That '90s Show

We just have one TV in our house. It’s been kept over a trolley, bought for the same purpose, in my parents’ bedroom. It’s the same TV that my nani gave as one of the wedding gifts to my newly wedded parents back in 1989. Dowry sounds like a bad word. So yes, it was a wedding gift. My dad didn’t ask for a TV, so don’t call it dowry. Or I guess it still is “dahej ka TV”. Well, nevermind.

It’s a grey TV with a convex screen. In simpler words, it’s not as flat as the rotis that your mum makes. The dahej ka TV has been with us for almost 23 years now. It still is in perfect working condition. Originally, it had only 15 channels, but later we got some machinery upgraded and it now shows up to 90 channels. The brand name that shines a little above its chin is Bush. And call it a coincidence if you wish to, but no one cares about this name in the world anymore. Out of sight; out of mind.

A month back, my dad suggested that we buy a new TV, complete with a home theatre system, et al. Considering the time that all of us spend at the office every day, I knew that it wasn’t really the need for a better TV that brought the idea into his head, but a feeling of not having felt Punjabi enough in front of guests in the past few months.

We don’t really watch TV. I don’t think people find the time to watch TV these days. I rather find something entertaining to watch or read on the internet than waste time clicking buttons on a plastic case that induced fascination among people back in the 1990’s.

So yes, I believe TV’s have become a thing of the past. The 1990’s can be called the Golden Age of television, when the TV brought together family members to spend time with each other during dinner every night. The decade of the 1990’s brought a whole new meaning to cable television in India. With Zee TV, Star Plus, Sony, Cartoon Network and Star Movies being the most watched channels after Doordarshan, cable television had become a very integral part of our lives.

We all remember the great dancers, writers, poets, singers and other entertainers who we have just heard about and not seen in real life. It’ll be unfair to not remember the shows that defined the Golden Age of television and entertained our families through at least an eighth of our lives. No matter how undeserving a few of the following names may sound to you, don’t forget that even Om Shanti Om bagged a couple of Filmfares in the year of its release.

The Most Memorable Hindi Sitcom: Hum Paanch

Ashok Saraf as Anand Mathur and his 5 daughters would visit us every week with half an hour of incessant recorded laughs played in the background. Anand’s first wife, played by the hung-on-a-photo-frame Priya Tendulkar, would pass wisecracks like googlies through the twenty-one minutes of an episode’s recording. We all still remember the way Sweety would break into a bollywood number every time that the door bell rang, and her ambition of becoming a Miss India and marrying Shahrukh Khan.

I agree that Hum Paanch was one of the lamest sitcoms I have ever made myself sit through (assuming SAB TV to be inexistent till date), but it was the first show that actually brought recognition to Balaji Telefilms and made me go, “Arrey yeh toh Hum Paanch wala logo hai” when an episode of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi ended a decade later.

I’m sure my friend Vidya Balan would be in agreement with me on calling the show one of the most memorable series of 1990’s television. Of what I remember, she got her break in the industry with her role as Radhika, the deaf daughter of Anand Mathur.

Hum Paanch ko no less than paanch mein se paanch.

The Most Memorable English Sitcom: Small Wonder

The 1990’s wasn’t really the time for English shows to enter the Indian industry. I remember episodes of Dennis the Menace, The Three Stooges and Bewitched being aired on Sony way back in 1995, but none of them were any kind of competition to Small Wonder. Vicki, Jamie and Harriet were friends whom I used to love meeting every evening when dadi would give me a glass of milk. I know it sounds cheesy, but there was never a show more dearly to me than Small Wonder. The show made us all try to stick an electric plug up our armpits on seeing how Vicki would plug the vacuum cleaner or the electric iron to it. We don’t just remember the show for Harriet’s annoying love for Jamie and Vicki’s robot voice, but also for at least one kiss that Mr. & Mrs. Lawson would share in each episode.

Star Plus tried to bring the magic back with Karishma ka Karishma in the mid-2000’s, but like I said, nothing beats the television industry of the 1990’s.

The Most Memorable Cartoon Show: Duck Tales

Cartoon Network came to India and became a hit with the kids in the 1990’s. Hannah-Barbera have given the world some of the most loved cartoon characters, but the uniqueness of Disney has always remained unmatched. Duck Tales and Talespin were two cartoon shows that used to air on Doordarshan for the whole country to enjoy. Its access wasn’t limited to just the urban elite with a cable connection in their house. It was heartwarming to see how Donald Duck’s presence was multiplied and to-the-power-ofied by the show. Huey, Dewey, Louie, Uncle Scrooge, Launchpad McQuack, the Beagle Boys and the Lucky Coin are still fresh in all of our memories. The show would make us smile like Uncle Scrooge during his swimming sessions in his “teh-khaana”.

Baloo, Ked, Madam Mahalingam, Louis and Pantar used to look equally adorable in front of Higher for Hire’s yellow air-plane, but Duck Tales scores a point higher. Blame it on our love for ducks. Quack.

The Most Memorable Superhero: Shaktimaan

Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri’s geeky glasses and buck teeth personality would turn into a middle-aged, black dyed hair, Punjabi looking, non-dubbed hindi speaking superhero, Shaktimaan, in just two seconds of imitating the earth go around its axis.

Mukesh Khanna’s on-screen romance with Kittu Gidwani, Dr. Jackal’s behenji looking assistant and Tamraj Kilvish’s pointy nose were not enough that the show started a small post-episode session called “Chhoti Chhoti Magar Moti Baatein” to haunt our dreams till eternity. “Sorry Shaktimaan” became the most spoken phrase all around the country.

Considering the number of children who jumped off their balconies, the number who would be seen wearing Shaktimaan costumes and riding bicycles in my colony, and the number who fell into the habit of suffixing “Shaktimaan” after every “sorry”, I’m sure there were instances of fathers in our country being addressed as Shaktimaan instead of the Indian favorite “Papa”.

The Most Memorable Reality Show: Close-Up Antakshari

The 1990’s was the era of originality. We, as Indians, were proud of the games that we played. I still remember playing Pitthu with my cousins during the summer vacations. We were so proud that we chose to take one such game to television and call it not just Antakshari, but “Close-Up Antakshari”.

A decade before fakes like KBC, Indian Idol and Bigg Boss brought families to spend time together in front of the idiot box at night; Close-Up Antakshari did the same in style. Anu Kapoor with his ever-changing co-hosts brought to us a show that was devoid of tears, beeps, unnecessary drama, and a hunger for soaring TRP’s. The Deewane, Parwaane and Mastaane would make every member of the family sing along.

For setting an ideal example for reality television that was sadly not followed by the reality shows of the 2000’s, Close-Up Antakshari will always be remembered fondly.

The Most Memorable VJ: Vishal

“Dear Vishal Bhaiya” was how every kid who wrote to Disney Hour addressed his letters. That explains how immensely Vishal was loved by children across the sub-continent. In an age when we didn’t know of production houses and TV show rights, all we knew was that Vishal brought us our favorite cartoon shows to watch every evening between 6p.m. to 7p.m. on Zee TV. Having not hit puberty, we didn’t care for all the Ruby Bhatias and Mallaika Aroras who VJ’ed on Mtv and Channel V.

Even though his on-screen presence these days is limited to being a sidekick to Shahid Kapur, it’s commendable how he still looks the same as he looked some fifteen odd years back.

The Most Memorable Show on Nickelodeon: Legends of the Hidden Temple

Nickelodeon brought a whole new level of kids’ entertainment via television to India. Shows like Kenan and Kel, All That, Hey Arnold, Global Guts and many more exposed the Indian children to the level of adventure and comedy that was, um, I’m sorry to admit, far superior to what the Indian production houses produced and shoved in our faces. I’m talking about the time when we weren’t introduced to Full House, Seinfeld and Friends by our elder siblings. Let’s not even count the latter three in the list of 90’s TV shows. We’ve watched them on our laptops, haven’t we?

So, among all the awesome shows on Nick, the one that stood out was Legends of the Hidden Temple. The talking Olmec, the Temple Guards (“Mandir ke pehredaar” for all those like me who watched it in Hindi), the Mayan-like set, swanky team names and mouth guards were way beyond what we call awesome.

The Red Jaguars, Purple Parrots, Silver Snakes, Orange Iguanas, Blue Barracudas and the Green Monkeys battled it out to collect semi circular gold coins which eventually won one of the teams an entry into the Temple. I remember cheering for the teams from my drawing room, and shouting out instructions on how to assemble the monkey god’s statue to unlock a door.

There are so many more shows, a mention of which would require another post in itself.

We’ve all evolved from the time of television entertainment to smart-phone connectivity. It’s not a bad age to live in though. ‘Cuz I’m sure how in another one decade or even less, we’ll have an article mentioning the Golden Age of smart-phone that will mention names like Angry Birds, Cut The Rope and Temple Run. Isn’t technology such a Jalebi?

Image Source: dvdverdict.com