Television Serial – Mahatma

27 years ago, on a hot, sultry afternoon my brother Late Shri Raja Krishna Reddy and I were desperately toying with the idea of doing something unique in the world. We felt, very strongly and even today truly, we were wasting life ‘working’ for the Government of India. Frankly, nobody works there…they squander their life waiting for monthly salary! What exactly we wanted to do, we had no notion, nor did we have the resources to fund our thoughts.

Our discussions and cogitation zeroed on Mahatma Gandhi. Everyone knows the ‘Mahatma’ from the day he was unceremoniously kicked out of the train in South Africa. That specific incident made Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi into Mahatma Gandhi. But who was Mahatma before he was kicked out of the train? No one knows and very few have some idea. It is said that ‘Child is the father of man’. Knowing childhood will give enormous understanding of one’s personality. Who was the child Mahatma? Did his mother teach him the principle of ‘Ahimsa’? Did he ever bunk school? Did he smoke? Did he drink goat’s milk in his childhood?

Do you know Mahatma Gandhi frequented a beautiful prostitute? Do you know though his religion prohibits eating meat, he enjoyed eating meat? Do you know he stole gold from his father golden bracelet? Do you know he smoked cigarettes and beedis? In fact, he enjoyed life much more in 1885 than a normal student of 2021.

These thoughts took us to M/s Navjeevan Trust, Ahmedabad, and it’s Managing Trustee Shri Jitendra Bhai Desai. All the above incidents – eating meat, drinking liquor, going to the prostitute etc., Gandhi wrote in his auto-biography ‘My Experiments with Truth’. We sought exclusive world copyright on the book to make it into a television serial. Discussions, meetings and examining our screenplay…and much more! After 6 months of tension filled miserable life M/s navjeevan Trust agreed to give us world copyrights on the ‘Autobiography’ of Gandhi.

The Bollywood music maestro M/s Laxmikanth-Pyarelal, singers Nitin Mukesh and Sonu Nigam, actors Naseeruddin Shah and film Hyderabad Blues fame Rajshree Nair etc.…became part of this mega serial. Further, a film director who directed over 300 movies, Mr K.S.R Das and his team began their work on this serial. This serial was telecasted on the Doordarshan primetime and we were also given the facility of repeat telecast.

Something went wrong. Probably our inexperience. In spite of good sponsorships, we incurred heavy losses. I enjoyed producing the serial. Sometimes, when K.S.R Das was away due to other commitments, I voluntarily took the mantle of being the director…, wrote the script, worked as a light boy, served food to artists, worked as a driver to pick up the artists from their homes, if the call sheet is for 5 am.

Facing huge losses, I resigned from the plum government job and went abroad to start a new life and to make a new beginning. I returned to India, two decades later in 2018. Every bird must return to its nest at sunset and hence I too returned. My brother Late Shri. Raja Krishna informed of his desire to shoot the entire Mahatma serial into a film, afresh. I was so glad to listen to his proposal that I agreed to fund the film. I even paid some advance to commence our dream. A month later, my brother Raja Krishna died due to sudden heart attack. Our dreams of making Mahatma serial into a two-hour movie shelved permanently.

As I write this piece, the images / photos of every one of those who were associated with Mahatma television series are moving in my mind. Majority of them are no more. But those who are, I wish to inform that this is an experiment which I would like to conduct at this stage of life, provided God blesses with sufficient life.

Allow me to reproduce some of my initial conversation with Shri. Laxmikant ji. My idea was to change the tune of ‘Raghupathi Raaghav Rajjaram’, the world famous bhajan of Mahatma.

Laxmikant: Reddy saab, what rubbishing are you talking? How can I change the tune for Raghu Pati Raghav Raja Ram?

Gopal: I don’t know sir, you better change.

Laxmikant: Can anybody change Jana Gana Mana’s tune?

Gopal: I don’t know sir; you please somehow change.

Laxmikant: (while stuffing some more beatel leaves in mouth) You are crazy!

Gopal: I don’t know sir, you better change.

Fifteen days later, Shri Laxmikanth-Pyarelalji gave such a peppy tune of Raghu Pati Raghav Raja Ram that even a 22nd-century man cannot forget it ever. I still own the ownership of tune. Listening to it makes any latest rock song into a second position.

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