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Laying a foundation

Buniyaad, the epic television show was the first Indian television serial to tackle the effects of Partition. Going 27 years down memory lane...

Buniyaad Buniyaad

By Priyanka Pereira

How and why did Master Haveliram and Lajoji become an inseparable part of the Indian psyche? How did the hatred to a conniving Shyam Lal keep growing? Why did the whole of India empathise with Mangala?
Buniyaad hit the right spot of every Indian. First aired in 1986, on India’s national network, Doordarshan, the serial was not just a television soap opera. It was art imitating life. For the pre-Partition generation of Indians, Buniyaad marked a heartfelt journey to the times and places left way behind in Pakistan. For the present generation it was a chance to get a peep into what really transpired during that historical phase and to relive their parents’ past.
So when renowned film-maker Ramesh Sippy was offered to direct it, the subject – based on the 1947 Partition and its aftermath — he just had to consider it. Sippy was the blockbuster king of Bollywood with movies such as Shaan, Saagar, Seeta Aur Geeta and of course, Sholay, to his credit. “It was quite a shift. From the magnitude of 70 mm to the small screen, but I went with my gut feeling,” says Sippy.
During that time, the 1980s, Doordarshan was coming up in a big way and the film business was beginning to be affected because of the advent of piracy. The fact that Sippy was a ‘Partition baby’, as he refers to himself, and that the story of Buniyaad tugged at his heart strings made Sippy think. And the film-maker gave his nod to the project.
Before starting work on the show, however, Sippy met the renowned writer Manohar Shyam Joshi, who was writing the show. Joshi was already a big name, with the successful Hum Log to his credit, another show that laid the foundation for Indian television. When Sippy met him, he was convinced of the writer’s hold on the subject. As homework, Sippy watched American TV shows such as Dallas and Dynasty. “They did not have to do anything on the subject of Partition. But the one thing they taught me was, every episode must end on a hook that makes sure the audience comes back for the next,” he says.
Sippy now took the plunge. The shoot began at Film City and they would shoot for two days, every week. “It was gruelling, because we had a 7 am-11 pm shoot shift, and then I would work on the edits,” says Sippy, who continued with this schedule for one and half years. Kanwaljeet Singh, who played Satbir, recalls the endless rehearsals they went through. “Mr. Sippy was a thorough director. He made us rehearse for hours and then made us work till we got the best shot. He made sure he got the costumes, language, mannerisms perfectly,” he says.
Alok Nath, who played the central protagonist of Master Haveliram, recalls the days when Sippy used to treat them to drinks and dinner, on days he was most happy with the job done. “We became a family having our meals together and chatting up with each other,” says the actor.
Sippy, known for working with the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Rishi Kapoor, Hema Malini, now had to work with the recently-graduated actors from the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi. “They were unknown names, but had talent. And the show was based on a Punjabi family and most of these actors with their backgrounds fitted in well,” states Sippy.
Alok Nath, Vijayendra Ghatge, Kiran Juneja, Kanwaljeet Singh, Krutika Desai, Soni Razdan, were some of names waiting for their first big break. Nath regards this as the foundation stone of his career. “I was a struggling actor at that time, looking for work. When this role came to me I grabbed it with both hands.” However, Nath had to live with the moniker of Masterji for years to come and also did some of the other cast like Veerawali, Roshan Lal and Shyam Lal.
Buniyaad started out showing Partition and its aftermath, but over a period of time, the channel thought that showing too many riot scenes or refugee camps would be rather insensitive to those who had undergone the strife. “But what held it together finally was the family drama,” confesses Sippy. The serial did try to depict the changing face of India and its various
internal conflicts, through the story of one family.
Over years, Buniyaad has been rerun six times on Indian television, proving that its content and relevance still touches a chord with the audience.

TRIVIA

* With 105 episodes, Buniyaad became the longest running show on Indian television then.
* Lajoji, the main female protagonist, played by Anita Kanwar was recommended by Javed Akhtar after he had seen her work in theatre.
*Although the most part of Buniyaad was shot in Film City, the cast and crew had to shift to the Gujarat border, when a strike ensued.
Buniyaad was the prime time equivalent of Mahabharata, where streets would be deserted on every Tuesday and Saturday night when it was telecast.

 

 

 

First uploaded on: 28-03-2014 at 01:00 IST
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