The camera pans on Narendra Verma's face. The leading fight director of Bollywood is soothing the nerves of a stuntman on his first fire scene. Through the camera angles, you witness the entire behind-the-scenes turbulence. Verma is `the Indian' through whose eyes the viewer sees the world of duplicates and stuntmen who pack the punch in every action movie.When producer Phalguni Matilal thought of doing a documentary series on unusual Indians, he was looking for people like Verma who would open the doors to a little known world. Armed with the idea, he went to Aruna Har Prasad and the Alva brothers - Nikhil and Niret. Together, they came up with a 26-episode series, Indians (Sundays, 7.30 p.m., DD1) highlighting the diversity of India through the eyes of Indians.The story begins with the logo. ``We wanted a raw-edge for the logo and the story of the bindi seemed appropriate,'' explains director Prasad. ``The entire introduction to the programme is via the story of the teekaand the expression of the eyes. After all, Indians use their eyes a lot, particularly to express various emotions.''From the story of the bindi, things move on to Dishum Dishum man Verma, media moghul Ramoji Rao and Dom Rajas, the keepers of the shamshan ghats of Varanasi.Each episode is a vivid documentation of unusual lifestyles. Aruna says: ``I had four days to come to grips with the whole philosophy of death in Varanasi. The keepers of the pyre or the Dom Rajas actually celebrate death and the concept is of death without tears.'' The Dom Rajas have a huge tiger on the roof of their ancestral house, signifying their supremacy. The story goes something like this: when Raja Harishchandra put himself up for sale, there were no takers. Except for one man, an untouchable, who burned the funeral pyres at the ghats. When he bought Harishchandra, he also bought his title and forever became known as the Dom Rajas.The makers of the serial are banking on thefact that these details are not common knowledge. ``When we chose Ramoji Rao, owner of Eenadu network, we wanted to look at the individual,'' explains Nikhil Alva. As their camera followed Rao through his empire, they captured the fascinating world of set designing.Their camera has travelled far and wide. From the Satras in Majuli to flag off the elephant race in Kerala, it has traversed the length and breadth of the country, showcasing unique aspects of Indian culture. An education which should be entertaining.
