Remembering DDK Mumbai on its 41st Birthday.....on 2nd October 2012

On 2nd October 2012 DDK Mumbai celebrates its 41st birthday. The Kendra was set up on 2nd oct 1972. The last major celebrations took place  on Oct.2nd 2006 when I was the director of the Kendra.

We had especially invited all the past Producers, Engineers, Programmers.

The list of the who's who included Gajendra Singh, past video editor of DDK Mumbai who is today a successful creative head and the originator of Antakshari on Zee TV.

Bijondas Gupta , a successful Art director with Bollywood, once headed the Scenic department of DDK Mumbai.

Satish Bhatia a cameraman, associated with the popular serial Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi.

Madhvi Mutatkar, programme executive of DDK, later resigned and headed the Zee TV as its President.

  

Madhvi Mutatkar

Bijon Das Gupta

Vinay Apte , now a popular Actor and Director in the Marathi Film Industry, worked as the producer at DDK Mumbai.

Who does'nt know about the popular serial Aahat on Sony. But how many of us know that BP Singh the Director and Cameraman was DDK Mumbai's product . He too came for the reunion.

Also present was Nina Raut , the producer of the successful programme Tak Dhina Dhin which ran on DD sahyadri for more then 7 years. (Incidentally her husband Mr Bharat Kumar Raut is the sitting Shiv Sena MP from Rajya sabha).   

Neena Raut

Bharat Kumar Raut

Aadesh Bandekar who fought the recent election on Shiv Sena ticket, was present to grace the occasion.

Manju singh, Pradeep Bhide (the evergreen newscaster of DDK), Yakoob Sayeed, Madhu Shrivastav....the list is end less

Bijon das Gupta, Gajendra Singh and BP Singh

BP Singh of CID fame

Gajendra Singh of Sur Keshtra

After the telecast of the programme, I received numerous letters and phone calls from all parts of Maharashtra. Some thing new, something different was presented to Sahyadri viewers.

The Times of India , 8th Oct 2006 wrote an article entitled THEY KILLED THE RADIO by Bella Jasinghani. I quote the 1st para from it:

"Comparing two dinosaur not always a futile exercise. Last week,Vividh Bharti & Doordarshan (DD) observed their anniversaries one day apart. Sahyadri, which is the name Mumbai DD goes by, hosted a hugely successful live gathering of television stalwarts to celebrate its 35th birthday on Oct 2.However the very next day,Vividh Bharati, the radio station that was once the opium of the masses, stumbled its way into its golden jubilee without any fanfare"......

Hope in its 41st year DDK Mumbai will do something different, something new for its numerous FANS out there..

When Lata Mangeshkar came to Doordarshan...

On 28 September 2013 the Melody Queen Lata Mangeshar will complete 84 years. We are lucky to have been born during the life and times of Lataji

Her golden voice has been a paneca to our souls. . Through this Post I wish her a long, happy and peaceful life. May she continue to inspire us.

Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar or Lata Didi as we address her,

visited DDK Mumbai on 23rd April 2004 , as the chief guest for the Sahydri Navratna Awards. Since Broadcasting schedules are time bound , I had to take her date well in advance. I was told she had a weakness or liking for Orchids. I bought some of the prettiest orchids I could lay my hands on. It was a sight to see Lata Didí's expression . Like a child the smile ran on her face. "How do you know that I like orchids" said Didi, while holding them. "I did my home work Didi before coming to you ", was my immediate response.

Needless to mention she accepted the invite but with a rider. She will be with us, only for half an hour . I agreed, but destiny had something else in store . I remember she had a severe headache when she arrived at Doordarshan. I told her she can leave in 10 minutes, after she had inaugurated the show. But to my surprise she did not leave.

Her reason to sit through the entire function, in her own words was, "It is a very well conceived show and a far cry from what the pvt TV channels are producing . I do not want to miss it . Sharma if you can organise some tea and medicine , I would like to watch the entire show". Andhaa kya chahe do aankhe...... And rest is history. Lata Didi sat for full three hours with us. As usual after the show she complimented us and the following remarks in Marathi language were etched in the memoir book of DDK Mumbai
.

"Doordarshan madhey kelesya sudharna pahun faar anand vatla. Ya poorvi hey darshan doormach dhayve ase vaate. Pan aata maatr ha jhalela baddal abhinand aahe.Shri Mukesh Sharma yaanche mee abhinandan karte , dhanyavaad dete."

(I am very happy to see the changes made at Doordarshan. Before this, one only wanted to watch it from afar (pun on the name Doordarshan). But now these changes are truly commendable. I not only congratulate Mr. Mukesh Sharma but thank him for it as well.)

THANK YOU LATA DIDI FOR THOSE KIND WORDS......................

Awards.... Recognitions.... & DD Sahyadri..........

NAVRATNA AWARDS FUNCTION

Sept 4th, 2010 DDK Mumbai Telecast SAHYDRI CHITRAPAT PURUSKAR.

I was happy to see that in 10 years some thing new was produced by the kendra.

However DD being a public service broadcaster, could have thought of awarding the teachers (to begin with primary & secondary school) in Maharashtra.

A ''Sahydri Shikshan/shikshak'' award would go a long way in recognizing the good work the teachers are doing in shaping our future generation . I hope DD Sahyadri will think about it.

The present programming of the channel continues to be the same , what was envisaged by me nearly 10 years ago.

That reminds me, how in 2002 I had planned the Sahydri Navratna Awards.

Nine years of Navratna Awards......

To judge a person's success , dont just look at where they are now. But how they got there. How many obstacles they had to surmount, how many sacrifices they had to make. How many upheavels they had to overcome.It is the journey that tests the mettle of the traveller. For people like these the journey never ends.

These people strive on with their task, too immersed in their work to bother about applause and accolades. That was the reason I wanted to tell these people through Sahyadri, we want to recognise your work, we want to acknowledge your contribution. With no Strings attached, its our way of humbly saying "Thank you" .

Selected by an independent jury, these awards were conceptulised in the year 2002. Since then they have become a synonym to Excellence in Maharashtra.

The first ever Sahyadri Navratna Puruskar were given on 27th April 2002 at Juhu Centaur , Mumbai.

During my posting at DDK Mumbai (which incidentally has been the longest tenure served by any Director at DDK, all over India), I had a chance to honour 45 personalities of Maharashtra in a span of five years viz. Sachin Tendulkar, Baba Amte, AmolPalekar, Ajit gulabchand (HCC), Mrinal gore, Namdev Dhasal, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Prabhakar Panshikar, Dr Vijay Bhatkar, Dhanraaj Pillay, Sulochana, Rahul Bajaj to name a few....