Hum Log
Encyclopedia
Hum Log was India
n television's first soap opera. It began telecast on Doordarshan
, India's national network on July 7, 1984, then the only television channel of India, and it quickly became immensely popular. Indian audiences loved the show and the characters became legendary and a common topic of discussion. Hum Log is the story of an Indian middle class family of the 1980s and their daily struggles and aspirations.
The idea of the TV series came to then Information and Broadcasting Minister, Vasant Sathe
, after a Mexican trip in 1982, and soon the idea for Hum Log was developed in collaboration with writer Manohar Shyam Joshi
, who scripted the series, and filmmaker, P. Kumar Vasudev, who went on direct the series. The title score was composed by music director Anil Biswas
.
would discuss the ongoing story and situations with the audience in a unique style, using Hindi couplets and limericks. In later episodes, after the show had reached the heights of popularity, he'd introduce the actors who played various characters in the serial and end his monologue with the various Indian language versions of the words "Hum Log." In city like Chennai a person would give a brief about episode to be followed. As it was in Hindi, for people to understand the serial.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n television's first soap opera. It began telecast on Doordarshan
DoorDarshan
Doordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...
, India's national network on July 7, 1984, then the only television channel of India, and it quickly became immensely popular. Indian audiences loved the show and the characters became legendary and a common topic of discussion. Hum Log is the story of an Indian middle class family of the 1980s and their daily struggles and aspirations.
The idea of the TV series came to then Information and Broadcasting Minister, Vasant Sathe
Vasant Sathe
Vasant Purushottam Sathe was an Indian politician of the Indian National Congress party. He was a lawyer by training and became a parliamentarian in 1972 and a cabinet minister during the 1980s. He was a socialist and came to prominence in the congress after Indira Gandhi split the party for a...
, after a Mexican trip in 1982, and soon the idea for Hum Log was developed in collaboration with writer Manohar Shyam Joshi
Manohar Shyam Joshi
Manohar Shyam Joshi was a Hindi writer, journalist and scriptwriter, most well known as the writer of Indian television's first soap opera,Hum Log and its early hits Buniyaad , Kakaji Kahin, a political satire and Kyap, novel which won him the Sahitya Akademi Award.-Biography:Manohar Shyam...
, who scripted the series, and filmmaker, P. Kumar Vasudev, who went on direct the series. The title score was composed by music director Anil Biswas
Anil Biswas
Anil Biswas was an Indian politician. He was the secretary of the West Bengal State Committee of Communist Party of India and member of the party's Polit Bureau beginning in 1998. He was the editor of Marxbadi Path the theoretical quarterly in Bengal...
.
Legacy
Hum Log, with 156 episodes, was the longest running serial in the history of Indian television at the time it ended. Every episode of Hum Log was about 25 minutes long, and the last episode was about 55 minutes.Cast and characters
- Ashok KumarAshok KumarAshok Kumar also fondly called Dadamoni was an Indian film actor. Born Kumudlal Ganguly in Bhagalpur, Bengal Presidency he attained iconic status in Indian cinema...
... Sutradhar - Vinod Nagpal ... Basesar Ram: the alcoholic father
- Jayshri Arora ... Bhagwanti: the mother was a housewife who used to sleep in her kitchen
- Rajesh Puri ... Lallu (Lalit Prasad): the eldest son, unemployed and looking for a job
- Abhinav Chaturvedi ... Nanhe: the younger son, aspiring to be a crickter
- Seema Bhargava ... Badki: the eldest daughter, a social worker
- Divya Seth ... Majhli: the second eldest daughter, aspiring to be an actress
- Loveleen Mishra ... Chutki: the youngest daughter, aspiring to be a doctor
- Lahiri Singh ... Dadaji: retired military man and the grandfather
- Sushma SethSushma SethSushma Seth is an Indian film, television, and stage actress. She started her career in the late 1970s, and has been known for playing the mother and the grandmother in movies and television. She is most known as the role of Dadi in pioneering TV soap Hum Log . She is also a theatre actor and...
... Dadi: a typical Indian grandmother - Kamia Malhotra ... Kamia Lal
- Aashif SheikhAashif SheikhAashif Sheikh in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, is an Indian film actor.He has acted alongside Shilpa Shetty in a number of films including Chhote Sarkar , Auzaar , Pardesi Babu and Shah Rukh Khan in Army , Karan Arjun and Zamaana Deewana and Divya Dutta in Ishq Mein Jeena Ishq Mein...
... Prince Ajay Singh - Manoj Pahwa ... Tony: Guy who elopes with Majhli
- Suchitra (Srivastava) Chitale ... Lajjo
Additional information
At the end of every episode, veteran Hindi film actor Ashok KumarAshok Kumar
Ashok Kumar also fondly called Dadamoni was an Indian film actor. Born Kumudlal Ganguly in Bhagalpur, Bengal Presidency he attained iconic status in Indian cinema...
would discuss the ongoing story and situations with the audience in a unique style, using Hindi couplets and limericks. In later episodes, after the show had reached the heights of popularity, he'd introduce the actors who played various characters in the serial and end his monologue with the various Indian language versions of the words "Hum Log." In city like Chennai a person would give a brief about episode to be followed. As it was in Hindi, for people to understand the serial.
External links
- Photos Feature: Hum Log, 25 years on at Rediff.comRediff.comRediff.com India is a news, information, entertainment, and shopping portal. It was founded in 1996 as "Rediff On The NeT" and is headquartered in Mumbai, India with offices in New Delhi and New York City, USA....