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Family ties(The Statesman (India) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)There was a time when family members came together simply to watch Buniyaad and follow it up with dinner. The serial is making a comeback. Kajari Bhattacharya stops zapping to take a look If Sholay put the big screen on fire, Buniyaad set the small screen blazing, a fire that is smouldering till today. The show that made Indians sit firmly in front of television sets in the evenings of the late eighties is back on SaharaOne. First launched in 1987, when television meant Krishi Darshan at 6.30 p.m. and a lone movie on Sunday evenings, Buniyaad was a landmark in Indian soap opera. It was a blockbuster that made people forego their dinners and miss chatting with the Mehras next door. The show was produced by Ramesh Sippy, also producer of Sholay. (Coincidence, or sheer genius?) Buniyaad is an example of the thoughtful and simple television programming present in the early days of Indian television. Actors of Buniyaad were not as glamourous as small screen stars are made out to be today. They dressed simply, were probably theatre graduates from NSD Delhi and had a zeal and enthusiasm for acting that is sadly lacking among the present generation of model-turned-TV star wannabe Bollywood stars. The stars of Buniyaad were serious actors like Alok Nath, Anita Kaul, Kiran Juneja, Kanwaljeet, Kulbhushan Kharbhanda, and Abhinav Chaturvedi among others. To refresh he memory of those who remember Buniyaad with nostalgia, the story was that of Master Haveliram, an honest man of principles, who has chosen teaching as a way to contribute to society. It is in his role as a teacher that he comes across the beautiful Lajoji, an innocent child-woman. It is not long before the teacher and pupil realise they share more than just a casual friendship and understanding, they fall in love and soon get married. They have three sons and a daughter and are a happy family until Partition strikes. The story unfolds about how Haveliram and his family manage to fight tremendous odds after leaving their home in a now foreign land and start life anew in independent India, starting out in a refugee camp. Buniyaad is a story of the struggle thousands of Indian families faced after the country was torn by Partition. The story rings more true perhaps because GP Sippy had himself witnessed the Partition. The show will come on Mondays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. on SaharaOne. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] |