TV Series Recommendation Thread

ashdoc

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Sailaab ( the flood )



'Sailaab' was one of the 'extramarital affairs serials' popular at that time ( 90s ) on Zee TV , the other being 'Hasratein' ( desires ).

The serial shows two young lovers in love with one another in Mumbai/Bombay---Sachin Khedekar and Renuka Shahane . Sachin is struggling in the ad industry , and has come from another town . He is a hard worker , but does not have much money . But big city girl Renuka Shahane is bowled over by his honesty and simplicity and soon they are in love . They meet secretly and later openly and seem perfect for each other .

But Renuka's big brother Raju Kher is not impressed . He is okay as far as Sachin is coming to his house as Renuka's friend , but is dead against the marriage . Reason---Sachin is not equal to his family financially . Of course , he feels Sachin is a good boy and has nothing against him . But does not want him to marry his sister . Raju has big dreams of marrying his beloved sister to a rich man , and asks her to cut off the relationship .

But Renuka decides to elope with Sachin . When Raju hears of this he pours petrol on himself and threatens to kill himself by burning himself to death if Renuka elopes . Under severe pressure Renuka crumbles and agrees to end the relationship . When Sachin hears of this he is devastated . At the same time he hears of his father's death and the world collapses around him .

Renuka is married off to another person , a rich doctor played first by Ajinkya Dev and later by Mahesh Thakur---the change in actors being a phenomena of long TV serials . And Sachin---he rises like a phoenix from the ashes to work hard and carve a name for himself . Yes , he becomes a successful man . Prajakti Deshmukh , who is Renuka's friend marries him . She has known of his former love and is warned by her parents that Sachin has not got over his love for Renuka , but she disregards this advice and marries Sachin . Her parents are opposed to the marriage and do not attend the marriage .

Years later Sachin's and Renuka's paths cross again , and old sparks fly again . They discover that they never stopped loving each other . And they want to meet---again and again . Clandestine meetings are sought and they begin to date again on the sly . Soon they realise that if they cannot meet even for a single day then they feel an emptiness....On the surface they pretend to be happy in the respective marriages but reality is different .

So what will happen when their respective partners ( Prajakti Deshmukh and Mahesh Thakur ) discover what is happening ? Will it lead to Sailaab---the flood....
Watch the serial for that . It is available fully on youtube .

On seeing a few episodes of the serial on youtube recently , I was struck by how old the serial looks . No HD format , no wide screen format---for it was made 20 years ago when TV had not switched to this technology . The world was of the early nineties---so no mobile phones . The era was old too---women did not smoke or drink even when the people shown were sophisticated city people because westernization had not seeped in at that time. Above all , even when the lovers meet in restaurants there is not sex or even kissing---the relationship between Sachin and Shivani remains physically chaste all the time because the Indian middle class audience which watched the serial at that time ( 90s ) was not prepared for that .

This being a TV serial , everything happens in slow motion---for the whole story is to be dragged over 90+ episodes of 23 minutes each . But the serial is embellished with superb songs by Talat Aziz and the late Jagjit Singh , and these heighten the emotion and sensitivity of the scenes . Indeed music is the high point of the serial , and it has many emotional scenes acted very well .

The serial went on to become a success , and was ZEE TV's number one serial at that time . Ravi Rai who directed it became a much sought after director , directing other TV serials like 'Teacher' . Years later watching the serial on youtube today , I found myself again interested....
 

ashdoc

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Devon ke dev mahadev



I have watched about 38 episodes and I like it already...

Rich and vibrant in colours , with grand sets and scintillating music that touches your heart , is presented a myth and legend of my land that is India.....

I never realised that ancient tales of our land and culture could be so beautifully presented on celluloid....

And it rekindled my interest in hindu mythology like never before.....

When I was a child my grandmother used to narrate stories from scriptures to me religiously every night . And I used to listen with rapt attention---that's because she had a gift of a storyteller.....

After a long time I got interested in hindu mythology again---thanks to this serial.....

I hope the story of sati and shiva ( hindu god and his wife ) has a happy ending....I really hope so.....

AAAAHHH sati.....so lovely , frail , delicate , fair , soft.....

The God should forgive me for dreaming about his consort at nights lately ......actually I am dreaming about that actress......I dont even know her name....

In fact all the women in the serial are so goodlooking---with such tender skin.....

And their clothes partially exposing them....

Did our women really wear such clothes during that era ??....Oh , I wish I was born then.....

But leaving aside matters of passion.....I have never been so proud of being a hindu....

Such fantastic stories our culture invented during that era

All rich in eternal wisdom of the ancients.....

Stories of love , betrayal , hate , revenge and anger and above all the search for truth....

Stories that would put both hollywood and bollywood to shame.....

Oh , I love my land and its people.....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And in the midst of celebrations of a festival in sati's household arrives madanike , who is a prostitute......

and the amazing thing is that madanike is allowed to roam about among the respectable ladies of the house !! in fact , she is welcomed by the ladies with utmost respect and sati's father to accepts her entry into the house .

so prostitutes had their own place in society during those times , and were accepted as part of it . madanike actually takes part in the celebrations of the festival in sati's father's household .

in fact ,the freedom enjoyed by women during those times would be the envy of todays women , especially in north india .

no covering clothes.....
in fact , clothes which are quite exposing......
freedom to go alone anywhere....
freedom to mix among men not of one's household......

whatever happened that women became enslaved in ghoonghat later....??
i guess it must be the effect of the invasions of foreign invaders and the need to hide women from the prying eyes of invaders , what else......

and the god of fallen women like madanike is our very own shiva ( the god of all the gods )---for he alone is capable of showing the largeheartedness to accept the prayers of fallen women like her.....

he is not bound by laws of society and does not live according to its rigid rules. for him , a prostitute is the same as a respectable lady ; prayers of both are equal to him....

on the other hand , vishnu ( the other hindu god ) is bound by rules of society ; rules which indeed , he is oath bound to preserve and therefore prostitutes like madanike dont pray to him.....

all of which makes shiva the much more endearing god---the god who accepts everybody.....

i have become his fan lately......

in fact ,if somebody proves to me ( i am an atheist ) that he really exists , i will pray to him......

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The good thing about these serials is that the hindi language is pure like in olden times .

Must watch these serials to brush up my hindi .

 
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dhananjay1

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Chankya serial is interesting because of it's elaborate sets based on archaeological findings and use of only non-electrical classical instruments for background music. Though it's tone is too serious to be entertaining.
 

cyclops

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I'm sure most of us remember watching Tu Tu Main Main.
Do I even need to explain.....
Watch it.

____________________________________________________

I had the pleasure of watching 'The Expanse' a few weeks back.
Really awesome tv series based on the novels of the same name, the cgi and vfx on it is like a big budget movie.

Set 100-200 years in the future, human beings have colonized Mars and some asteroid belts.
There's people fighting over territory(mars vs earth), there's politics, mercenaries, revolutionaries, space battles with warships, interplanetary detectives, etc.

Some reviewers who happen to be scientists have hailed it for being surprisingly accurate wrt the economy of a futuristic world and the overall science.

If I had to be crude while describing it, its basically game of thrones in space.

 
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Bharat Ek Khoj

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I don't think its GOT ( though I've watched only few episodes) in space.
The Expanse is some next level space sifi I always wanted to watch after Battlestar Galactica.

Here are my recommendations,

Person of Interest (sci-fi)
Altered Carbon (sci-fi)
The Blacklist
Counterpart (sci-fi - Just started)
12 Monkeys ( sci-fi)
Incorporated (sci-fi)
Strike Back
The 100
Westworld (sci-fi)
 

hit&run

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Sailaab ( the flood )



'Sailaab' was one of the 'extramarital affairs serials' popular at that time ( 90s ) on Zee TV , the other being 'Hasratein' ( desires ).

The serial shows two young lovers in love with one another in Mumbai/Bombay---Sachin Khedekar and Renuka Shahane . Sachin is struggling in the ad industry , and has come from another town . He is a hard worker , but does not have much money . But big city girl Renuka Shahane is bowled over by his honesty and simplicity and soon they are in love . They meet secretly and later openly and seem perfect for each other .

But Renuka's big brother Raju Kher is not impressed . He is okay as far as Sachin is coming to his house as Renuka's friend , but is dead against the marriage . Reason---Sachin is not equal to his family financially . Of course , he feels Sachin is a good boy and has nothing against him . But does not want him to marry his sister . Raju has big dreams of marrying his beloved sister to a rich man , and asks her to cut off the relationship .

But Renuka decides to elope with Sachin . When Raju hears of this he pours petrol on himself and threatens to kill himself by burning himself to death if Renuka elopes . Under severe pressure Renuka crumbles and agrees to end the relationship . When Sachin hears of this he is devastated . At the same time he hears of his father's death and the world collapses around him .

Renuka is married off to another person , a rich doctor played first by Ajinkya Dev and later by Mahesh Thakur---the change in actors being a phenomena of long TV serials . And Sachin---he rises like a phoenix from the ashes to work hard and carve a name for himself . Yes , he becomes a successful man . Prajakti Deshmukh , who is Renuka's friend marries him . She has known of his former love and is warned by her parents that Sachin has not got over his love for Renuka , but she disregards this advice and marries Sachin . Her parents are opposed to the marriage and do not attend the marriage .

Years later Sachin's and Renuka's paths cross again , and old sparks fly again . They discover that they never stopped loving each other . And they want to meet---again and again . Clandestine meetings are sought and they begin to date again on the sly . Soon they realise that if they cannot meet even for a single day then they feel an emptiness....On the surface they pretend to be happy in the respective marriages but reality is different .

So what will happen when their respective partners ( Prajakti Deshmukh and Mahesh Thakur ) discover what is happening ? Will it lead to Sailaab---the flood....
Watch the serial for that . It is available fully on youtube .

On seeing a few episodes of the serial on youtube recently , I was struck by how old the serial looks . No HD format , no wide screen format---for it was made 20 years ago when TV had not switched to this technology . The world was of the early nineties---so no mobile phones . The era was old too---women did not smoke or drink even when the people shown were sophisticated city people because westernization had not seeped in at that time. Above all , even when the lovers meet in restaurants there is not sex or even kissing---the relationship between Sachin and Shivani remains physically chaste all the time because the Indian middle class audience which watched the serial at that time ( 90s ) was not prepared for that .

This being a TV serial , everything happens in slow motion---for the whole story is to be dragged over 90+ episodes of 23 minutes each . But the serial is embellished with superb songs by Talat Aziz and the late Jagjit Singh , and these heighten the emotion and sensitivity of the scenes . Indeed music is the high point of the serial , and it has many emotional scenes acted very well .

The serial went on to become a success , and was ZEE TV's number one serial at that time . Ravi Rai who directed it became a much sought after director , directing other TV serials like 'Teacher' . Years later watching the serial on youtube today , I found myself again interested....
Oh ! Nostalgic. Those younger days of uncertainties, infatuations, emotional drifts and innocent lives.


 

cyclops

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I don't think its GOT ( though I've watched only few episodes) in space.
The Expanse is some next level space sifi I always wanted to watch after Battlestar Galactica.

Here are my recommendations,

Person of Interest (sci-fi)
Altered Carbon (sci-fi)
The Blacklist
Counterpart (sci-fi - Just started)
12 Monkeys ( sci-fi)
Incorporated (sci-fi)
Strike Back
The 100
Westworld (sci-fi)
Well, not exactly like GOT, but it does have some similar themes.
Politics, warring nations, unlikely heroes, etc.

Apparently GRRM likes it.:scared2:
 

ezsasa

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I don't think its GOT ( though I've watched only few episodes) in space.
The Expanse is some next level space sifi I always wanted to watch after Battlestar Galactica.

Here are my recommendations,

Person of Interest (sci-fi)
Altered Carbon (sci-fi)
The Blacklist
Counterpart (sci-fi - Just started)
12 Monkeys ( sci-fi)
Incorporated (sci-fi)
Strike Back
The 100
Westworld (sci-fi)
I liked expanse..

Especially the second season, much better production quality compared to the first season.
 

Berkut

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Had anyone watched "Powder" by YRF. It was designed to be multi season but only the first season ever aired, back in 2007, as far as I remember.
Goes into the intricacies of how drug lords in Mumbai smuggle contraband in, launder money etc. How inter departmental rivalries between NCB, Customs, RAW allow crims to slip through etc.

I think it was one of the best Indian content I have watched.
I don't think they aired season 2
 

Adioz

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Spot the similarities:-




 
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Bharat Ek Khoj

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Had anyone watched "Powder" by YRF. It was designed to be multi season but only the first season ever aired, back in 2007, as far as I remember.
Goes into the intricacies of how drug lords in Mumbai smuggle contraband in, launder money etc. How inter departmental rivalries between NCB, Customs, RAW allow crims to slip through etc.

I think it was one of the best Indian content I have watched.
I don't think they aired season 2
Wow, didn't know something like this aired on Indian television. Will surely watch it.
 

cyclops

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Been getting into political thrillers lately.

NON-FICTION

A desi tv series that is actually very good, definitely people should watch it.

Web Series on ALTBalaji about Bose and his fight for India, surprisingly awesome production design and Rajkumar Rao is just fucking brilliant as S.C.Bose.
__________________________________________


A gem I found on Netflix.

Tokyo Trial tells the story of the International Military Tribunal Far East or 'Tokyo Trials', where a number of Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes and the waging of aggressive war.

Basically the Japanese equivalent of the Nuremberg trials where the victors get to judge the losers and impart punishment, these trials sometimes get criticized for being a form of "victor's justice".

We have always ever gotten the American pov of WW2, after all they won and it is so very true that the victors get to write the history.

But we hardly ever see the nitty gritty of these situations, after all the devil is in the details and the way these decisions are and were made are not always "righteous" as the USA and rest of the Allies would have you believe.

Tokyo Trials delves into some of these details.

An Indian connection in this story is that of the Bengali jurist Radhabinod Pal, who is played by the brilliant Irrfan in this mini series, who was the sole judge in the tribunal that had a far more radical dissenting opinion.

Radhabinod Pal was conferred with the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese emperor and has a monument to his name in Japan.
Shinzo Abe had met his son in Kolkata a few years back I think.

FICTION

Something more mainstream.
Been watching Homeland for a few years now.
An absolute recommend.


Based on the Israeli TV series Hatufim, the show follows Claire Danes a bipolar CIA officer who investigates a MIA USMC Scout Sniper Nicholas Brody who is found in a pit who she suspects has been brainwashed and turned by Al Qaeda.



Also, the Indian adaptation of Hatufim that aired on Star Plus, and it was surprisingly good.


Did not expect that from Star Plus with its endless barrage of saas bahu nonsense.:notbad:
 
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