Chanakya Serial All Episode 138
Ene Vinson
Chanakya is a 47-part drama epic Indian television historical drama written and directed by Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi that was originally telecasted on DD National from 8 September 1991[1] to 9 August 1992.[2][3][4] Produced by Prakash Dwivedi, the series is a fictionalized account of the life and times of 4th century BCE Indian economist, strategist and political theorist Chanakya (also known as Vishnugupta) and is based on events occurring between 340 BCE and 321/20 BCE, starting with Chanakya's boyhood and culminating in the coronation of Chandragupta Maurya. Chandraprakash Dwivedi played the title role of Chanakya.
Within this framework, Dwivedi portrays the politics that governed relations between kings and officials of that time. He cleverly covers the workings of the early Indian republics and the way of life of ordinary Indians.
While critically acclaimed, Chanakya has been the subject of political controversy too. It has been televised in many countries around the world and has won five Uptron Awards.[2] The series was widely praised for its authenticity, casting and larger than life depiction.[5]
Dwivedi spent more than nine years researching Chanakya and read over 180 books on the subject including the Arthashastra.[6] For him, Chanakya was "the first man with a national consciousness."[3] And that is what made him take up the project:
I am not interested in the present; my idea is to delve into the past and link it with the present. After a great deal of thinking I discovered that politics is the crux of all sciences, just as Chanakya said....Today the question of national consciousness is agitating the minds of our countrymen. Was it not Chanakya who defined Rashtra and paved the way for the first one?[6]
I want to prove that it is not only persons in high places who have changed the course of history but seemingly ne'er do wells like Chanakya from whom there had been no expectations whatever. To present Chanakya in such a light that you or me can, on seeing the serial, exclaim even I could have done that.
Initially, Dwivedi was associated with the project only in his capacity as writer while his brother, Prakash Dwivedi, was the producer. Dwivedi decided to direct the series after continued differences of opinion with the original director, Rajiv Singh, who later filed a case against the producers.[7][9] Dwivedi submitted his script to Doordarshan in April 1986 and shot the plot after receiving the approval sometime in 1988. He submitted it to the channel in December 1988 and got the final approval by the end of the year.[6] BR Chopra, the producer of Mahabharat had been interested in the series and had submitted a proposal of his own to Doordarshan. However, Doordarshan preferred Dwivedi's project to Chopra's proposal which had been "found wanting."[6]
The pilot was shot at a cost of INR 1.8 million (15 million in 2009, as estimated by Dwivedi).[10] Doordarshan initially allotted 26 episodes for the series and an extension was promised if "the quality was up to the mark."[6] In early 1992, a further 21 episodes were sanctioned as against the 26 demanded, after the extension was initially (controversially) revoked, for a total of 47 episodes.[11][12] The first 17 episodes were shot over nine months at an estimated average cost of INR 900,000 per episode.[8] A huge cast of about 300 actors were involved with the production.[7]
The production team included well-known technicians such as art director Nitish Roy and costume designer Salim Arif who had previously been involved with Shyam Benegal's Bharat Ek Khoj.[6][13] Arif was also part of the cast, as narrator and as the character Sidhartak. Roy remained art director for the first 25 episodes, and Nitin Chandrakant Desai, who was assisting him, took over Episode 26 onwards.[10][14]
"Magnificent sets" were created at Film City, Bombay (now Mumbai) for the series and an amount of INR 7 million was budgeted to build three cities including Pataliputra and Takshashila.[6] Chanakya was Desai's first independent project and "[he] had to recreate the ancient grandeur of Pataliputra" for the series. Desai spent weeks at the Asiatic Library and Bombay University researching the period. The university librarian even had a separate desk installed for him in the arts and culture section after noting his "constant presence at the library, even during lunch hour, for weeks at an end."[15][16] The result was a town with "26 structures, four main lanes and six bylanes," all part of a single set.[17]
Dwivedi chose stage actors to play the parts in the series. Pramod Moutho, Suraj Chaddha, Ragini Shah, Ajay Dubey, Arun Bali, Vipin Sharma and Himanshu Gokani were among the first to be selected.[6] While Dwivedi played the central role of Chanakya, he faced a problem when he looked for someone to play the adolescent Vishnugupta. It was then that his friend Akshay Vyas introduced him to Mitesh Safari. "One look at Mitesh and [Dwivedi] knew he had found his Chanakya. [He] did not even take Mitesh's screen test and told him to report directly for the shooting."[19]
The series was re-telecast on Doordarshan's DD National TV channel during the lockdown imposed by the government of India to prevent spread of the COVID-19 pandemic from first week of April 2020[20][21]
The series was commercially successful for Doordarshan, bringing in INR 180 million in advertising revenues.[23] While thinking about opening up the organization's second channel, DD Metro, to private producers in lieu of license fees, it took the Chanakya experience into consideration with a Doordarshan official commenting that "quality programmes can attract enough advertising support to sustain even small producers who could be bidding for time slots on the metro channel."
In this episode, Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi recounts details of the casting that he chose for the series. He intentionally chose lesser-known actors who hailed mainly from the theatre background. Dr. Dwivedi narrates how he approached the folks at the National School of Drama (NSD), Delhi and how he cast such actors as Manoj Joshi, Pramod Moutho, and Irrfan Khan. He recalls an incident of a self-realized Swami or Sanyasi who touched his feet because Dr. Dwivedi was touched by divinity when he made the Chanakya series.
The hallmark of a classic work of art is an innate trait in it to have universal appeal transcending age groups, geographies, languages and cultures. In the annals of creative storytelling through the medium of Television, Chanakya undoubtedly is one such modern classic. This series has become a cultural milestone of sorts in recent Indian history. Today, there are 1000s of clips of selected scenes and dialogues from Chanakya on YouTube and elsewhere on social media that continue to be regularly circulated.
In this episode, Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi narrates the details of the research that he undertook when he got the inspiration to make a TV series on Chanakya. In the process, Dr. Dwivedi offers great insights and shares unknown and interesting anecdotes with host Sandeep Balakrishna.
In my personal opinion king makers are more respected then the king himself. And anyone who achieved a remarkable success mostly have someone to inspire him. It could be a cricket coach for a cricketer or a teacher for a student, it could be Vasishtha for Ram, it could be Albus Dumbledore for Harry Potter and Gandhiji for Nelson Mandela or Sui Ki. It could be Chanakya for Chandragupt (or Chandragupta).
On the way to home, Shaktar was given the orders by the king to appoint the personals to collect newly imposed taxes. Furious Shaktar refuse to obey the orders. At home he found that his family have packed their luggage and ready to leave. They correctly advised him that the ruler who is blind with his vision to see the truth is not trustable anyway. Shaktar though was hopeful that the situation can be normal again. He had the faith that the king will understand the truth. He have no anger for king or any of his assembly member personally. He think of them as family members only. Though they were doing the wrong thing and he has to bring them to the right path. That is all he wanted. Shaktar was not ready to leave his motherland in such problematic situation. Whether his family convinced to stay? or did they left anyway?
Will Shaktar be able to convince DhanNand and other assembly members about the problems of citizens? Will they understand and do the right things? Will the wealth of people, stolen from the treasury by king and his men will be back? What will be the fate of Shishupal who is openly supporting Shaktar? Well, watch the episode to know the sequence of events. We do not want to spoil your mood of watching by spilling the beans here.
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