For the last couple of weeks, I have been off-routine. My day usually starts with breakfast, fast track news reading and then book reading , depending on other chores. This is a fixed schedule and I become cranky (arthritis next! ) when I deviate from it. So if something does distract me from my exciting plan,it has to be worth it right?
So what was I upto? I have been watching Buniyaad, a 1986 Doordarshan(DD) Indian TV family show. The words 'Buniyaad', '1986', 'Doordarshan' and 'family show' may be enough for you to roll your eyes high enough to envy Maybelline's mascara potential but I'm, without apologies, an old soul. Now I know for the jet setting life we lead and the options of gazillion TV shows, reality and 'surreality' stuff out there I must be a donkey of a babe to watch this dusty classic show but guess what...script! and acting! and no mandatory three time head turns!
Linda Goodman has written in her star signs book that Cancerians love things of past and vintage is a word that sets their heart thumping. True to my breed, I am a keeper and finder of old things and my movie blog was born out of this love. Besides, who doesn't love things of substance? And can you say that today's TV shows have that? I mean you can't throw any sleazy 90s movie at me for the sake of nostalgia! Naseeruddin in Masoom > Naseeruddin in Tridev right?
So DD or not, Amazon Prime or Netflix, I am sure we all are always browsing for good stuff to watch. The kind of show or movie which makes us think, feel, laugh, cry but mindfully and originally. Hence I ended up watching Buniyaad. A 1986 show written by Manohar Shyam Joshi (who also created Hum Log) and directed by our Sholay guy Ramesh Sippy, it ran for approx two years and 105 episodes, a big deal and a big hit for that time.
Let me talk about Buniyaad. In the smallest synopsis, its a family story around the time of partition and covering two decades in total. The story starts in Lahore in 1920s and then moves forward to partition. One family, one of the main in the story, forced to move to Delhi , meets the second, who together form the cusp of this show.
The story mainly is about the relationship between the two families and how they are connected. There is love, friendship, parent children bonding and also glimpses of partition era wounds. The ensemble cast includes Alok Nath, Anita Kanwar, Kiran Juneja, Vijayendra Ghatge, Dalip Tahil, Soni Razdan, Mazhar Khan, Neena Gupta, Kanwaljit Singh and more.
Buniyaad is about a lot of aspects that we have grown up watching in Bollywood. If you are a 80s Indian kid, you would have been saturated with things like family values, sacrifice, patriotism, manners,love etc. This show doesn't lack these. So whats new?
Well don't you ask the same question to today's TV shows?
Buniyaad scales on script. The writing of Manohar Joshi is almost flawless. Every character is given magnitude and there is a vested interest in developing the role. The show doesn't dwell on any of the above mentioned list of aspects. Though it is largely about displacement of families during partition, there isn't a single episode which talks about it for the entire duration of its allotted 25 minutes. Buniyaad is expertly garnished with subtle comedy, branched out story and a plethora of emotions.
There are no flashy camera shots, expensive looking silk saris and palaces. What there is,is soul in the writing and vision to direction. The honesty pulls you. There is a conviction in the narration and characterization which makes you wonder what are we watching when we flip channels today. Partition, independence are concepts which are slowly collecting dust in our minds. We don't identify with the passion that these concepts once had. So to watch a thrity year old TV show may not be the trending thing to do, nevertheless, I loved it. Watched it for straight for a fortnight , three to four episodes at a time. The last time I was this mesmerized by a TV show was FRIENDS, back in 2000 when I saw it first.
Buniyaad has made me look at DD with new found respect. Forget nostalgia and look at the kind of shows we had then. Hum Log, Udaan, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi etc. Yes some were inspired by foreign shores but most were original in thought and script. Even the inspired ones had originality in execution.
Ok so someone hurry up with that time machine already!
Pictures from various sources.
So what was I upto? I have been watching Buniyaad, a 1986 Doordarshan(DD) Indian TV family show. The words 'Buniyaad', '1986', 'Doordarshan' and 'family show' may be enough for you to roll your eyes high enough to envy Maybelline's mascara potential but I'm, without apologies, an old soul. Now I know for the jet setting life we lead and the options of gazillion TV shows, reality and 'surreality' stuff out there I must be a donkey of a babe to watch this dusty classic show but guess what...script! and acting! and no mandatory three time head turns!
Linda Goodman has written in her star signs book that Cancerians love things of past and vintage is a word that sets their heart thumping. True to my breed, I am a keeper and finder of old things and my movie blog was born out of this love. Besides, who doesn't love things of substance? And can you say that today's TV shows have that? I mean you can't throw any sleazy 90s movie at me for the sake of nostalgia! Naseeruddin in Masoom > Naseeruddin in Tridev right?
So DD or not, Amazon Prime or Netflix, I am sure we all are always browsing for good stuff to watch. The kind of show or movie which makes us think, feel, laugh, cry but mindfully and originally. Hence I ended up watching Buniyaad. A 1986 show written by Manohar Shyam Joshi (who also created Hum Log) and directed by our Sholay guy Ramesh Sippy, it ran for approx two years and 105 episodes, a big deal and a big hit for that time.
Let me talk about Buniyaad. In the smallest synopsis, its a family story around the time of partition and covering two decades in total. The story starts in Lahore in 1920s and then moves forward to partition. One family, one of the main in the story, forced to move to Delhi , meets the second, who together form the cusp of this show.
The story mainly is about the relationship between the two families and how they are connected. There is love, friendship, parent children bonding and also glimpses of partition era wounds. The ensemble cast includes Alok Nath, Anita Kanwar, Kiran Juneja, Vijayendra Ghatge, Dalip Tahil, Soni Razdan, Mazhar Khan, Neena Gupta, Kanwaljit Singh and more.
Buniyaad is about a lot of aspects that we have grown up watching in Bollywood. If you are a 80s Indian kid, you would have been saturated with things like family values, sacrifice, patriotism, manners,love etc. This show doesn't lack these. So whats new?
Well don't you ask the same question to today's TV shows?
Buniyaad scales on script. The writing of Manohar Joshi is almost flawless. Every character is given magnitude and there is a vested interest in developing the role. The show doesn't dwell on any of the above mentioned list of aspects. Though it is largely about displacement of families during partition, there isn't a single episode which talks about it for the entire duration of its allotted 25 minutes. Buniyaad is expertly garnished with subtle comedy, branched out story and a plethora of emotions.
Director Ramesh Sippy on the sets
There are no flashy camera shots, expensive looking silk saris and palaces. What there is,is soul in the writing and vision to direction. The honesty pulls you. There is a conviction in the narration and characterization which makes you wonder what are we watching when we flip channels today. Partition, independence are concepts which are slowly collecting dust in our minds. We don't identify with the passion that these concepts once had. So to watch a thrity year old TV show may not be the trending thing to do, nevertheless, I loved it. Watched it for straight for a fortnight , three to four episodes at a time. The last time I was this mesmerized by a TV show was FRIENDS, back in 2000 when I saw it first.
Buniyaad has made me look at DD with new found respect. Forget nostalgia and look at the kind of shows we had then. Hum Log, Udaan, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi etc. Yes some were inspired by foreign shores but most were original in thought and script. Even the inspired ones had originality in execution.
Ok so someone hurry up with that time machine already!
Pictures from various sources.
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