sadhana Sargam, Suresh Wadkar and several others to the film industry. Smita Patil trained under me. Farouque Sheikh was my find and Mithun Chakravarty first appeared in my programme as a dancer with Salome Roy Kapur. What’s The Good Word was started by Adi Marzban, when I took over as producer, Sabira M. came in to host the programme. Superb!!
One of the biggest names in the entertainment world today, Ronnie Screwalla is also a product of Bombay DD. Vidhu Vinod Chopra was a frequent visitor looking for exposure. There are many tales and anecdotes as well asmany eminent personality who were first introduced by DD.
Hi Suman, Many thanks for your comments! Arohi was great. As I have mentioned some of my favorites were Sports Round Up, What’s The Good Word and ‘Ful Khile Hai Gulshan Gulshan’.
It will be great if you can add the anecdotes you are mentioning here as comments, or even better – as a separate blog post.
Thanks
Amit
Amit, in fact you have really sent me on a nostalgia trip. I must consider a blog. Thanks for the idea. Some of the other names of celebrities who appeared in my programmes fairly often are Alyque Padamsee (wrote in Express “light has gone out of Bombay TV” when I moved to Delhi), D.V. Nadkarni, Gerson da Cunha, Pearl Padamsee, Kabir Bedi, Nissim Ezekeil, Soni Razdan, Rohinton Mistry…..the list is endless.
How did u get interested in this subject? Those were the days when people like Raj Kapoor & Sunil Datt had the generosity to pick up the phone and call the director to talk to the producer to compliment for a good prog.
Thanks for the feedback. I started blogging in 2008 and write about a wide variety of topics that interest me. History (recent and not so recent) is a big topic of interest. Also had many childhood memories of Black & White TV growing up – hence this post!
Amit
P.S. Definitely do blog.. I look forward to reading your first hand account of Mumbai Doordarshan in the 1970s.
Amit accidently came across your blog..very nice post !! ..Great amount of details from many contributors, all tracing down the in the good old memory lane…
I remember my first TV watching experience at my neighbours house sometime in Yr 1977/78.
TV was an amazing thing. Marathi Batmya (news) was my first TV experience..Batmya had the loud dhyan dhyan dhyan introductory music with many photes appearing from nowhere in random including the BARC dome picture (that I remember). I do remember Bhakti Barve on news.
We used to have a Dyanora B & W model. It had a shutter door that used to slide and disappear in the sides when opened…
I watched most of the listed programmes and especially the Diwali Gajra used to be special.
“Shwetambara” was probably the first Marathi serial (1982/83 ?) Some of you might remember Raghuveer Nevrekar with his fearsome eyes…
Hi
Thanks Amit for reviving old memories
Is there a way these old gems (especially Mumbai doordarshan programs-Marathi) could be bought/found anywhere in any form.
These could be preserved for eternity
Unfortunately the internet did not give any details except the odd ones on youtube.
@Shantanu Thanks for reminnding me of the sports round up tune cant remember it fullt though and who would forget the ever smiling presenter of sports round up Fredun De vitre who started the show with “Hi friends”
Thanks
Ninad
Abhay – Thanks for your comments. Yes, “Shwetambara” was a good popular series..though it started dragging on after a while. I remember a Marathi Play (think it was Berde’s ‘Tour-Tour’) that joked about someone moving very slowly by comparing him with “Shwetambara”
.
Raghuveer Nevrekar was pretty impressive..
Amit
Hi Ninad, Thanks for your comments. I had raised this question earlier as well (getting access to the old tapes, and making them available to the general public..). Haven’t gotten any responses here thus far. Amit
Dear Amit and friends,
Thanks for taking us through the the 1970 doordarshan lane….good old days of controlled television…i feel the world was a better place then…if only i had a time machine.
I remember watching a one-to-one interview program wherein a host of different personalities from all walks of life would be interviewed by one Mr. Kamleshwar and the program was called “Vibrations”….correct me if m wrong.
Also we used to have this yoga program with the great OSHO…..he used perform various yoga asana’s.
Kamleshwar’s program was called ‘Parikrama’. There was Yuvdarshan for youth in Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati. Farouqye Shaikh would compere Hindi Yuvdarshan. I remember Meena Naik doing the Marathi children’s program ‘Kilbil’. There was a program to read viewers letters in Marathi it was Vishwas Mehendale and Vinaya Dhumale in Hindi it was T P Jain and Sudha Malhotra.
Some of the Gajra program wer great especially bu Daya Dongre and Arun Joglekar. Some of the Marathi newsreaders I remember were Jyotsna Kirpekar, Anant Bhave, Pradeep Bhide, Charusheela Patwardhan. In Hindi Kumud Mirani was my favorite.
Suhasini Mulgaonkar and Ashok Ranade were great in ‘Pratibha and Pratima’. It was fun to watch Bhakti Barve doin Saptahiki. In Diwali I remember all the ladies would dress in nice Maharashtrian dresses.
Anuradha Paudwal and Suresh Wadkar were regular on Aarohi, I think she became famous because of Mumbai Doordarshan. I remember they used to show Marathi films on Saturdays. There was a time when they would show every Saturday Jayshree Gadkar Marathi movie.
Adi Marzban was compering Avi Maari Saathe. Ketaki Dave, Jhankana Desai, Siddarth Randeria and host of Gujarati stage actors were part of Avo Mari Saathe.
Wednesday was short dramas mostly Marathi, Thursday was Chhaya Geet and Friday was Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan
Sameer – Thanks for your comments and additions.
Ketan – Many thanks for your comments and additions. Amit
Amit,
It was great going thru the blog and it did bring back a lot of memories. Stangely, since yesterday I have been on this trip of digging stuff on the net for the 70s and early 80s. I discovered you blog reading about Amin Sayani and Binaca Geetmala on radio Ceylon.
I think some of the programs that still haven’t got a mention are ‘Young World’ that was hosted by Rony Screwalla and the Urdu program hosted by legendary Ali Sardar Jafri, the ‘Mehfile Yaran’.
The documentary that comes to mind is the one on ‘Aravali’ and the commercial of ‘Nirodh’.
The yoga program was not by Bhagwan Rajneesh, as mentioned by Pankaj, but it was one of the other yogis who was connected with the political parties in Delhi. Cant seem to get his name now.
The news readers that still stay with me are Harish Bhimani, Selma Sultan (who never smiled), Kumud Mirani, Komal GB Singh, Gitanjali Iyer, Tajeshwar Singh and Siddarth Kak.
Anil
Hi Anil – Thanks for your comments and additions. I think the yoga program being referred to was by Dhirendra Bramhachari? I found this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhirendra_Brahmachari
Mehfil- e -Yara hosted by Sardar Jafri(?) who we were so excited to spot from our car at Crawford Market an outing as kids and more when he waved to us
The only reason we knew about the programme was because it preceeded Chaayageet so we switched on the tv well before it started when ‘Yara’ would still be on.
Aapka Swaasthya on Sunday nights hosted by Padam Singhvi which my Doctor Grandpa who otherwise had a disdain for movies and tv, watched so avidly.
Shame -e Ghazal whose anchor was murdered and it was the most scandalous thing to hit the news those days!
And there was one which was hosted by Melville De Mello (the broadcaster who my dad always told us, made his debut relaying live commentary of Mht. Gandhi’s funeral over AIR) who I think interviewed International personalities.
Parikramaa by Kamleshwar which interviewed anyone right from a street /slum child to the rich, basically people from all walks of life. And when he once came home to meet with my maternal grandfather’s literary companions and colleagues we looked at him in awe!
We actually even waited to watch Saaptahiki!! the programme on forthcoming schedule of the week
that was more often than not hosted by Bhakti Barve.
Pradip Bhide and Jyotsna Kirpekar were pretty popular. We had to hear the story ad nauseum for a few months from the building liftman when Bhide visited a friend in the building!
Those were the days of real celebrityhood if one can call it that; unlike today when they are so in your-face that and growing out of ears nose and everywhere! The charm is lost.
And how we cribbed about everything DD did like cutting off the Sunday movie right at the very fag end if it stretched into the news time. That news time and hour was sacrosanct. They took the viewers for granted
But a whole lot of programmes set the trend and path for the ones that you see today on multifarious channels For instance Aarohi – the one which introduced budding singers like Kavita Krishnamurthy and Alka Yagnik. Today you see over the top talent hunt shows for singers and like. That simplicity is lost and so also the focus which should be for what the programme is that is singing.
And last but not the least participating in Santakukdi was great fun and I still remember my answer to a quiz question that made us one up on the rival team
We even remember the time and day of the programmes!! I guess DD did leave its mark somewhere despite its drawbacks galore. But that was the time of ‘being happy with whatever little entertainment one received right at home and the halls at home resembled a movie theater on Sunday evenings which I guess was in a way far better than today’s overkill on the television.
Hemangi – Thanks for your detailed comments.
Sure Amit I just happened to stumble upon your page I dont know how, and it brought back a rush of memories which poured onto the page spontaneously.
About your question on accessing old tapes..since you have respondents like Suman Bajaj Kalra who mention the (now) big names , you could ask him for help! I am sure if not through old contacts just by virtue of his having been at helm in whatever capacity at some point may work.
I remember asking for the tape at DD many moons ago and i think they said that they didn’t have it or didn’t know where it was. I guess maintaining archives(surprisingly so) wasn’t an important part or even considered. What a loss! But I have a feeling they surely must have old tapes somewhere and its just that no one wants to make an effort to go through what is in all likelihood a disorganized pile.
Dear Amit,
During diwali sai paranjape produced Gajara on Diwali-kal aaj ani udya.
Do you have any memories on that Gajara? in the beginning Sai Parajape read one poem on Diwali. Can anyone send this poem to me?
Regards,
Anil Sawant
Anil – Thanks for the comment. I don’t remember that episode, but hopefully someone might be able to respond.
Hi Amit,
We should come together and try if we can get these old tapes of programmes like “Gajra” etc.from DD.What is there in making an attempt.What do you say?
Mom, when critical of tv addiction would call it “durdarshan!” (prefix ‘dur’ having all kinds of negative connotations in sanskrit.. ala duryodhan, etc)
Hi Amit,
Your blog came up when I was looking online for information on some old DD programs. My search is a little unique in that I am looking for episodes of Sports Round Up that were hosted by my father (yes!). He had co-hosted this program for some time and after all these years, he continues to talk about it very fondly. In a few weeks, it is going to be my father’s 60th birthday and we would love to gift him a an old episode.
Do you know if DD maintains an archive? Is there anyone at DD you recommend that I can connect with in order to get more headway?
I’d appreciate any help!!
Thank you in advance
Hi Ridhi – Many thanks for your comments. Please do wish your father a very happy 60th birthday from me! I was quite young back then, but still remember the show quite well. It was great.
Many readers have enquired about the DD archives. Unfortunately, I am not aware of the details. Best might be to directly check with Mumbai Doordarshan. Another person worth checking with is – Suman Bajaj Kalra (see earlier comments).
Thanks
Amit
Thanks Amit! My dad was on the show for about I year I believe. He recalls seeing Smita Patil at the studio- apparently she had a show around the same time. Our next step will be to approach DD directly, I’ll be sure to let you know if we make headway.
Thanks once again!
Hi Amit
Its almost a year now after I commented on your page(21.01.2010). I had too requested then, if there is any way where we all can sign up a letter requesting DoorDarshan for re-telecasting old programmes from their archives. I am sure, you will find plenty eagerly waiting for this. I tried to find if any available on youtube…but couldn’t find any. There are serial like Banegi apni Baat, Yeh jo hai zindagi etc. I hope somebody take this up. Nice reading and I keep visiting your page to read all the new comments. Regards Vijay-Muscat,Oman
Thanks Vijay.
Hi Vijay,
Yeh jo hai zindagi already available on Shemaroo video.You can also download from internet.Definately was blockbuster of Friday nights.Banegi apni baat was zee tv serial(of early 90′s).
Great idea.Let’s do that.Let’s sign some apllication note and send to DD.It’s worth watching great old serials like Ados Pados and Chote bade.I wanted to contact Saee Paranjape for video tapes of above serials.But not able to contact her.
And remember “Choti badi baatein “on Sunday afternoons and “Aa bail mujhe maar” on saturday afternoons.
Amit—–I am waiting for your reply.You need to take lead as you have brought all of us together.
Subhash
Subhash – Thanks for your comments. I have been a bit busy. Here’s a suggestion for better interaction – if you have some time, maybe you can create a google group mailing list or a facebook group centered around this topic? Those would be much better forums for interaction, than blog comments.
Thanks
Amit
after reading somethings above , i wud like to add to the above some of my old memories
English Serials:
I Love Lucy
Some Mothers Do Ave ‘em
Goodies
Sherlock Holmes
A Tale of Two Cities
Star Trek
Fireball XL5
History of Man (cartoon series on man’s development)
Spiderman
He Man & The Masters of the Universe
Fairy Tales
Wonders of the Sea (Captain Cousteau)
Johny Sokko and his Flying Robot
Alice In Wonderland
Different Strokes- sadly the young black child artist is now dead
Yes Minister
Telematch
Didi’s Comedy Show
Ads:
VIP Luggage- Ud Ud Jaye Ud Ud Jaye Dil Mera Ud Ud Jaye
Palmolive Shaving Cream- Sunil Gavaskar and then Kapil Dev where each shave represented a new pitch for shots played / balls bowled
Surf & Saritaji
Indian Serials / cartoons:
Vikram Betal
Dnyanadeep
Films Division- Tree of Unity
Films Division- on cleanliness
National Programme for Dance & Music
Dada Dadi Ki Kahaniya
Ek Do Teen Char
Thats Cricket- Ravi Shastri
Sunil Gavaskar Presents
The World This Week- Pranoy Roy
Karamchand
Space City Sigma – a flop Indian made series (inspired after Star Trek)
Rajani- Priya Tendulkar
Zhopi Gelela Jaga Zhala- Dilip Prabhavalkar
Mr Yogi- Mohan Gokhale
Quiz Time- Siddharth Basu
Swami- on life of Madhavrao Peshwe- Ravindra Mankani & Mrunal Deo
Aisa Bhi Hotal Hai
Bante Bigadte
Bharat Ek Khoj
Gopichand Jasoos
Idhar Udhar
Air Hostess
Not to forget our other staples:
Tintin, Asterix, Amar Chitra Katha, Chandoba, Loat Poat in Aawaj Diwali Magazines, Mandrake, Phantom, Bahadur, Rip Kirby, Hardy Boys, Flash Gordon, Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Tinkle & Suppandi , Green Lantern, Famous Five, Fantastic Four, Captain America, The Three Investigators, James Hadley Chase, cricket with richie benaud and channel 9, cricket without mandira bedi and all the gadbad satellite channels are offering
Sachin Kondke – sachinleena2002@yahoo.co.in
forgot the regular- ‘Santawani’- rhymes from compositions of our revered saints like Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Eknath Maharaj
Old Fox, To the Manor Born, ……….hmmmm, lets see, shwetambara (with horror music),
Hope DD repeats all the old ads and old serials. This will beat all the satellite channels at one go. DD, make me ur President /Chairman/ Director or whatever
Really, we experienced a classic era whenfrom even our school teachers remember us and vice versa
The Hindi prog of Babban Prabhu was called Haas Parihaas inwhich he Yakoob Sayyed as his friend.
Amit,
Nice post and nicer comments left by everyone.
I remember the ’70 doordarshan when Smita Patil first appeared as newscaster and later went on to stardom. She had a ‘presence’ even as a news reader.
Actually looking for some help to see if I could get some episodes of “What’s the good word”. I was a contestant, went on for about 3 episodes and then was called back for a “Live” episode.
I cannot imagine a way to get hold of those episodes. Any help?
Great BLOG !!!!
)
I think everybody who is searching for some sort of old doordarshan images or audio files must be visiting the blog (similar to me
“Vyatyaya” was one of the funny screen I always use to see – that broken word use to get smile on our face and anger on older once
That time similar to ek chidiya one more animated message use to broadcast on save trees.. that was tooo good.. never find it still searching ….
The timekeeper or the scorekeeper (don’t remember exactly) on What’s the Good Word was Scherazade Mody, the vivacious girl with the sweetest smile ever.
Then there was an english serial based on P.G. Wodehouse’s stories called Wodehouse Playhouse.
Hi All,
Recently Udaan serial DVD’s released by BIG HOME VIDEO.It’s really worth watching.
Unable to understand how come great and still famous serials like Hum log and Buniyaad are not accessible?
Hi all,There was a serial called ladoo Singh taxiwala played by Paintal in 70′s.A films division ad “saher saaf rakho and Short cut fatafat”.
chhayageet phool khile gulshan whats the good word parikrama kamagar vishwa aamchi maati aamchi manas,the goodies heres lucy charlie chaplin and many moreeee,but when the election time was there and counting was going on dd use to telecast continous movies it was funn sorry for the breakkkk,and when due to some reason the flim was not aired than had mood off,and we use to come out of homes,can any one give clips of old prograames i wl be thankfulll pls replyyyyyyy fasttttttttt
Can any one please tell me the starting time of Sunday Hindi Movie (which was probably after 4 pm) ?
Himanshu – I believe it started at 6pm.
Hi Amit ,
The doordarshan days are real nostalgic , specially on sundays with baban prabhu & yakub sayeed’s haas parhaas , the saptahiki to just get a glimpse of the forthcoming sunday movie and songs on chayageet . not forgetting ladoo singh taxiwalla on tuesdays . gyandeep , santkukudi , pratibha ani pratima , I love lucy , amchi maati amchi manse , phool khile on Fridays , I still remember Sanjeev kumar and amjad khan had come to two continious weeks .
Amit,
i am reading ur blog n comments for last 1 hr .its 1.20 am.Truely great n nostalgic. Was searching for dr padam singvi n dr batra who were once upon comperers of health shows on DD in late 70′s n early 80′s. Not heard of them lately except dr batra is know in to homeo clinics all over indiA.
No tv till 1979 in my house.we used to go to karuns house Harinarayans to c all these progrms.n of course cricket for hrs together from 9 ti
L 12 3o pm then lunch break, again tea break at 3 30 pm for 15 min.till 5 pm on test match days for t next 5 days. also collect cricketers photo n t visiting teams photos n stick them in t notebook.namely west indies,kallicharan,lyods etc n england teams tony greig, australian team too.
C chayageet ,phul khile..,Xl 5 AT 8 pm in the eveng tuesday n star trek at 10 am helped my imagination to grow,..LATTER had dyanora tv bw with sliding cover,then color tv during asiad 82.Catherina czabo gymnast s from romania made a big impression on my mind then.
Thanks amit to take me down memory lane of 70s miss those days in karuns house to watch TV .Was at DD on 22nd may11 for” Hello Doctor” progrm at worli studio…never imagined this place is more then 4 decades old gn….
Niranjan – Thanks for your comments.
How can you forget the “Rukavat Ke Liye Khed Hai” ?
Also, I am one generation ahead of all the folks here, but Rangoli on Sunday mornings made me wake up early on weekends
Chitrahaar on Wednesday, Chhayageet on Thursday and Rangoli on Sunday. The discussion next day between moms was about which songs were shown. Pehla ye dikhaya and dusara ye dikhaya. Then suddenly one of the aunties would be sad for missing the program just for that particular song.
Buniyaad, Nukkad etc were the stuff that we grew up with. There was another program called “The Crystal Maze” which was my personal favourite.
I still remember when India played West Indies in the Carribeans with their pace attack spear headed by Michael Holding, Andy Roberts ….. the highlights of the test matches used to come much later and were really looking forward to watch those highlights. Also there was one English serial The Count of Monte Christo which was very popular.
I still remember the Marathi skit of the legendary P.L. Deshpande “Varyavarchi Varaat”
Thanks Amit for refreshing old memories!!!!
Guys you just made me cry , those days were like, if someone tell me to define heaven then i would just tell them the memories of those old days.
can anybody pls gv me the old marathi tv serial episode of ‘gajra’ which was aired on 1st sept 1978. i need it very badly coz it was my moms last performance in that and she died very next day so pls pls
Hi Girish,
Very sorry to hear about your mother.She must be a great actress having worked in noted serial like Gajara.
I suggest you approach Mumbai doordarshan,but I doubt they have preserved such great gems.
I wish you could find the episode wanted by you.
Regards
Subhash
Nostalgia !!
Relived memories of those wonder years in my life.. truly a blissful heavenly experience as manish joshi (above) mentions.
I remember almost all of the the programs mentioned and the early days of colo(u)r television in 1983 when we saw India winning world cup in England, live midnight in India!!
Read all comments. Guys, I re-lived the old days. I am 46 today but felt like a 12 year old – Geley tey din geley!
Great post, thanks Amit!
The 70′s was indeed the golden age of Indian TV, and Mumbai Doordarshan was the best…
There was also a program on Sanskrit literature, called ‘Amrutmanthan’.. the veena playing in the theme of that was awesome..
Also, there was an early Hindi serial called ‘Biwi Natiyonwali’ from Lucknow DD.. long before Hum Log came on the scene.. anyone remember these? 
I am horrified to know about DD just deleting the Chimanrao tapes – it is a criminal destruction of a cultural gem
I do hope someone has a private recording and this classic can be revived..
Also, there used to be some really nice documentaries (some are already mentioned above – the Ek Chidiya, the one about garbage, the one about nutrition and the human body, and another nice one called Swimmi on strength in unity).. also some nice group songs (vrindagaan) in various Indian languages from Akashwani Gayak Vrinda, typically conducted by Kanu Ghosh..
Here are a few more:-
Aamchi Maati Aamchi Mansa
Kamgaar Vishwa
Pratibha ani Pratima
The unforgetable duo Yakub Sayed and Baban Prabhu in Haas Parihaas that used to come on Sunday mornings
Phool Khiel Hain Gulshan Gulshan
Wlliam Tell
Sir Francis Drake
Olympic & Common Wealth Games Highlights
Those were the days indeed…….!
The elevision and cable network is no longer any fun as all we watch is miserable news channels and crazy soap operas, the culture that has widespread only after a few western soaps like Dallas, Santa Barbara, Bold & Beautiful were telecasted through the cable network.
Bring back those days..
hi could u please tell which was the first tv commercial of that time i.e. 1970s specifically 1978 when tv commearcials started..n can u attach a link of that ad (if available).
My My…. everyone who commented remembers practically everything as if it just happned a couple of years back…and why not Mumbai DD really had quality programmes in those days…It was more of quality than quantity compared to the thrash in the name of serials being dished out today( eg…a shocked face of actor being showed from all angles…accompanied by by background score of swishhhhh swisshhhhhh…which makes it more irritating)….as for me i just loved & wanted to watch all possible programmes..but we didnt have TV in those days and were dependent on our neighbours for the same…..by the way the only thing remember most vividly was that i was locked up in my home during my exam time to prevent me from seeing my most favourite programmes including the Sunday Movie…to sum it up ..which i think most would agree…the situation earlier was…… we wanted to watch TV but did not have TV….and now we have TV but dont want to watch the trash doled out in the name of entertainment……Lastly i recollect seeing The Great Javed Jaffrey in the Ad of Babubhai Jagjivandas dancing among the flickering strobe lights….somebody correct me if am wrong
Its a great article . Still Doordarshan is the popular channel in most of the rural areas . Some changes necessary for the developement of the channels of Doodarshan .
Thanks for the feedback!