Mukesh Khanna, who played the superhero Shaktimaan in the eponymous show, feels that the show was high on values and he’s happy that people want a rerun
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; March 28, 2020)

Soon after the announcement yesterday that Ramayan will be retelecast, actor-producer Mukesh Khanna’s TV show, Shaktimaan, started trending on Twitter, with people requesting for its rerun as well.

Shaktimaan, a superhero show, was aired on Doordarshan from 1997 to 2005. Mukesh played the titular role and his alter ego, Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri, employed as a photographer in a newspaper called Aaj Ki Aawaz. As a show and a character, Shaktimaan found acceptance for its novel plot revolving around a common man, who attains superpowers through meditation and the five elements of nature. Every episode highlighted a socially relevant subject like the importance of hygiene, family values and morals rooted in Indian culture, and it also attacked social malpractices.

When we spoke to Mukesh yesterday, he said, “It makes me happy that people are demanding a rerun, I will be glad if the ministry considers it. Shaktimaan and a few other shows were high on values, their content was such that India watched them. This lockdown has made people understand each other better. I welcome the decision to have reruns, this is the best time for that.” Over a period of time, the show was accused of tempting children to perform dangerous stunts at home, and that was one of the reasons for it to be pulled off air. However, Mukesh said, “The plugs on my show were not pulled because of complaints, but the escalated broadcasting charges. Kids learnt a lot from Shaktimaan; we always warned them, clearly, to not repeat stunts from the show.”

Given that over the last decade, kids have been exposed to a wide variety of cartoons and shows from different countries, would they tune in to Shaktimaan now? “Yes, they will,” Mukesh said confidently, adding, “The shows of that era succeeded because of their content and not visual effects. Shaktimaan was a hit and will be a hit today, too. It has something for today’s children as well.”
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‘SHAKTIMAAN REPRESENTS INDIA, WHICH FIGHTS CRISES WITH ALL ITS MIGHT’

Surendra Pal, who played the main antagonist in the show, said, “A rerun of popular shows will help us bring back our old values into play. Shaktimaan was more for children and their edutainment. My character was called Tamraj Kilvish, and he was as powerful as Shaktimaan. He wanted to spread andhkaar all over the world,create misery. Shaktimaan was working to stop him and destroy his powers. My character often said, ‘Andhera kaayam rahe’. It was a fight between the good and evil. Shaktimaan, to me, signifies India which continues to fight crises with all its might and problems like coronavirus are like Kilvish’s army, which will be destroyed, eventually.”