The show wouldn’t have been possible without him. I haven’t met anyone as graceful as him,” says Prem, adding that Sajjan was a family friend, and hence, was cast as the ghost. His good looks were a major reason behind his casting. Arun looked like royalty, and suited the role. “The line that Betaal used to say to Vikram after he answered his question, ‘Tu bola aur main chala,’ became very popular. Sajjan’s portrayal of a ghost, wearing a white wig, yellow highlights under his eyes, blood red lips, a toothless smile and a haunting laugh, was a rage among the kids. Doordarshan had allotted a Sunday 4pm slot to air the show, which disappointed the makers, as they felt that was when most kids went out to play. Watch: The first episode of Vikram Aur BetaalĮven in terms of the timings, the makers had to struggle a bit.
We would shoot 18 scenes in one day,” says Prem. There were no computer effects to create visuals, so we had to do everything physically. “Due to the low budget, we had to shoot in our bungalow, Sagar Villa. Only about a lakh was spent on every episode. That is what gripped the audience, and kept them guessing about the endings of the stories,” says Prem. “The stories needed to build intrigue, and have interesting dialogues. He also gives credit to the show’s writer Sharad Joshi, who translated Bhatt’s stories, and made them more relevant. The challenge was to make the show appealing for kids,” says Prem. Produced by Ramanand Sagar, the show was directed by his son, Prem Sagar. Arvind Trivedi, Deepika Chikhalia and Vijay Arora, who starred in Ramayan, were part of this show too. Arun Govil played the role of Vikramaditya, while late actor Sajjan played Betaal. In each episode, the manipulative Betaal would tell Vikramaditya a story, and at the end of each, he would trick him into answering a question, before flying away. In the show, the stories were narrated to King Vikramaditya by a ghost named Betaal, as he carried him piggyback. The show narrated 25 stories, which were originally written by Mahakavi Somdev Bhatt almost 2,500 years ago, and were called Betaal Pacchisi. Vikram Aur Betaal started airing in 1985, and soon captured the imagination of the entire nation.
0 kommentar(er)
