The first Indian superhero Shaktimaan is all set to hit big screens. Sony Pictures India announced on 10th February 2022 that it will bring the iconic superhero on big screens soon. The first native superhero experienced by the generations of the 80s and especially the 90s has again become a talk of the town with an attractive teaser launched by Sony Pictures India on Thursday.
Sony Pictures India tweeted today, “After the super success of our many superhero films in India and all over the globe, it’s time for our desi Superhero!” Tagged in the tweet are many others along with none other than Mukesh Khanna who had conceptualized and played the role of Shaktimaan in his superhit Doordarshan TV serial.
After the super success of our many superhero films in India and all over the globe, it’s time for our desi Superhero!@ThoughtsBrewing @SinghhPrashant @MadhuryaVinay @actMukeshKhanna @vivekkrishnani @ladasingh @sonypicsfilmsin @sonypicsindia pic.twitter.com/9O1IvKeBpt
— Sony Pictures India (@SonyPicsIndia) February 10, 2022
Sony Pictures India has further posted on its Twitter handle “Sony Pictures International Productions is set to bring ‘Shaktimaan’ to the big screen, and will recreate the magic of the iconic superhero, to be headlined by one of India’s superstars.”
Sony Pictures International Productions is set to bring ‘Shaktimaan’ to the big screen, and will recreate the magic of the iconic superhero, to be headlined by one of India’s superstars.
— Sony Pictures India (@SonyPicsIndia) February 10, 2022
Sony Pictures India has also shared a teaser of the upcoming trilogy on youtube. The teaser opens up with the visuals of a meteorite in space, revolving randomly and probably headed to hit the artificial satellite orbiting the earth. It further goes on to depict the aerial view of the Colaba area of Mumbai covering the Gateway of India and The Taj Hotel. It also shows the stills of marine drive and the BSE building in Mumbai. This is followed by the quote, “As the darkness and evil prevail over humanity, it’s time for him to return.” While it has been reported that the role of Shaktimaan will be played by a top film star, the identity of the actor has not been revealed by the company.
Film critic Taran Adarsh revealed that it will be a trilogy, meaning there will be three Shaktimaan movies in a series. He also said that One of India’s major superstars will enact the title role.
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: SONY PICTURES TO BRING THE ICONIC 'SHAKTIMAAN' TO THE BIG SCREEN…
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) February 10, 2022
⭐ This time, #Shaktimaan will be made for *cinemas*.
⭐ Will be a trilogy.
⭐ One of #India’s major superstars will enact the title role.
⭐ A top name will direct. pic.twitter.com/ood6KvghPM
Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired the film adaptation rights of the TV serial, and has partnered with Brewing Thoughts Private Limited and Mukesh Khanna’s Bheeshm International to produce the trilogy. The studio will bring its expertise from its headquarters in Los Angeles to use the latest film technology in the production and post-production of the movie.
Shaktimaan – the iconic TV series
Shaktimaan as made by Mukesh Khanna was a superhero with his altar ego Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri working as a photographer assisting a journalist Geeta Vishwas in a newspaper called ‘Aaj Ki Aawaz’. The teaser also shows a news reporter’s camera, the iconic Shaktimaan suite, and the thick glassed spectacles of none other than Pandit Gangadhar.
Shaktimaan was first aired on Doordarshan as a TV serial from 13th September 1997 to 27th March 2005. Shaktimaan was depicted as a human who has attained superhuman powers through meditation, Yoga, and five elements of nature viz. Space, Earth, Air, Fire, Water. Other key characters in the series were journalist Geeta Vishwas and the antagonist Tamraj Kilvish who is supposed to be the living embodiment of the evil and dark forces of the world.
Shaktimaan holds unique importance as an Indic superhero as it has depicted the core Indic concepts as the prime source of the superpowers he possesses. As per the show conceptualized by Mukesh Khanna, greed and hatred have taken over humanity and have been deteriorating the world for the past 6000 years, the onset of Kaliyuga as per the Indic faith. To end this, a mystical sect of saints known as “Suryanshis” chose a man to rise up against all odds and defeat the evil prevailing within the society. He was taught the way to energize the 7 chakras of his body through the Kundalini Yoga that helped him get mystical and supernatural powers.
During his training, he also conducted the ritual of death in order to get total control over his powers by entering the holy fire and immersing his physical body in it. When the five natural elements of life, fire, earth, water, wind, and sky invigorated his body, he gains superpowers and becomes superhuman. Shaktimaan takes a vow to fight the evils and sticks to it throughout the series.
In this famous vow to finish the evil and darkness spread in the lives of humans by Tamraj Kilvish, he was listened to have said “I swear by all the directions, the earth, the sky, and the space; I swear by every living plant and animal of this universe; I swear by the past, the present and the future; I swear by every single ray of light that fights with darkness; that I will do my duty.” This is enough to underline the Indic identity proudly carried by Shaktimaan.
Mukesh Khanna had become popular in the 80s and 90s when he had played the role of Bheeshma in the iconic Doordarshan TV serial Mahabharat by BR Chopra. This role played by him was so popular that he went on to name his production house Bheeshma International. The same company produced the TV serial Shaktimaan. In this serial, Shaktimaan is shown as the rebirth of Shri Satya who was part of the Suryanshi Sect during the Mahabharata era 5,000 years ago.
His alter-ego is a funny geek named Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri, who works as a photographer in a daily newspaper office to maintain his secret identity as Shaktimaan and speaks pure Hindi with added flavours of words of Sanskrit origin normally difficult to get for the people using Hindi language predominated by Urdu words.
Shaktimaan’s initiation as a superhuman finds its roots in Yoga, something very Indian. In every adverse situation, Shaktimaan is shown to recite the first four hymns of Kundalini Jaagaran Stotram. These hymns are believed to awaken his hidden super-self owing to which Shaktimaan finishes off his enemies who are by large agents of Tamraj Kilvish. Tamraj Kilvish was played by Surendra Pal.
Mukesh Khanna had joined the BJP in 1998. Shaktimaan was also in the middle of the controversy after a few incidents were reported according to which children were injured while imitating their favourite character Shaktimaan. Taking cognizance of this, Mukesh Khanna had made several changes in his show besides publicly apologizing for the injured children.
Shaktimaan was not only an entertainer but also a moral educator and motivator for the children. Besides the main storyline, the show also consisted of educating sections like “Body is Temple” and “Isse Kya Hoga?” In later years, children would watch the serial more for the knowledge and Sanskaras shared by Shaktimaan in his unique way rather than enjoy his usual fights with evil Tantric Kapala, self-proclaimed great Satanic Scientist Dr. Jackal, and their bossTamraj Kilvish.
With a new avatar of the old Indic superhero to arrive soon, a whole generation of the 80s and 90s is awaiting the most awaited comeback. As shown in the concluding episode of the TV serial, Shaktimaan had disintegrated his body into five elements to save the city from a terminal calamity created by Tamraj Kilvish. It would be very interesting to watch how does the film marks his comeback, where does it start, what characters it includes, and what message is given by the Indic flag bearer superhero in the new India.
