Shri Krishna (1993 TV series)

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Shri Krishna
Art for the Show "Shri Krishna"
Also known as	Krishna
Created by	Ramanand Sagar
Based on	Bhagavata Purana Harivamsa Garga Samhita Vishnu Purana Padma Purana Brahma Vaivarta Purana Bhagvad Gita Mahabharata
Written by	Ramanand Sagar
Screenplay by	Ramanand Sagar
Directed by	Ramanand Sagar Anand Sagar Moti Sagar
Starring	Sarvadaman D. Banerjee Pinky Parikh Reshma Modi
Music by	Ravindra Jain
Country of origin	India
Original language	Hindi
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	221
Production
Producers	Ramanand Sagar Prem Sagar Subhash Sagar
Editors	Girish Dawda Moreshwar R. Mishra Sahdev Um Bahadur Bisht Anil Pradhan P. Vedachallam Vinay Ashtaputre
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	25–55 minutes
Production company	Sagar Arts
Original release
Network	DD Metro (1993–1996) DD National (1997) Zee TV (1999)
Release	18 July 1993 (1993-07-18) – 1999 (1999)

Shri Krishna, also known as Krishna is a 1993-1999 Indian Hindi-language television series, created, written and directed by Ramanand Sagar. It is an adaptation of the stories of the life of Krishna, based on the Srimad Bhagavatam, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Harivamsa, Vishnu Purana, Padma Purana, Garga Samhita, Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata.^[1][2] The series has a total of 221 episodes.

Shri Krishna was first broadcast on DD Metro^[1] in 1993 and it continued on through 1996;^[3] it later continued on DD National (which was called DD1 at the time) in 1997,^[4] but as DD refused to stream Gita Sermon, Vajranabha, and Banasura's Ego-Breaking, it was completely re-telecasted on Zee TV in 1999, It also streamed on Sony Entertainment Television in 2001,^[5] It was later re-telecasted on DD National in the lockdown after Ramayan (1987 TV series) and Mahabharat (1988 TV series) ended, it surpassed both the serials in terms of TRP, it was re-telecast on public demand during the lockdown in 2020 due to Covid-19 after the completion of Ramayan (1987 TV series), Shri Krishna aired on DD from 03 May to 16 December 2020,^[5] this serial was made in Hindi but has also been dubbed in languages like Tamil, Telugu etc. This serial enjoyed number 1 in terms of TRP till the 21st week of airing.^[2]

This serial was also telecasted in Mauritius – Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation as early as 1991, Toronto- Channel 57, Nepal –Nepal TV, South Africa- M.Net, Indonesia- P.T. Cipta Television, Jakarta- Pendidikan, Italy- Fifth Remini Cinema International Film Festival, London- U.K.- T.V.Asia (Satellite).^[5]

According to The Hindustan Times, "Shri Krishna was one of the biggest grossers for Doordarshan during the seven years it was on air.”^[6]

This series covers various aspects of Krishna's life, including his birth, childhood antics, his role in the kingdom of Mathura, his teachings in the Bhagavad Gita, and his crucial role in the Kurukshetra War, a central event in the Mahabharata. It also delves into his relationships with characters like Radha, his childhood friend, and his interactions with other gods, demons, and mortals.

In the first episode Ramanand Sagar talks about the beginning of the Kali Yuga period, and about king Parikshita being the last king and Kali Yuga starting. It also shows a glimpse of the Mahabharata War

Then the series starts focusing on Shri Krishna's life like his childhood antics, and dives into his relationship with Radha, and Balrama's marriage with Revati, Nara-Narayana, Syamantaka incident, Satybhama, Jambavati's Marriage to Krishna, Rukmi's antics and Krishna's Marriage to Rukmini, Yudhishthira being declared as the crown price of Indraprastha, Lakshagriha incident, Meeting of Krishna-Sudama, Pradyumna's lifestory, Paundraka Vasudeva's torture on Veermani and Tara (Tarini), Draupadi's Disrobing, The Mahabharata war, Vajranabha's life, Aniruddha-Usha marriage, Banasura-ego breaking.

• Sarvadaman D. Banerjee as Krishna, Vishnu, Narayana (1996)
  • Swapnil Joshi as adolescent Krishna (1993)
  • Ashok Kumar Balkrishnan as Child Krishna (1993)
  • Palak as Child Krishna (1993)
• Deepak Deulkar as Balrama, Sheshanaga (1996)
  • Sanjeev Sharma as Teenage Balrama (1993-1994)
• Pinky Parikh as Rukmini (1996)
• Reshma Modi as Radha, Lakshmi (1993)
  • Shweta Rastogi as Teenage Radha, Lakshmi (1993)
• Sandeep mohan as Arjuna,Nara
• Phalguni Parikh as Draupadi
• Govind khatri as Karna
• Kumar Hegde as Duryodhana
• Raman Khatri as Yudhishthira
• Mahendra Ghule as Bhima, Hanuman
• Mukul Nag as Ashwathama
• Premchand Sharma as Pandu, Nakula
• Dinesh Anand, Deepak Jethi as Dushasana

• Mona Parekh as Jambavati
• Shashi Sharma as Satyabhama
• Deepak Dave, Sagar Saini as Narada
• Vijay Kavish as Ugrasena, Shiva (1993)
  • Amit Pachori as Shiva (1996)
• Lata Haya as Kunti
• Sunil Nagar as Bhishma
• Jayprakash Sharma as Shakuni
• Kanu Patel as Dronacharya, Suryadeva
• Tarakesh Chauhan as Dhritarashtra
• Jyotin Dave as Indra
• Mukul Nag as Ashwatthama
• Anuj Sharma as Abhimanyu
• N. Jitendra as Kripa
• Vijay Sharma as Vidura
• Aslam Khan as Various Roles
• Suneel Mattoo as Kritavarma
• Neela Patel as Gandhari

• Girish Pardeshi as Shiva, Surya (During the Samudra Manthana)
• Manish Sharma as Pradyumna
• Anupama Pardeshi as Mohini
• Navneet Chaddha as Aniruddha
• Sonia Kapoor as Subhadra
• Basheer Khan as Bhasmasura, Dwivida, Mayasura (Shambara’s son), Maya Danava
• Sanjeev Siddharth as Bhaumasura
• Arvind Singh Rausariya as Kālayavana, Sage Gargyata (also known as Gārgyat Muni, father of Kaal Yavana and Rājguru of Trigart kingdom), Shambara's Rājguru, Vajranābha
• Shakti Singh and Unknown as Banasura
• Unknown as Maharani Vrinda (Wife of Banasura and Mother of Uṣā)
• Unknown as Maharani Sumati (Wife of Vajranabha and Mother of Prabhavati)
• Pradeep Nishit as
  • Drupada (1995–1996)
  • Parshurama (1999)
  • Vyasa (1999)
• Gautam Chaturvedi as Paundraka Vasudeva
• Arun Mathur as Shambara
• Niharika Bhatt as Shambara's wife, Vajranābha's Grandmother
• Jharna Dave as Māyāvati, Hidimbi, Durga
• Radhakrishna Dutta as Uttanka, Vishwakarma, Jarasandha
• Neel Kamal as Kumbhketu (Shambarasura’s Son)
• Damini Kanwal Shetty (Seema Kanwal) as Yashoda
• Sulakshana Khatri as Rohini
• Shahnawaz Pradhan as Nanda Baba, Shurasena, Chanura, Maha Bali
• Pinky Parikh as Yamuna, Lakshmi, Durga
• Vilas Raj as Kamsa
• Jyotin Dave as King Shalya, Sage Garga
• Mukul Nag as Sudama
• Bhakti Narula as Tarini
• Raj Premi as Shishupala, Hiranyakashyap, Jaya
• Paulomi Mukherjee as Devaki (1993)
• Sunil Pandey as Vasudeva (1993)
• Deepali Thosar as Rati (1996)
• Prairna Agrawal as Vasundhara
• Papiya Sengupta as Lalita
• Shyam Sunder Kalani as Chanura (Episode - 3)
• Swati Anand as
  • Second wife of Maharaja Brihadratha of Magadha and Jarasandha's mother (1994)
  • Revati (1996)
  • Shikhandini (Amba), Shikhandi (1999)
  • Chitralekha (1999)
• Sunil Chauhan as Uddhava (1993)
• Pramod Kapoor as Kali, Akrura, Jayadratha
• Girish Pardeshi as Kama

Shri Krishna was produced by Ramanand Sagar, Subhash Sagar, and Prem Sagar under the banner "Sagar Enterprises" and directed by Ramanand Sagar, Anand Sagar, and Moti Sagar. The role of young Krishna was played by Swapnil Joshi and adult Krishna was played by Sarvadaman D. Banerjee. Govind Khatri was initially roped in to play the role of Dushasan, however later ended with the role of Karna.^[7]

Filming took place in Gujarat, in particular in Umbergaon and Vadodara, where "huge sets" had been installed.^[6]

Ramanand Sagar's television serial "Shri Krishna" made history in advertisement revenue for DD by earning the highest ever advertisement revenue by a single serial for DD by crossing the Rs. 70 Crore mark It was the no.1 TRP (Television Rating Points) while on the metro channel, It earned a record of Rs.14.31 Crores as advertisement revenue for DD Metro in the first year run on the network^[5]

”The national broadcaster had a limit on the number of episodes it could air in the ’80s, but the ’90s brought about a change in these rules. A producer could now make a show for a longer duration.”, commented Kavita Awasthi in The Hindustan’Times.^[6]

Shri Krishna was produced by Ramanand Sagar and Prem Sagar under the banner of “Sagar Enterprises” and directed by Ramanand Sagar. The series was shot at Vrindavan studio, Umargaon studio and then later at the Sagar Film City, Vadodara. It was a massive family effort especially the entire Mahabharata war sequences were shot by multiple camera using multiple creative direction from Sagar Family members.^[5]

"The visual depiction of the Bhagwat Geeta by late Dr. Ramanand Sagar is a treat to watch for film-makers, on how an abstract and philosophical subject like the Geeta can be re-told in for a mass media communication."- quote from the directors ^[5]

The role of young Krishna was played by Swapnil Joshi and adult Krishna was played by Sarvadaman D. Banerjee. Both the actors became hugely popular after the telecast. Swapnil Joshi is still an actor in the Marathi film industry, and Banerjee quit acting and now teaches meditation in Rishikesh.^[8][9][10] He supports the NGO "Pankh", which provides free education to slum children and livelihood skills to underprivileged women of Uttarakhand.^[11][12][13]

The salary for one episode was ₹3500, and every month, this salary increased by ₹1000 ^[14]

In 2014, Reliance Home Video & Games and Moser Baer released it on DVDs.^[4]

The series was a popular success to the point that, according to Kavita Awaasthi in The Hindustan Times, "Swapnil had a huge fan following because of the show. People thought he was Krishna."^[6]

Shri Krishna won the Uptron Award for the “Best director” in the year 1995.^[5]

• Ramayan (1987 TV series)
• Mahabharat (1988 TV series)

• Shri Krishna at IMDb