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Journalism of Courage
From August 15,Hum will bring back the joy of watching Hum Log to a new generation on Doordarshan
ON July 7,1984,Doordarshan,then known mostly for its programmes on agriculture,aired the first episode of Hum Log. Soon the nation was addicted to it. The serial dealt with the trials and tribulations of a North Indian middle class family. The grandfather was affable,the grandmother crude,the son an alcoholic,the wife long-suffering and children had their own idiosyncrasies. Each episode ended with a little homily delivered by actor Ashok Kumar.
More than 25 years later,Hum Logwhich started the tradition of soap operas on Indian televisionplans a comeback on Doordarshan,albeit in a new avatar as Hum,on August 15. However,the cast isnt the same nor the story. The format and treatment will bear resemblance to that of the original show. And Sushma Seth,who played Dadi in the original,will sum up each episode this time. It is a take off on Hum Log. But this time instead of a family,we have a village. But the style and sensibility remain the same, says Shobha Doctor,producer of the original series and the mentor of the new one.
Doctor,66,was suffering from depression after her husbands death three years ago. It was then that her close friend Keerti Srivastava persuaded her to get back to television. She then met Dr Aruna Sharma,director general of Doordarshan,and both decided to bring back the format of Hum Log which had once played a major role in Doordarshans success. We did not want to make a sequel because there was nothing left to explore in the lives of Basesar Rams family now. We instead thought of taking the serial to a village in Sitamarhi district of Bihar, she says. The shooting of Hums first schedule is on there.
Sadia Siddiqui will definitely remind you of Badki,Majhli and Chutki.
With the number of general entertainment channels increasing by the day,it looks over-ambitious on the part of Doordarshan to reinvent their old programming strategies. But Tripathy feels that it is a gamble worth taking. Good content wins over everything else. If Hum Log skyrocketed television viewership in India,Hum could grab eyeballs too, he says. Veteran actor Vineet Kumar who plays the role of a zamindar in the show too is happy with the return of concept-based soaps. When a script is pre-written,you have a fair idea about how the serial is going to turn out, feels Kumar,who also stresses on the fact that Hum is the modern day Hum Log.
