New Delhi. After the advent of Hindi cinema, there was a boom in TV which brought people closer to TV. It is said that the concept of soap operas emerged in the West. Some people give credit to Italy, some to Spain, while some say that Mexico led it. Whatever the issue, people in India liked TV shops a lot. Do you know that these were started on the recommendation of the PM and a Union Minister? At that time, Doordarshan was the only medium available to people, through which many serials were telecasted. There was also a show which people loved more than ‘Mahabharata’, but the show was cancelled after just one year.
The story is of the year 1982. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister and Vasant Sathe was the Information and Broadcasting Minister. The PM wanted a daily soap to be made on family planning, which would be entertaining as well as make people aware. Vasant Sathe got involved in this work and went on a trip to Mexico, where he came across telenovelas and especially the hit show ‘Ven Comingo’.
The show started with a team of 4 people
He assigned writer Manohar Shyam Joshi to develop a similar show for Doordarshan in India. A team of four was formed for this, which included Satish Garg as director and P Kumar Vasudev as script writer. The show was ready and was named ‘Hum Log’.
India’s first fiction TV serial was ‘Hum Log’
The show was India’s first fiction TV serial, which began airing in July 1984. The show aired 5 days a week and dealt with the daily issues, social evils and problems of a middle-class family combined with the turmoil of a typical Indian family.
The main attraction of the show was Bollywood star Ashok Kumar,
A show with a TRP of 5 crores
When Hum Log aired, television was still a new thing for most people in India. Still, the show managed to capture the hearts and minds of viewers. According to media reports, Hum Log had a TRP of 50 million during its peak viewership, which is higher than many iconic shows that came later, including Mahabharat (22.7 million), Bigg Boss (8.4), and Naagin (7.6).
Only 1 show could beat ‘Hum Log’
In that era, only Ramanand Sagar’s ‘Ramayan’ could beat the viewership of ‘Hum Log’ and in this era, only the telecast of Indian Premier League (IPL) has been able to beat it. Talking about the show, Vinod Nagpal, Jayshree Arora, Rajesh Puri, Seema Pahwa, Divya Seth, Loveleen Mishra, Sushma Seth and others acted in the show. But the main attraction was Bollywood star Ashok Kumar, who was working as the moderator of the show.
40 lakh letters and people angry with the makers’ decision
When Hum Log aired, it proved to be the most popular show on Indian television. During its run, Doordarshan and Ashok Kumar received 40 lakh letters from readers, highlighting its impact. So naturally, when Doordarshan decided to shut down the show in December 1985, viewers were not happy. There was a lot of uproar, but finally, after a run of 156 episodes, ‘Hum Log’ was completely shut down on 17 December 1985.
Tags: Ashok Kumar, Entertainment Special, TV Actor
FIRST PUBLISHED : May 24, 2024, 10:50 IST