With the liberalisation of the 90’s and the easy access to communication technology paved a way for foreign media into the nation which boosted the technology and a flurry of private channels began to mushroom in the cyberspace.
The first private channels Zee and Sony gave way to memorable and historic formats in TV shows which revolutionised the Indian media space. The most remarkable TV shows in the 90’s which were much watched with fanfare were Byomkesh Bakshi, Surabhi and Fauji from the Doordarshan. Hum Paanch, Amaanat, Rishtey from the Zee TV and CID from the Sony were much popular and heartthrob shows in the early 90’s.
Byomkesh Bakshi still remains a popular detective genre, which is still not thought of in the TV formats. Where the characters in the TV show were having the most fanfare with people pulling down the shutters of shops at ten in the night to watch ‘Byomkesh Bakshi’ directed by Veteran Film Director Basu Chatterjee which was a adaptation of Bengali literature created by iconic writer ‘Sharadindu Bandhopadhyay’.
A remarkable fact is that it was the first TV series to be aired on Doordarshan. The cast comprised of Rajit Kapur as Byomkesh Bakshi, K.K. Raina as Ajit Kumar Banerji, Sukanya Kulkarni as Satyavati and Kartik Dutta as Punti Ram. It was a terrific suspense thriller from the 90s. Every episode kept us glued to our TV sets, as Byomkesh solved even the toughest of cases in a very systematic and scintillating manner.
While Surabhi, a popular cultural magazine show promoting tourism was hosted by Renuka Shahane, Siddharth Kak, which was aired from 1993 to 2001. Renuka Shahane and Siddharth Kak became a popular figure in the 90’s; later noted actress Iravati Harshe replaced Renuka Shahane.
It was the longest running show garnering a 51 percent rating in its initial broadcast in 1993. The show received many accolades; it was also featured in the Limca book of records. It was produced by Siddharth Kak’s Mumbai based production home ‘Cinema Vision India’.
Not to forget King of Bollywood SRK who is known for his majestic role in the TV serial ‘Fauji’ based on series about a batch of trainees into a commando school, their training and eventual induction as soldiers. The serial was produced under the banner of New Film Addicts pvt ltd and was written and directed by Lt.Col. R.K. Kapoor and Milin Kapoor.
Shah Rukh Khan played Lt.Abhimanyu Rai, Rakesh Sharma played Major Vikram Rai, Amina Shervani played Kiran Kochap,Manjula, Madhu Rathor and Vikram Chopra played Lt. Varuneshwar Singhji Parmeshwar Singhji Chawhan respectively.
Hum Paanch from the Zee TV made a super comedy series which revolves around Anand Mathur and his five daughters. The show went on to be a classic in the genre of comedy TV shows in India. The show also gave us one of the most talented actresses of our times Vidya Balan. Ashok Saraf played Anand Mathur, Priya Tendulkar essayed the role of Anand's first wife, Shoma Anand played Bina Mathur,Vandana Pathak portrayed the role of Meenakshi Mathur, Vidya Balan played Radhika Mathur, Rakhee Tandon played Sweety Mathur, Bhairavi Raichura played Kajal Mathur aka Kajal and Jatin Kanakia played Sunil.
The Sony channel introduced a popular crime show ‘CID’ in the late 90’s produced by BP Singh to attract viewers. The show had a stellar star cast Shivaji Satam essayed the role of ACP Pradyuman, Aditya Srivastava plays Senior Inspector Abhijeet, Narendra Gupta plays Dr. R. P. Salunkhe, Dayanand Shetty plays Senior Inspector Daya, Dinesh Phadnis plays Inspector Fredricks and Shraddha Musale plays Dr. Tarika. CID is still popular with the masses and after all these years its charm is still intact.
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