''Malgudi Days'' is an Indian television series that started in 1986, and was filmed in both English (first 13 episodes) and Hindi (all 54 episodes), based on the 1943 short story collection of the same name by R. K. Narayan. The series was directed by Kannada actor and director

Shankar Nag Shankar Nagarakatte (9 November 1954 – 30 September 1990) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer known for his work in Kannada-language films and television. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, Nag is often referred to as ...

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is o ...

ian L. Vaidyanathan composed the score, while R.K. Narayan's younger brother and acclaimed cartoonist R. K. Laxman was the sketch artist. The series was made by film producer T.S. Narasimhan. In 2006, the series was revived for an additional 15 episodes, which were directed by Kavitha Lankesh.

Plot

The series is adapted from the collections of short stories written by R. K. Narayan in his books ''Malgudi Days'', ''A Horse and Two Goats'', ''An Astrologer's Day and Other Short Stories'', as well as the novels ''

Swami and Friends ''Swami and Friends'' is the first of a series of novels written by R. K. Narayan (1906–2001), English language novelist from India. The novel, the first book Narayan wrote, is set in British India in a fictional town called Malgudi. The secon ...

'', and '' The Vendor of Sweets.''

Episodes

Season - 1 (1986 - 13 Episodes) * A Hero / Hero * A Horse and 2 Goats / Muni * The Missing Mail / Dhakia * The Hoard / Maha Kanjus * Cat Within / Paap ka Gada * Leela’s Friend / Sidda * Old Man of the Temple / Mandir ka Budda * The Watchman / Chowkidar * A Willing Slave / Aaya * Roman Image / Rome ka Murthi * Sweets for Angels / Kaali * The Seventh House / Saathvan Ghar * Nitya Season - 2 (1987 - 13 Episodes) * Engine Trouble / Engine ki Kahani * Iswaran * The Gateman’s Gift / Govind Singh ki Bhent * The Edge / Dhara * Forty-Five a Month / 45 Rupiya * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 1 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 2 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 3 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 4 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 5 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 6 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 7 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 8 Season - 3 (1988 - 13 Episodes) * Performing Child / Abhinetri * The Career / Ramji ki Leela * Trail of the Green Blazer / Pocket Maar * Naga – 1 * Naga – 2 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 1 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 2 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 3 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 4 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 5 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 6 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 7 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 8 Season - 4 (2006 - 15 Episodes) * Annamalai – 1 * Annamalai – 2 * The Gold Belt / Sone ka Kamarband * Dodu * Doctor's Word * Four Rupees * Neighbour's Help * Minister Without Portfolio & Korean Grass * Salt & Saw Dust – 1 * Salt & Saw Dust – 2 * Lawley Road – 1 * Lawley Road – 2 * The Antidote * The Snake Song * An Astrologer's Day

Cast

Master Manjunath Manjunath Nayaker is an Indian actor and public relations professional. He is better known by his screen name Master Manjunath and "Swamy" for his lead role in the television series ''Malgudi Days'' (1987) directed by Shankar Nag and in its fil ...

as W. S. Swaminathan "Swami" *

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

as W. T. Srinivasan *

Vaishali Kasaravalli Vaishali Kasaravalli (12 April 1952 – 27 September 2010) was a noted Kannada actress, television serial director, and costume designer. Early life She was born on 12 April 1952 in Gulbarga to theatre enthusiast parents Dr. Chitagopi and Ni ...

as Swami's mother * Suhasini Adarkar as Swami's grandmother * Kanti Madiya as Muniya "Muni" * B. Jayashree as Muniya's wife * Somu as Shopkeeper * Teddy White as Frank *

Deven Bhojani Deven Bhojani is an Indian actor and director. He is a theatre artist, who is best known for his Gujarati plays. He made his television debut with the famous show ''Malgudi Days'' in 1987. He mainly gained popularity for his comic roles and for ...

as Nitya *

Harish Patel Harish Patel (born 5 July 1953) is an Indian character actor. He has appeared in a variety of Hindi films, but in recent years has begun to appear in American projects like reimagination of '' Four Weddings and a Funeral'' on Hulu. His latest ...

as Various characters *

Anant Nag Dr Anant Nagarkatte (born 4 September 1948) is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in Kannada cinema. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 200 Kannada films as well as Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam and En ...

as Various characters * Vishnuvardhan as Venkat Rao *

as Venkatesh *

Ramesh Bhat Ramesh Bhat is a multiple-award–winning Indian actor. He has worked predominantly in Kannada films and television serials. Early life Ramesh Bhat was born in Kundapur. He completed his primary education at Manki and portrayed national leader ...

as various characters * Rohit Srinath as Rajam
Raghuram Sitaram
as Mani * Chetan as S. Somashekar "Somu" * Arundathi Nag as Kamala * Sunil Sadanand as Mali, Jagan's son * Mandeep Rai as Narsimha, Jagan's cousin * Ashok Mandanna as Thanappa * Vasanth Josalkar as Govind Singh * Kalpana Naganath as various characters *

Dina Pathak Dina Pathak (née Gandhi; 4 March 1922 – 11 October 2002) was an Indian actress and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was an activist and President of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW). A doyenne of Hindi ...

as Ayah * Jagadish Malnad as Sidda * Mico Chandru as Swamy's father *

Sampath Raj Sampath Raj (born 25 December 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films. He is best known for appearing in each film of director Venkat Prabhu's trilogy, consisting ...

as Ekambaram * S. K. Padmadevi as Elderly villager * Siddaraj Kalyankar (The Gold Belt) Main cast

Background and production

The series Malgudi Days, comprising thirty nine episodes, was first telecast on

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest b ...

in 1986. Most of the series was shot in

Agumbe Agumbe is a village situated in the Thirthahalli taluka of Shimoga district, Karnataka, India. It is nestled in the thickly forested Malenadu region of the Western Ghats mountain range. Owing to its high rainfall, it has received the epithet ...

village in

Shimoga Shimoga, officially known as Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the central part of the state of Karnataka, India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of ...

district,

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...

. Some episodes were filmed in

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and some others in

Devarayanadurga Devarayanadurga is a temple town and hill station located in the district of Tumakuru in the state of Karnataka in India. The rocky hills are surrounded by forest and the hilltops are dotted with several temples including the Yoganarasimha an ...

located in Tumakuru district in Karnataka. One episode, "Nitya", was shot entirely in Devarayanadurga. In 2004, the project was revived with filmmaker Kavitha Lankesh replacing Shankar Nag as director. The new series was telecast from 26 April 2006 on Doordarshan. Most of the stories in the series are one episode long and were derived from the books '' A Horse and Two Goats'', ''

Malgudi Days ''Malgudi Days'' is a collection of short stories by R. K. Narayan published in 1943 by Indian Thought Publications. The book was republished outside India in 1982 by Penguin Classics. The book includes 32 stories, all set in the fictional town ...

'', ''

'' and '' The Vendor of Sweets''.

Legacy

Indian Railways decided to rename Arasalu Railway station of Shivamogga District, Karnataka, India to Malgudi Railway station as homage to the location of Malgudi Days serial.

References

External links

* {{Kavitha Lankesh DD National original programming Indian drama television series Adaptations of works by R. K. Narayan Indian period television series 1980s Indian television series 1987 Indian television series debuts 1988 Indian television series endings 2006 Indian television series debuts 2006 Indian television series endings Television shows based on Indian novels Television shows set in the British Raj Television series revived after cancellation Indian anthology television series