Flashback Friday: When Mukesh Khanna revealed the real reason why Shaktimaan ended on TV

Shaktimaan will be recreated by Sony Pictures for cinemas as a trilogy, telling the story of the Indian superhero

Shaktimaan

Mukesh Khanna had earlier said that he is also keen about making Shaktimaan 2 like the audience but little did we know that the character will now be recreated as a film for big screens by Sony Picture International Productions along with Brewing Thoughts Private Limited and Khanna's Bheeshm International. India's earliest superhero will be back with a trilogy for big cinemas.

As we celebrate the news, let's revisit the original superhero show of Doordarshan and why did it end after almost eight years. The series tells the story of Pandit Gangadhar Vidhyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastriji aka Gangadhar, a photographer for a newspaper with superhero powers. Shaktimaan gathered power through meditation and the five elements - fire, water, air, earth and space. The series was an instant hit when it started airing in 1997 even though it ran on Doordarshan during the non-prime hours. But the show came to an end in 2004.

There were many theories around why the show stopped airing. There were reports on social media stating that the show was ended abruptly as it was affecting the kids. They said that children were getting distracted by the show and unable to perform academically. But maker and the veteran actor Mukesh Khanna had cleared the air and said in a video that Shaktimaan is not guilty.

In the video, the actor recalled that Shaktimaan was one of the most popular series after Mahabharat and Ramayan during the time. He never had any issues with advertisements or viewerships or TRP. He, in fact, said it was due to Shaktimaan that he could start his company, Bheeshm International. The video is available to stream on the YouTube channel of the company.

He recalled how Shaktimaan started on Doordarshan, its journey and also talked about why he decided to end the show, clarifying all rumours about the superhero series, which is a happy memory for every '90s kid. Mukesh said he proposed the idea of Shaktimaan, India's first superhero to the DG of Doordarshan and he was all up for it. He immediately said that he can give slots for Saturday mornings to run 104 episodes. Mukesh was sceptical in the beginning as since his target audience was the kids, he wasn't sure about airing the show on Saturdays. Many schools function on Saturdays as well. He checked with his agency in Mumbai and told the DG that he would like to air the show on Saturday morning and a night on any other day. He then got the slots to air the show from 10.30 to 11.30 on Tuesday nights and 10.30 to 11.30 on Saturdays mornings. The popularity of the show made the odd timings prime time. But the makers faced several challenges as there were complaints that children were bunking school on Saturdays to watch the show.

Mukesh also revealed that his fees increased from 3.80 lakh at the beginning to 10.8 lakh after it aired 208 episodes. He was not happy with the hike in the fees as he says 'success cannot be penalised' but DD had rules about the fees and they increase it every year. Shaktimaan was the only popular show among 100 DD satellite shows, he says. But later, he learned that his fees will increase to 16.8 lakh and he was not convinced. He also had another show Aaryamaan on Sundays. He says he tried various ways to work it out but was suffering from losses and hence, he decided to stop the show.

In the two-year-old video, he also says the people still enquire about Season 2 of Shaktimaan and he is also equally interested and excited to take the story of the superhero ahead. And now, we believe we will get to see the superhero back on screens. Sony Pictures International Productions has bought the rights to the story and is planning for a trilogy with a prominent star playing the role. However, no more details have been divulged so far. We are too keeping our ears and eyes open to find any updates about Shaktimaan!

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