Chanakya TV Series

Introduction

Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi created and produced the 47-part historical drama Chanakya, which was first shown on DD National from 8 September 1991 to 9 August 1992. The series, which Prakash Dwivedi created, is a fictionalized account of the life and times of Chanakya (also known as Vishnugupta), an Indian economist, strategist, and political theorist who lived in the fourth century BCE. It is based on events between 340 and 321/20 BCE, beginning with Chanakya's childhood and ending with Chandragupta Maurya's coronation. Chandraprakash Dwivedi portrayed Chanakya.

Table of contents 

• Details

• Story

• Release

• Casting

• Crew

• Seasons

• Controversy

• TRP

• Awards

• Conclusion

Details

Story

The tv series is divided in the 3 parts:

• The early years of Vishnugupta in the kingdom of Magadha and the events that led to his self-imposed exile are discussed. In particular, his father's persecution (and subsequent killing) at the hands of Magadha's King Dhanananda is highlighted.

• Alexander's invasion of northwest India, his demise, Chandragupta Maurya's insurrection against Alexander's successors in India, and the Greek invaders' final defeat are all related events.

• the assault on the Nanda rule in Magadha, its overthrow, and Chandragupta's coronation as ruler.

Dwivedi depicts the politics that ruled the relationships between the monarchs and officials at that period within this framework. He skillfully discusses the daily lives of familiar Indians and the operations of the early Indian republics.

Despite receiving high praise from critics, Chanakya has also generated political conflict. It has received five Uptron Awards and has been broadcast on television in numerous nations. The series received much attention for its realism, casting, and larger-than-life portrayal.

Release

Chanakya was released on 8 September 1991. Chanakya’s cinematographer is Rajan Kothari. The production company of the Tv show Chanakya is Shagun Films.

Casting 

Play

Dwivedi selected theatre players for the series' roles. The first people chosen were Pramod Moutho, Suraj Chaddha, Ragini Shah, Ajay Dubey, Arun Bali, Vipin Sharma, and Himanshu Gokani. While Dwivedi portrayed the lead role of Chanakya, finding a replacement for the part of the young Vishnugupta was difficult. At that point, Mitesh Safari was introduced to him by his friend Akshay Vyas. Mitesh was all Dwivedi needed to see to know he had found his Chanakya. Mitesh was instructed to go directly for the shooting after he refused even to do his screening.

Chanakya and his coterie

• Chandraprakash Dwivedi – Chanakya (Vishnugupta/Kautilya)

• Mitesh Safari – Young Chanakya

• Dinesh Shakul – Chandragupta Maurya

• Abhishek Dwivedi – Young Chandragupta

• Sanjeev Puri – Senapati Sinharan (of Taxila)

• Vipin Sharma - Mahamantri Vararuchi

• Deepraj Rana – Akshay

The Greeks 

• Shahrukh Irani – Alakshendra (Alexander the Great)

• Nileish Malhotra – Satrap Philip

• Kurush Deboo – Cliturcus/ Kritorus

Magadha

• Suraj Chaddha – King Dhanananda

Pre-self exile period

• Pramod Moutho – Maha Mantri Shaktar

• Himanshu Gokani – Maha Amatya Vakranas

• Surendra Sharma – Shishupal (Shaktar's spy)

• Vimal Verma – Paur Milind

• Ragini Shah – Chanakya's mother

• Ajay Dubey – Acharya Chanak (Chanakya's father)

• S.P. Dubey – Acharya Abhinavgupta (Chanakya's guru)

• Meenakshi Thakur – Bhamini (Shaktar's wife)

• Mahendra Raghuvanshi – Kaaljayi (Dhanananda's spy)

• Ankur Merchant – Young Ajeya

• Punit Shukla – Young Kartikeya

• Utkarsha Naik – Chandragupta's mother

• Laxmikant Karpe – Chandragupta's uncle

• Mihir Bhuta – Young Katyayan

• Sushil Parashar – crematorium grounds-keeper

• Shikha Diwan – Angad's mother

Gandhara

• Sudhir Dalvi – Ambhiraj, King of Taxila

• Adarsh Gautam – Ambhikumar, Prince of Taxila and son of ambhiraj and next king of Taxila

• Chandramohan Bounthiyal – Anujdev

• Brij Mohan Vyas – Kulpati Acharya Taponidhi

• Siraj Syed – Maha Mantri Sushen

• Namrata Sahani – Princess Alka (Ambhiraj's daughter and ambhikumar's sister)

Pauravrashtra

• Arun Bali – King Porus King of pauravrashtra or Kekaya Raj

• Ashok Banthia – Maha Mantri Indradutt

• Malvika Tiwari – Kalyani (Porus' daughter)

• Kirti Azad – Ashtavakra (Spy in Taxila)

• Kumar Ram Pravesh – Chakravak (Spy in Taxila)

• Anita Kanwal – Subhada (Spy in Taxila)

• Kamal Chaturvedi – Mrityunjay (Spy in Taxila)

• Chandrakant Beloskar – Minister Pishuna

• Ashish Deshpande – King Bamni, father of Porus

• JD Majethia – Malayketu, son of Paurav Raj

• Prakash Dwivedi – Monk Jeevasiddhi (Bhadanta) & Paurav Raj, father of Malayketu

Post-self-exile period

• Arun Bali – King Porus King of pauravrashtra or Kekaya Raj

• Ashok Banthia – Maha Mantri Indradutt

• Malvika Tiwari – Kalyani (Porus' daughter)

• Kirti Azad – Ashtavakra (Spy in Taxila)

• Kumar Ram Pravesh – Chakravak (Spy in Taxila)

• Anita Kanwal – Subhada (Spy in Taxila)

• Kamal Chaturvedi – Mrityunjay (Spy in Taxila)

• Chandrakant Beloskar – Minister Pishuna

• Ashish Deshpande – King Bamni, father of Porus

• JD Majethia – Malayketu, son of Paurav Raj

• Prakash Dwivedi – Monk Jeevasiddhi (Bhadanta) & Paurav Raj, father of Malayketu

Crew

• Mohan Kaul – Editing

• Rajeev Khandelwal – Re-Editing/Editing

• Rajan Kothari – Cinematography

• Subhash Agarwal – Audiography

• Ashit Desai – Music

• Nitish Roy – Art Director

• Nitin Chandrakant Desai – Associate Art Director

• Salim Arif – Costume Designer

• Muneesh Sappel – Assistant Costume Designer

• Vivek Nayak - Make-up artist

Seasons

Controversy 

To keep viewers entertained indoors after the 21-day lockdown, national broadcaster Doordarshan has started airing famous past programs. Chanakya, a 47-part epic drama written and directed by Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi, joins the repeat schedule today. It was first shown between 1991 and 1992. The fictionalized biography of Indian economist, strategist, and political thinker Chanakya, also known as Vishnugupta, from the fourth century BCE, was written by Dwivedi. In the performance, Dr. Dwivedi also portrayed Chanakya. 

The series was given a 26-episode first run by Doordarshan, with an extension guaranteed if "the quality was up to the mark." After the extension was first (controversially) canceled, 21 additional episodes were sanctioned in early 1992 as opposed to the 26 asked, for a total of 47 episodes.

TRP

Chanakya show was one of the most popular show in the history of television which used to air on DD National and the channel has a great amount of fan following and have a great TRP ratings. IMDB rates the show on 9.5/10.

Awards

Conclusion 

Chanakya has been one of the famous tv serials in the history of television. The show consists of some amazing mythological elements and the strategies of Chanakya to win against alexander. Chanakya has played very important role in the history of India. During the lockdown period, the show was again telecasted on DD National, and the audience loved the show again.