''Hum Log'' (English: ''We People'') is an Indian television soap opera and also the first serial drama series in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. It began telecast on 7 July 1984 on

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 ...

, the only television channel in India at the time. It is the story of an Indian middle-class family of the 1980s and their daily struggles and aspirations. It was created on the lines of a Mexican television series, '' Ven Conmigo'' (1975), using the education-entertainment methodology. The idea of the TV series came to then Information and Broadcasting Minister, Vasant Sathe, after a Mexican trip in 1982. Soon the idea for ''Hum Log'' was developed in collaboration with writer Manohar Shyam Joshi, who scripted the series, and filmmaker, P. Kumar Vasudev, who went on direct the series. The title score was composed by music director Anil Biswas. At the end of every episode,

Ashok Kumar Ashok Kumar (born Kumudlal Ganguly; 13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He is considered to be the first Super-st ...

discussed the ongoing story and situations with the audience using Hindi couplets and limericks. In later episodes, introduced the actors who played various characters in the serial and end his monologue with the various Indian language versions of the words "Hum Log". The series was broadcast in the UK on the cable channel Indra Dhnush in 1992.''Satellite Times'', July 1992

Cast and characters

as Narrator *

Vinod Nagpal Vinod Nagpal is an Indian film, stage and television actor and a trained classical singer, who mainly works in Hindi cinema. He has appeared in movies, mostly as a character actor. Career He made his screen debut with '' Chashme Buddoor'' (1981) ...

as Basesar Ram: alcoholic father *

Jayshree Arora Jayshree Arora (also spelled Joyshree or Jayshri) is an Indian film, stage and television actress, and a trained dancer of Kathak and Manipuri dance. She starred in the first Indian TV serial ''Hum Log (television series), Hum Log'', which beg ...

as Bhagwanti: the mother, a housewife *

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 ...

as Lalit Prasad a.k.a. Lalloo: the eldest son, unemployed and looking for a job * Abhinav Chaturvedi as Chander Prakash a.k.a. Nanhe: the younger son, aspiring to be a cricketer *

Seema Pahwa Seema Bhargava Pahwa (née Bhargava; born 10 February 1962) is an Indian actress and director known for her varied characters in films and television. She is the recipient of several awards including a Filmfare Award and a Filmfare OTT Award. ...

as Gunvanti a.k.a. Badki, a social worker * Divya Seth as Rupvanti a. k. a. Majhli, aspiring to be an actress * Loveleen Mishra as Preeti a.k.a. Chhutki, aspiring to be a doctor * Lahiri Singh as Dadaji: retired military man and the grandfather *

Sushma Seth Sushma Seth (born 20 June 1936) is an Indian stage, film and television actress. She started her career in the 1950s, and was a founder member of the Delhi-based theatre group Yatrik. Her first film was '' Junoon'' in 1978. She is known for pl ...

as Imarti Devi a.k.a. Dadi: the grandmother * Renuka Israni as Usha Rani, Lalloo's wife * Kamia Malhotra as Kamia Lal *

Aasif Sheikh Aasif Sheikh (born 11 November 1964) is an Indian film, stage, and television actor. He played the role of Prince Ajay Singh in '' Hum Log'', India's first daily soap opera. He has appeared in numerous Bollywood films and TV serials and is w ...

as Prince Ajay Singh *

Manoj Pahwa Manoj Pahwa (born 8 December 1963), is an Indian film and television actor who is noted for his role as Bhatia in the comedy series '' Office Office'' (2001). Pahwa has acted in over 70 films as a character actor, including '' 7½ Phere'' (2005 ...

as Tony: Guy who elopes with Majhli * Suchitra (Srivastava) Chitale as Lajwanti ak.a. Lajo * Kavita Nagpal as Santo Tai * Ashwini Kumar (actor), Ashwini Kumar as Dr. Ashwini Kumar * Rajendra Ghuge as Inspector Sadanand Samdar * Aparna Katara as Dr. Aparna * S. M. Zaheer as Prof. Sudhir * Vishwa Mohan Badola as Music teacher

Development and production

In 1984, Mexican television writer Miguel Sabido, who had written the Mexican telenovela on

educational entertainment Educational entertainment, also referred to by the portmanteau edutainment, is media designed to educate through entertainment. The term has been used as early as 1933. Most often it includes content intended to teach but has incidental entert ...

, '' Ven conmigo'' (Come with Me, 1975) on adult literacy, was invited to India. Working with local writer, he helped created the series which tackled social issues like family planning, caste harmony, empowerment of women, national integration, dowry, alcoholism and drug abuse. ''Ven conimgo'' was in turned based on the a Peruvian telenovela, '' Simplemente María'' (Simply Maria, 1969-1971). The cast would meet for rehearsals at 3 pm at Himachal Bhavan, near

Mandi House Mandi House is a locality in Delhi, India. It was the former residence of the Raja of Mandi in Delhi. History In the 1940s, the 18th Raja of Mandi State, Raja Sir Joginder Sen Bahadur built his residence next to what is now ''Himachal Bhawan ...

in Delhi, and thereafter a van would take them to a studio in suburb

Gurgaon Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest ...

where it was shot.

Reception

During its 17-month run, Ashok Kumar received over 400,000 letters from young viewers, asking him to convince their parents in marriage of their choice. The viewership of each episode was more than 50 millions.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0363341, title=Hum Log Indian television soap operas DD National original programming 1984 Indian television series debuts 1985 Indian television series endings 1980s Indian television series

Cast and characters

Development and production

Reception

See also

References

External links