Doordarshan launches Dastan-E-Urdu

The show's concept is based on the fact that if languages reveal the history of a civilisation, the story of Urdu represents the evolution of India's secular, syncretic identity.

Doordarshan has launched Dastan-E-Urdu, a new show that is a fresh take on the history of Urdu and the evolution of India's secular, syncretic identity. Launched yesterday, the show will be telecast on DD National every Sunday at 9:30 pm.

Directed by Aparna Srivastava Reddy and produced by Urdu activist Kamna Prasad, the series explores the journey of Urdu and its mushtarqa tehzeeb. Be it literature, journalism or popular culture, expressed in recent times through theatre, films, television or the new media, Urdu has retained its eminent place in the mind and hearts of people. The music for the show has been composed by Shubha Mudgal.

Dastan-E-Urdu takes the viewer on a pan-India journey, capturing all the aspects and nuances that underscore Urdu's poetic opulence and its everlasting, universal appeal. The programme is being shot all over the country - from Kashmir to Kerala - and delves into the dramatisation of key personalities and reconstruction of key periods in the history of the language.

The show has a galaxy of experts including Gopi Chand Narang, Javed Akhtar, Shamim Hanfi, Shamsur Rehman Farukhi, Gulzar Dehlvi, Mushirul Hasan, Karan Singh and the late Farooq Sheikh. Doordarshan, in the recent past, has launched various shows such as Gaon Connection, Ek Tha Rusty and Scientifically Yours.