Bharat Ek Khoj | The Beginnings | TV Serial On DVD Reviews

Bharat Ek Khoj was a Hindi TV Serial which was aired on DoorDarshan many years ago (originally aired in 1988) and it got critical acclaim as well as love and affection of public both. Shyam Benegal did a fantastic job as a director and all the lead actors played their part with equally great efforts. But the most remarkable stuff was the Research and development done in order to make the stuff more authentic. The TV Serial was based on the famous book by Late Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru – the first prime minister of independent India – Bharat – titled as “Discovery Of India” – Hindi translation – Bharat Ek Khoj.

The TV serial was segmented in the following episodes:

• Bharat Mata Ki Jai
• The Beginnings
• The Arrival of the Vedic People (the Rigveda)
• Caste Formation
• Mahabharata Part 1
• Mahabharata Part 2
• Ramayana Part 1
• Ramayana Part 2
• Republics and Kingdoms
• Acceptance and Negation of Life
• Chanakya and Chandragupta Part 1
• Chanakya and Chandragupta Part 2
• Ashoka Part 1
• Ashoka Part 2
• The Sangam Period: Silapaddirakam Part 1
• The Sangam Period: Silapaddirakam Part 2
• The Classical Age
• Kalidas and Shakuntala Part 1
• Kalidas and Shakuntala Part 2
• Harshavardhana
• Bhakti
• The Chola Empire Part 1
• The Chola Empire Part 2
• The Delhi Sultanate and Prithviraj Raso Part 1
• The Delhi Sultanate and Prithviraj Raso Part 2
• The Delhi Sultanate and Padmavat
• Synthesis
• The Vijayanagar Empire
• Feudalism
• The Fall of the Vijayanagar Empire
• Rana Sanga, Ibrahim Lodi and Babur
• Akbar Part 1 (Din-e-Ilahi)
• Akbar Part 2
• Golden Hind
• Aurangzeb Part 1
• Aurangzeb Part 2
• Shivaji Part 1
• Shivaji Part 2
• Company Bahadur
• Tipu Sultan
• The Bengal Renaissance and Raja Ram Mohan Roy
• 1857 Part 1
• 1857 Part 2
• Indigo Revolt
• Mahatma Phule
• Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
• Vivekananda
• Extremists and Moderates
• And Gandhi Came Part 1
• And Gandhi Came Part 2
• Separatism
• Do or Die
• Epilogue

The lyrics of the title song of the TV serial was the original and Hindi Translation of the hymns from Rigveda.Here are the lyrics (curtsey: Internet):

सृष्टी से पहले सत्य नहीं था,
असत्य भी नहीं
अंतरिक्ष भी नहीं,
आकाश भीं नहीं था
छिपा था क्या कहाँ,
किसने देखा था
उस पल तो अगम,
अटल जल भी कहाँ था
सृष्टी का कौन हैं कर्ता
कर्ता हैं यह वा अकर्ता
ऊंचे आसमान में रहता
सदा अध्यक्ष बना रहता
वोहीं सच मुच में जानता.
या नहीं भी जानता
हैं किसी को नहीं पता
नहीं पता
नहीं है पता, नहीं है पता………..
वोह था हिरान्य गर्भ सृष्टी से पहले विद्यमान
वोही तो सारे भूत जात का स्वामी महान
जो है अस्तित्वमाना धरती आसमान धारण कर
ऐसे किस देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर
जिस के बल पर तेजोमय है अम्बर
पृथ्वी हरी भरी स्थापित स्थिर
स्वर्ग ओर सूरज भी स्थिर
ऐसे किस देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर
गर्भ में अपने अग्नी धारण कर
पैदा कर्व्यपा था जल इधर उधर नीचे ऊपर
जगह चुके वो का एकमेव प्रान बंकर
ऐसे किस देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर
ॐ ! सृष्टी निर्माता स्वर्ग रचायता पूर्वज रख्सा कर
सत्य धर्मं पलक अतुल जल नियामक रक्षा कर
फैली हैं दिशाएं बहु जैसी उसकी सब में सब पर
ऐसी ही देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर
ऐसी ही देवता कि उपासना करे हम अवि देकर..

The TV series is now available (since a few years) for home viewing in two variations.

1. Economy Edition (set of 9 DVDs)
2. Premium Edition (set of 18 DVDs)

The content however is same in both the editions, the resolution is scaled down in 9 DVD set to fit the content.

Over the period of time, we will keep reviewing episodes from this DVD set, so keep reading… 🙂

Recently in an interview with Purushottam Agrawal for Kitaab, Shyam Benegal shared some of his memories regarding Bharat Ek Khoj. Here is the video available under YouTube standard license. You will enjoy this video for sure.