''Amrapali'' was an Indian historical drama TV serial, directed by

Ravi Kemmu Ravi may refer to: People * Ravi (name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Ravi (composer) (1926–2012), Indian music director * Ravi (Ivar Johansen) (born 1976), Norwegian musical artist * Ravi (rapper) (born 1993), a Sou ...

in 2002. It was a big-budget (Rs 100 million) story depicting the world of around 600 B.C. The serial was broadcast on the

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

National Network every Sunday at 11am, starting on 30 June 2002. The story's central character was a young woman,

Amrapali Āmrapālī, also known as "Ambapālika", "Ambapali", or "Amra" was a celebrated '' nagarvadhu'' (royal courtesan) of the Republic of Vaishali (located in present-day Bihar) in ancient India around 500 BC. Amrapali also won the title of rajnart ...

, who was made the property of the state and elevated to a high position but forced into entertaining men. Kemmu said at a press meeting that very little information is available about Amrapali, and her history is only known through the

Jataka tales The ''Jātaka'' (Sanskrit for "Birth-Related" or "Birth Stories") are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. Jataka stories we ...

. ''Amrapali'' was originally conceptualised as a serial of 104 parts. It called for a cast of 39 supported by a 500-strong crowd, 25 horses, several elephants, and 25 security personnel to guard a set that cost Rs 40 million.

Personnel

The lead role of Amrapali was played by

Shilpa Shinde Shilpa Shinde (born 28 August 1977) is an Indian television actress. She is known for playing Angoori Manmohan Tiwari in &TV's ''Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai!''. In 2017, she participated in ''Bigg Boss (Hindi TV series), Bigg Boss 11'' and emerged as ...

. Her name was recommended by her brother, who was working with

Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Limited was a film production and distribution company that produced and distributed Hindi films. The chief of the company was Dhilin Mehta. Television Ashtavinayak Cine Vision produced the serial ''Amrapali'' o ...

. Shilpa Shinde opted out of the show in October 2002 due to remuneration differences with the producer, after shooting 22 episodes of the serial. She was then replaced by Pooja Bharti. The serial was made by DVR Films, presented by L.R. Enterprises, researched by Bodhi Satva, written by B.M. Vyas, and produced by Dhillin Mehta and D. Venkateshwar Rao. Before the serial went on air, the originally nominated director

Vijay Pande Vijay Satyanand Pande is a Trinidadian–American scientist and venture capitalist. Pande is best known for orchestrating the distributed computing protein-folding research project known as Folding@home. His research is focused on distributed co ...

was replaced with Ravi Kemmu.

Cast

/ Pooja Bharti as

. * Seema Kar *

Benjamin Gilani Benjamin Gilani is an Indian film, television and stage actor who works in Hindi cinema. Early life and career Gilani was schooled at Bishop Cotton School, Shimla. He is a postgraduate from Delhi University having studied and taught English l ...

as Mahanaman, Amrapali's foster father *

Narendra Jha Narendra Jha (21 January 1964 14 March 2018) was an Indian actor. He was known for his work in Bollywood productions; his most noted films being '' Haider'', '' Raees'', '' Ghayal Once Again'', ''Hamari Adhuri Kahani'', ''Mohenjodaro'', '' Sh ...

as Harsh (Amrapali's childhood love) * Kanika Shivpuri *

Neelima Azeem Neelima Azeem (born 2 December 1958) is an Indian actress, classical dancer, writer and the mother of actors Shahid Kapoor and Ishaan Khatter. She is known in India for her roles in television shows. Early life Neelima Azeem's father was An ...

Arun Bali Arun Bali (23 December 1942 – 7 October 2022) was an Indian actor who has worked in numerous films and television series. He played the part of Maharaj Porus in the 1991 period drama '' Chanakya'', Kunwar Singh in the Doordarshan soap oper ...

Pankaj Berry Pankaj Berry (born 8 January 1956) is an Indian film and television actor. He did his post-graduation from Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University, Chandigarh where he acted in many theatre productions of the department. His first majo ...

Bimbisara Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika () and Seniya () in the Jain histories ( or ) was the King of Magadha (V. K. Agnihotri (ed.), ''Indian History''. Allied Publishers, New Delhi 262010p. 166f. or ) and belonged to the Haryanka d ...

Rajesh Puri Rajesh Puri is an Indian television actor. He acted in comedy serials like '' Yeh Duniya Gazab Ki''. Rajesh also acted in a DD1 serial Aamrapali (TV serial) in 2002. He is also identified as Lalit Prasad (a.k.a. Lalloo) of Hum Log, the Televis ...

* Vishnu Sharma * Zaheeda *

Manish Wadhwa Manish Wadhwa (born 1972) is an Indian actor and voice actor. He is best known for his roles Chanakya in ''Chandragupta Maurya'', Balaji Vishwanath Bhatt in ''Peshwa Bajirao'', Kans in '' Paramavatar Shri Krishna'', Amal Nanda/Dansh in '' ...

Ajatashatru Ajatasattu (Pāli: ) or Ajatashatru (Sanskrit: ) in the Buddhist tradition, or Kunika () and Kuniya () in the Jain tradition (reigned c. 492 to 460 BCE, or c. 405 to 373 BCE), was one of the most important kings of the Haryanka dynasty of Mag ...

Shahbaaz Khan Shahbaz Khan (real name Haider Khan) is an Indian actor from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. He is famous for playing lead roles in television serials such as ''Chandrakanta (1994 TV series), Chandrakanta'', ''The Great Maratha'', ''The Sword of Tipu ...

Plot

''Amrapali'' is set in ancient Vaishali. It tells the story of the sudden transformation of a beautiful, innocent girl, Amrapali, into a mature adult. Abandoned by her parents, Amrapali was found as an infant under a mango tree by Mahanaman. He took her to a village on the outskirts of Vaishali, where she grew up and fell in love with a man named Harsh. Out of curiosity, she visits Vaishali to see the Phalguni Utsav organised every seven years to crown the new ''Janpath Kalyani'' of Vaishali. This title is given every seven years to the most beautiful and talented woman of the kingdom, who will then entertain the men of her choice. Amrapali's visit to the utsav changes the course of her life. In a dramatic turn of events, she gets drunk and joins the group of beauties contending to become Janpath Kalyani. Later she works for the uplift of women and wages a battle to end the practice of Janpath Kalyani. In the process, she loses her beloved as well as her freedom, and embraces

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Awards

The serial ''Amrapali'' won

Indian Television Academy Awards The Indian Television Academy Awards, also known as the ITA Awards, is an annual award ceremony organised by the Indian Television Academy to honour excellence in Hindi-language television, films and web content. The Indian Television Academ ...

in 2002 in several categories. *Best Mythological/Historical Serial - D.Venkateshwar Rao /

Dhilin Mehta Dhilin Mehta is an Indian film producer. He served as the chief executive officer of Ashtavinayak Cine Vision. He produced the DD1 serial Aamrapali in 2002. He started his career with small budget films like '' Fun2shh'' and '' Agnipankh'' a ...

*Best Art Direction - Jayant Deshmukh *Best Costumes- Mala Dey *Best Cinematography / Videography - Mahesh Talkad

References

{{reflist

External links