India’s first superhero, ‘Shaktimaan,’ had made a special place in the hearts of children of the 90s. This serial telecast on Doordarshan not only entertained kids but also taught them values like morality, truth, and patriotism. But when this show suddenly stopped, people were surprised that why did the makers had stopped the show despite having good TRP.
Mukesh Khanna, who played the character of Shaktimaan, revealed in an interview with TheYouth how such a popular show was suddenly closed. He said that he had closed this show of his own will due to pressure from some policies. “Shaktimaan should not have been closed, but due to compulsion, this show had to be closed suddenly.”
Actually, in the 80s and 90s, only two channels were running, one of which was Doordarshan and the other was DD Metro. Only a few shows were run on these. The Shaktimaan show was telecast only on Doordarshan, for which Mukesh Khanna used to give Rs 3 lakh to the owner of Doordarshan. Despite this, they were not getting prime time, but still the show kept gaining popularity. The Tuesday night slot and Saturday slot were given.
The Shaktimaan show was made for kids, and if they did not watch it, there was no point. Children are in school on Saturday and sleep early in the afternoon. Therefore, the slot of the show was demanded at 12 noon on Sunday because children are at home at that time. This show ran in this slot for a few months, but after gaining popularity, Doordarshan hiked the slot price from 7 to 10 lakhs, which the makers couldn’t afford, so the show had to end.
Mukesh Khanna, who played this character, is still known for this role. The first episode of Shaktimaan was telecast on DD National on 6 September 1997. This show became so popular that even children started trying to fly like Shaktimaan. Mukesh Khanna had approached big production houses with the proposal for this show, but no one financed it. After which he started this show by taking a loan from his friends, and then everyone knows how popular it was.
