Nukkad

Nukkad was the name of a popular Hindi TV serial that aired on the Indian Television channel DD National in 1986 - 87. It was co-directed by Kundan Shah and Saeed Akhtar Mirza, and was written by Prabodh Joshi. It starred Dilip Dhawan, Rama Vij, Pavan Malhotra, Sangeeta Naik, Avtaar Gill in lead roles. The serial received tremendous response from the viewers and some of the characters such as Khopdi, Kaderbhai and Ghanshu Bhikari became household names. Nukkad was one of the three most popular TV serials on Doordarshan in the eighties; the other two being "Hum Log" and "Buniyaad". The first season of Nukkad aired in 1986-87 had 40 episodes. Each episode was based on an every-day issue of the lower income group and often revolved around one or two specific characters at Nukkad. Some episodes ended on hope and positive consolation and yet some episodes ended on a sad but realistic conclusion. The treatment was based on simplicity and reality thus making every episode endearing. Due to the mass popularity of this TV series, the producers re-launched the Nukkad brand again in 1993 after 7 years in a new modern "avatar". It was titled "Naya Nukkad" and included the original cast and also added new characters. However "Naya Nukkad" could not match the popularity levels of the original Nukkad series.