Fauji (TV series)
Fauji (translation: "Soldier") was an Indian Hindi-language television series following the training of an Indian Army commando regiment; It was Shah Rukh Khan's debut in television.[1] It aired on DD National in 1989, produced by New Film Addicts. It was directed by Raj Kumar Kapoor.
Fauji | |
---|---|
Genre | Action |
Directed by | Lt. Col. Raj Kumar Kapoor |
Starring |
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Opening theme | "Fauji" |
Composer | Loy Mendonsa |
Country of origin | India |
Original language | Hindi |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Production | |
Running time | Approx. 24 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | DD National |
Picture format | 480i |
Original release | 18 January 1989 |
Originally Rakesh Sharma who played the role of Vikram Rai was supposed to be the hero of the serial. Shah Rukh Khan's character Abhimanyu Rai (supposedly based on the Lt. Col. Sanjoy Bannerji of the Bombay Sappers, Indian Army), was supposed to have been the second lead. However Lt. Col. Raj Kumar Kapoor said in an interview that the camera “loved him so much” that they had to change the script to prop up Khan as the lead.
Initially Shah Rukh Khan role in the serial was to count the crows. [2] Shah Rukh Khan said “I landed up on the sets of ‘Fauji’, because the house-owner that we were speaking to after we needed a smaller house post the demise of my father, got to know that I’d been in Mumbai to act, and he revealed that his own father-in-law was producing a TV serial.
"When I went there, Colonel Kapoor (Producer-director) offered me this sweet role, where I make a mistake and the Major would ask me to go a tree and count the number of crows in it. Once I reveal there are four, he asks me to be ‘Saavdhaan’. I was embarrassed to go back and tell my mother that my role was all about counting crows.”
Vishwajeet Pradhan also made his debut with this serial.
Cast
- Rakesh Sharma as Maj. Vikram "Vicky" Rai
- Amina Shervani as Kiran Kochar
- Shah Rukh Khan as Lt. Abhimanyu Rai[3]
- Manjula Avtar as Capt. Madhu Rathore
- Vishwajeet Pradhan as N/Sub. Yaseen Khan
- Sanjay Taneja as Nk. Kishore
- Vikram Chopra as Lt. Varuneshwar Singhji Parmeshwar Singhji Chauhan
- Gautam Bharadwaj as Lt. Peter Monteiro
- A. Kannan as Maj. K. G. Narayanan
- Ajay Trihan as Lt. Devender Singh
- Sonal Dabral as Lt. Arun
- Nikhil Dewan
- Neeraj Joshi as Lt. Neeraj
- Anupama Sahni as Parvati
- Sunil Bindrani as the best hero
Now all episodes are available on Amazon Prime.
Episodes
- 1 - Kadam Mila
- 2 - Fauji Bhai
- 3 - Zameeni Nishaan
- 4 - Vikram Breaks Down
- 5 - Savadhan
- 6 - Hilo Maat
- 7 - Takkar
- 8 - Rafataar
- 9 - Parvati's Marriage
- 10 - Himmat
- 11 - Real Danger
- 12 - The War Begins
- 13 - Fauji
References
- Chopra, Anupama (2007). King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema. Warner Books. pp. 72–74. ISBN 978-0-446-50898-8.
- "My initial role in Fauji required me to only count crows: Shah Rukh Khan". Deccan Chronicle. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
- Pal, Chandrima. "The DD Files: When Shah Rukh Khan stole hearts and the show in 'Fauji'". Scroll.in. Retrieved 31 May 2018.