Shaktimaan

Shaktimaan
Created by	Mukesh Khanna
Written by	Ghalib Asad Bhopali and Brij Mohan Pandey
Directed by	Dinkar Jani
Starring	Mukesh Khanna Vaishnavi Mahant Kitu Gidwani Surendra Pal Tom Alter
Opening theme	Shaktimaan
Country of origin	India
Original language(s)	Hindi
No. of episodes	Around 300 (Initial Run)[1] Around 400 (Extension in reruns)[2]
Production
Producer(s)	Mukesh Khanna
Editor(s)	Nasir Hakim Ansari
Cinematography	Manoj Soni
Running time	60 Minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Doordarshan
Original run	14 September 1997 – 27 March 2005[1]

Shaktimaan (Hindi: शक्तिमान), is a fictional Indian superhero from the television series of the same name produced by Mukesh Khanna and directed by Dinkar Jani. Around 400 episode series originally aired on Doordarshan, India's national television network, from 27 September 1997 (barring the introductory episode on 20 September 1997) to 27 March 2005, on Sundays at 12 noon IST. The telecast slot, however was shifted to 9:30 a.m. in last episodes. It has also aired on Pogo^[1] in English, Tarang in Oriya, Chutti TV in Tamil and repeated its Hindi telecast on STAR Utsav. Mukesh Khanna plays the role of Shaktimaan and his alter-ego Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri, a photographer for the newspaper Aaj Ki Aawaz. Shaktimaan has super strength, the ability to fly, and is invulnerable to things that cause injuries on the body. Geeta Vishwas is also a reporter in the series who loves Shaktimaan.

Plot

When evil was reigning in the world, the Suryanshis chose him as the warrior to fight evil. It was then when the five natural elements of life, fire, earth, water, wind and sky invigorated his body and he gained superpowers from these elements. Eventually he transformed into Shaktimaan. Shaktimaan was the rebirth of Shri Satya who had formed the Suryanshi Sect after the war of the Mahabharata 7,500 years ago. He got his powers from 7 spiritual gurus who had blessed him with mystical yogic shakti and trained him in ancient combat forms. During his training, Shaktimaan was taught to energize the 7 chakras of body through Kundalini Yoga that helped him to get mystical and supernatural powers. He also conducted the ritual of death in order to get total control over his powers. This process, instead of killing him, made him almost immortal and stronger than any mere human being. Towards the end the Suryanshis performed a Yagya (Yajna) through which he entered holy fire and immersed his physical body in it. After which the five natural elements of life, namely fire, earth, water, wind and sky invigorated his body and he gained further super powers from these elements. Eventually he transformed into a super human warrior in order to fight against the forces of evil in the world and ultimately became the super hero Shaktimaan.

He lives as a funny geek named Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri, while maintaining his secret identity as Shaktimaan.

Shaktimaan's arch nemesis is Tamraj Kilvish, who is the living embodiment of the evil and dark forces of the world.

Shaktimaan is another common human being, and not any incarnation, but has got his internal spiritual powers ignited with the continuous and typical practice of Hindu philosophical and cultural values system and activities like Yog Sadhna and Meditation. Also he follows the morals and ethical values of truth, non-violence, and values stated in books like the Bhagavad Gita. Shaktimaan is rebirth of Shri Satya, first guru of Suryanshis after the death of Guru Sarvagya and division of Shaktipunja into two pieces namely Shakti Punja (remained with Truth/Light) and Pap Punja (taken away by Andhera/Darkness).

Origin of Shaktimaan

Shaktimaan received powers from seven gurus who trained and blessed him with "yogic shakti which was natural power." He was the chosen warrior against evil by siddha gurus of a cult named Suryavanshi. They are followers of the star Sun. As part of training he trained with Kundalini Yoga to waken the 7 chakras of body and gain 'super natural' powers from them. To gain complete control over his powers he performed the ritual of death. However, this did not cause death but made him more alive than when he was a normal man. He also performed Yajna in which he entered the fire himself and dissolved his body in fire. Then, the five elements of life, i.e. fire, wind, water, earth, sky revived his body giving him special powers from them. Thus after leaving his mortal body he was given a super human form to fight against the evil in the world as Shaktimaan.^[3]

After Shaktimaan was created he set out to destroy his archenemy Kilvish. But, as the Mahaguru (Tom Alter) explained, Kilvish can only be defeated after evil is destroyed. Shaktimaan's mission is to destroy the sin within people, not the sinned people. Shaktimaan's adventures show him pursuing justice and saving his friends while Kilvish and his minions plot to defeat him.

Powers of Shaktimaan

Shaktimaan has superhuman powers which lie inside his body in his seven chakras of Kundalini attained through meditation. Shaktimaan worships God through the symbol Om. Truthfulness is his motto. He can even separate his body into five different bodies of fire, wind, water, earth and sky.^[4] He is an expert, skilled and intelligent fighter and has fought with super-skilled enemies. He possesses physical powers like unlimited speed (up to the speed of light), strength, durability as well as psychic powers like telepathy, teleportation, telekinesis etc. Although he possesses godlike powers, his only weakness is a crystal (Papmani) possessed by Tamraj Kilvish which can be used to defeat and even kill him. This makes him powerless because it is filled with the evil of the world and is the source of the black powers. But he regains his strength after the crystal is taken away from him. He can be killed if the crystal is placed in front of him and he is treated violently to the verge of death.

Shaktimaan’s powers are virtually limitless. He can do practically anything he imagines. The only limit to his powers is his own belief in himself and his knowledge of how to manifest his powers. His powers come from his chakras. (Note: Although we’ll call them chakras in the bible, in the series dialogue they will also be called energy centers.)

The seven chakras in his body which give him power's are:

• Energy Chakra (1): This chakra gives Shaktimaan super strength enabling him to fly, shoot fire from his hands, emit rays from his fingertips, blow a stream of freezing air, or send out protective force fields which nothing can penetrate (provided he can maintain his willpower and not give in). Shaktimaan’s strength allows him to physically penetrate anything and lift any object.

• Creative Chakra (2): This chakra gives Shaktimaan the power to manifest things out of thin air, but they can be unstable and comically fall apart or cause other problems if Shaktimaan is distracted and loses concentration.

• Astral Chakra (3): This chakra gives Shaktimaan the power to control his astral body (a semi-transparent, ethereal duplicate of himself) which can fly, walk through walls, spy on others, see inside objects, etc.

• Heart Chakra (4): This chakra gives Shaktimaan the power to control the will of others, but only for good. He can will people to do the right thing, see the error in their ways, or simply make someone buy him lunch. This power is most useful when Shaktimaan needs to stop someone who is under the control of Kilvish from doing evil.

• Vibration Chakra (5): This chakra gives Shaktimaan the power to control all types of vibrations, including sound waves, light waves, healing warmth, etc. He can also use it to hear ultrasonic sounds, and can speed up the vibrations of his own atoms allowing him to transport himself in space or time. This can be very useful for getting out of dangerous situations, or going back to yesterday to watch a TV show he forgot to TiVo.

• Psychic Chakra (6): This chakra gives Shaktimaan the power of the “third eye” which enables him to read minds and see anywhere in the world at any distance. He can sense impending danger and see things at any corner of the world. Being a young man, this power can be very tempting for Gangadhar who can get into trouble by reading Geeta's mind.

• Wisdom Chakra (7): This chakra gives Shaktimaan the ability to know what is right and make good choices. It also gives him one of his few super weapons: his white cord of energy. Shaktimaan can use this to grab things and pull them closer like a tractor beam, tie up enemies without harming them, or swing.

His other powers are:

• Superhuman Speed: He also possesses Superhuman Speed which make him allot faster than a normal man. He can move, react, run, and fly extraordinarily fast. He can movie faster than light and can also catch bullets in mid air before they hit him, or anyone else. He can move more than hundred miles per hour.

• Superhuman Strength: Shaktimaan Enhanced strength much greater than that of a human and even most superhumans. He can move at superhuman strength no human or even most of the superhuman can catch up to his speed. Shaktimaan can easily hold a building or even a car without any problem, he also has ability to move a planet from one place to another and can also hold a planet. Shaktimaan has also moved a planets from its place in space to save the earth from the destructive comet planned by Dr. Jaikal, he was going to completely blast the earth with the destructive comet and keep the rest living people on another planet spotted by him space. But Shaktimaan changed the planet's position in the space and both of them blasted.

• molecular division: Shaktimaan has the ability to divide molecules from his body and divide his body in 5 as his body contains million times more molecules than an ordinary human. He uses this power very often, only when it is necessary like when Shakti Punja was stolen by Tamraj Kilvish's men he divided himself and fought against them and even when divya mani was stolen by Naurangee the thief he used this power.

• Flight: One of his main power is his Flight he flies faster than a speeding bullet and even faster than light. He can fly by make his body lighter than air he can also stand in air and fight also. There are two way in which he flies one as a normal superhuman flies and other by rotating himself like a top. When he rotates he puts his right hand up and turns around and he rotates like a top. When he rotates he becomes so fast that even a bullet can catch him.

• X-Ray Vision: Shaktimaan also has the ability of X-Ray Vision The ability to see through solid objects, usually with the exception of lead. Shaktimaan uses this power many times. He can also read people's mind and find whats going on in their mind. He can control ones thought erase his memory and even bring it back as seen many times he erased Dr. Jaikal memory when he found out about his real identity.

• Superhuman Breath: Shaktimaan has ability to release cold and hot air and gas from his mouth. He can release cold air/gas by completely reducing the temperature from his body and releases hot air/gas by completely increasing temperature from his body. This has been very useful as many times a fire is caught at a place Shaktimaan quickly appeared and put out the fire with this ability. Shaktimaan can also release out fire, water, wind etc. from his mouth and as much as he can. He can also release electric rays, fire rays, water rays and wind rays from his eyes and fingers. No matter how much the fire come cannot burn him and he can even stand in sun but it wont make any harm to him. No matter how much strong the wind and water comes it wont harm him. He can breathe and live everywhere and can also breathe in space, underwater, fire and etc. Even powerful weapons such as Nuclear Bomb cant harm him. He also has the ability known as Freeze Breath, and can cool objects to sub-zero temperatures and freeze air moisture solid.

• Superhuman Eyes: Other than the two eyes shaktimaan has more eyes in his mind through which he can see where a person is in danger and seen him and he mostly uses this. Many times when he is not able to see with his two eyes he uses these eyes to see.

• Healing Factor: Shaktimaan very often gets wound, so this ability is very often used by Shaktimaan, but when he gets a wound he can immediately heal it with his healing powers. He usually gets wound's because of Tamraj Kilvish and he can easily heal it by the seven chakras of Kundalini attained through meditation.

• Multilingualism – Shaktimaan can talk with any person with any language he comes in contact with and not only humans but also extraterrestrial beings.

• Eidetic Memory: Shaktimaan has a flawless memory and doesn't forget think if he once comes in coontact with and no one can make him forget also.

• The five elements: Shaktimaan is so powerful that has control over the five elements fire, wind, water, earth, sky. He is so powerful than he can bring a dead person to live as seen when he brought Geeta to life when she died in a space crash planned by Dr. Jaikal. As Shaktimaan loved her, he brought her back to life again using his power which resulted in losing his powers temporally due to his against the nature actions. He can inhale and exhale water, fire etc. at his will. He has sun attached to his chest at the front and the backside which include extremely dangerous rays which can kill his enemies in second. With the help of his "yogic shakti which was natural power" he can vary his size, he can shrink himself into a size of an ant and turn as large as a tower or even more taller. He also has magical eyes by which he is able to see the danger happening in the city. He can also remove his soul from his body and again bring it back. He also release powerful rays from his hands he is able to do this by giving out energy from his body.

• Superhuman Hearing: Shaktimaan can hear people's voice from far away even from space he can hear if someone calls him or anyone else. Shaktimaan is able to mentally screen out most of these sounds to be able to function normally, even in a noisy environment, and can focus in on specific things, like a person's voice or heartbeat, even if they are in another part of the city. He can even hear sounds on other planets, which makes it likely that his hearing is fundamentally different than that of a human, as sound cannot travel through the vacuum of space. Like humans and most animals, he is skilled at automatically noticing his own name out of the jumble of several overheard conversations, making him adept at quickly responding to calls of distress all over the city.

• Master Combatant: He is an expert, skilled and intelligent fighter and has fought with super-skilled enemies, he is expert in martial arts and Hand-to-hand combat. He has been trained in every martial arts and can easily use them. He knows all the fighting skills and is master in those.

• psychic powers like telepathy, teleportation, telekinesis: He also have psychic powers like telepathy which is often used by Geeta his love. She often call him by telepathy when she is in trouble. He can also teleport himself from one place to another and also telekinesis powers.

Characters

Main characters

Shaktimaan/Gangadhar

To avoid being an easy prey of Tamraj Kilvish, Shaktimaan adopted a different identity as Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri in the society. The character Gangadhar is completely opposite to that of Shaktimaan in all aspects e.g. appearance, intelligence while he speaks pure Hindi. Staying in the society as a common person helped him to get knowledge about crime. He got a job of a photographer for the newspaper Aaj Ki Awaaz after being interviewed by Geeta Vishwas. After a few weeks, he became a co-reporter working with Geeta. Through a series of incidents and the fact that he could never capture a photo of Shaktimaan, Geeta came to know about the dual identity of Shaktimaan, which was previously known only to Suryanshis. After Aaj Ki Awaaz was shut down, Gangadhar became a Hindi professor at a junior college. Later, he left the college to work for a news channel KR TV with Geeta.

Geeta Vishwas

Geeta Vishwas (Vaishnavi Mahant), the female lead in the serial, used to work as a brave news reporter in Aaj Ki Awaaz. She was the first to report about Shaktimaan in newspaper and named the superhero as Shaktimaan. Incidentally, she was the only reporter to get interviews of Shaktimaan as Gangadhar used to accompany her as photographer in missions. She died in a crash at space planned by Dr. Jaikal.^[5] As Shaktimaan loved her, he brought her back to life again using his power which resulted in losing his powers temporally due to his against the nature actions. Geeta came to know about this after Shaktimaan regained power with the vow that he will never repeat the same mistake again. To ensure this, she planned to leave the country. In the lead up to that situation, she got to know about Shaktimaan's dual character for the third time. But unlike first two occasions, Shaktimaan didn't erase it from Geeta's memory this time as she promised to keep it secret forever.^[6]

One year later^‡, after Aaj Ki Awaaz was shut down, its staff members persuaded Geeta in returning to India to join them to release Shaktimaan comics. Later she teamed up with Gangadhar again and joined KR TV^[7] as a television reporter while working for the comics simultaneously.

^‡ – When the journalist character Geeta Vishwas was written out of the series, fan protests prompted the producers to bring her back.^[8]

Enemies

Main enemies

Tamraj Kilvish

Tamraj Kilvish is Shaktimaan’s archenemy. Tamraj means King of Darkness (tama = darkness, raj = king). He has lived 6000 years, and is the source of evil in the world. He intends to rule the world by spreading darkness, hatred, sin and evil. It is said that the source of his strength is one-half of the "Shakti Punj" (the half which is referred to as "Paap Punj") which he managed to retain after he originally obtained the entire Shakti Punj by deceit from Shri Satya (Satya means truth), the founder of the Suryavanshi. However, it is also mentioned that the source of his strength is the evil that is committed by people in this world.^[9]

It was later revealed that only Shri Satya can kill Samrath Kilvish. After a death defying adventure, Shaktimaan was told that he is the rebirth of Shri Satya. Shri Satya had given the exact time of the child's birth and the place before he died about 6000 years ago. Tamraj also knows this and this is the main reason he is frightened by the appearance of Shaktimaan as he knows that only Shaktimaan can kill Samrath. He murdered Shaktimaan's parents and his adoptive father, Pandit Vidyadhar Shastri.^[10] He and his minions plot to kill him but always fail. His minions include Electric-man (who can shoot lightning blots from his body), Stone-man (who can shoot stones from his body), Plastica (who can stretch any part of her body), Dr. Jackal (an evil scientist) and others. Dr. Jackal has helped Kilvish in his various schemes by cloning Shaktimaan and also by turning aliens against him.^[11]

In the television series, Kilvish is often treated as the personification of darkness itself even though he was once a human being who later becomes very powerful and commits many evil deeds. In an attempt to become immortal, he left his mortal body and took an ethereal body which can't be killed but Shaktimaan is told that he has to kill all the evil in the world to destroy Tamraj’s ethereal body. Kilvish's trademark quote is "Andhera Kaayam Rahe" (May Darkness Prevail), which is also used by his followers.

Kilvish's character evolves as the series progresses. In the beginning episodes of Shaktimaan, his face is never shown and his voice is different from the voice that he uses in the later episodes of Shaktimaan, in which his role is played by Surendra Pal. Later his face deforms to become a distorted wolf like face.^[12]

Dr. Jaikal

Dr. Jaikal is an evil scientist who works for Kilvish. His earlier intention was not that of becoming evil, but when he was denied scholarship for research, Kilvish provided him with funds and labs, thus making him a supporter of Kilvish & an evil scientist.^[13] Though he is overall a brilliant scientist, his specialisation is cloning and various energy rays. His creations against Shaktimaan include Kekda Man (a clone formed by fusing cells of Crab & human), followed by Jonk Jonkaa (a clone using leech), an evil clone of Shaktimaan, Plastica, Lightman, 3D image, Super-heroine Sunanda and others. He also invented a height control solution and fictional EC- rays.^{[14][15][16][17][18][19] [20]}

Sahab

Sahab is an organised criminal and drug lord. Like Shaktimaan he also possesses double identity, the other being that of a law abiding industrialist and Mayor, known as Kumar Ranjan. Except for Tamraj Kilvish (and later Dr. Jackal), no one knows that Sahab and Kumar Ranjan are the same person, thus making this his biggest strength. Through his criminal mind, Sahab keeps plotting ways to create trouble for Shaktimaan or to defame him and to find out about the real identity of Shaktimaan.^[21]

Other enemies

Shalaka

Shalaka is a cat girl who has pledged to eliminate Shaktimaan. She first appears in episode 125 of the series in which she tries to harm Geeta. She is an accomplice of Tamraj Kilvish. She has a sister named Shalya. When she sees the cat Mani caressing Shaktimaan, she hurls it to death. She later realises that the cat was her sister, Shalya.^[22]

Kapala

He has metal plate attached to his chest and can send rays of darkness with electric current through it. He often passes jokes while fighting Shaktimaan. He has a trident and is portrayed like a tantrik. Shaktimaan turned him into pieces of stones in an episode. Later in the late episodes of Shaktimaan, he is shown resurrected back to life. He is played by Faqira.^[23][24]

Teemiraa

She was another devil magician sent by Tamraaj to kill Shaktimaan in childhood but she failed. Tamraaj tortured her in fire for several years for this. Later he again give her a chance to kill Shaktimaan with a warning but Teemiraa was planning to kill both Shaktimaan and Tamraaj Kilvish. Whenever she drinks blood of any human body she becomes young. At last Kilvish kills her for her misbehaves.^[25]

Matandeeka

She was a devil creature works for Kilvish, she hitches somebody on road and kills him brutally by taking his spirit. She wants to become powerful, so she goes in front of Kilvish for her request. Kilvish tells her to Kill Shaktimaan and she will become what she want. Her looks was mostly similar to Teemiraa, she wears red dress and also the background score of Teemiraa was played on her.^[26]

Kakodar

A dangerous devil who was turned into a statue thousand of year ago and was cursed that only if a good person will remove a thread from his neck he will come to life again. Thousand of year later Mayor JJ (Jai Kumar Janardhan broke the thread by mistake and freed him). After freeing him he mayor JJ died and kakodar went in his body and decided to Spread andhera (darkness). he tries alot to kill Shaktimaan but always failed, he has extremely dangerous poison in him and can kill anyone from it but it doesn't effect Shaktimaan. Later Shaktimaan and kakodar are involved in a huge fight and Shaktimaan destroys him and turns him into a Statue again.

Toyman

Toyman's character was played by Brij Mohan Pandey. He is mentally a psycho lover who kills his fiance Shailaa. To make more profit, he made toys using low-priced colours which are harmful to children causing death to many children and he was jailed. Later he created dangerous toys as weapons to destroy Shaktimaan.^[27]

Kalushaah

She is a devil woman runs her black world as an agent of Tamraj Kilvish. She is so cruel that she kills her own servants who can't do her given work. She made the jungle of Karadunga, her penthouse, a mysterious place so that no one can come there. Once, she attacked Shaktimaan's father Ranjeet Singh when he tried to investigate the secrets of Karadunga. Later, Shaktimaan ruins her world leaves her no way but to flee.^[28]

Maharaani Mayadri

Her role was done by actress Sunila Karambekar as a villain. She enters when Shaktimaan, Dwijj, Geeta time travel upon centuries to collect chakra, but they were unable as Queen Mayadri makes them her hostages. She thought the Shaktimaan as Satya, the Mahaguru, who was once a king but later became a priest as he loves the environment of forest. His fighting skills make maharani fell in love with him and she proposes Satya, but he rejects her. It makes her angry and so psycho that she creates her own world where she rules like queen. She also has many magical powers that nobody can destroy her. Later after telling the story to Shaktimaan, she also told him that she is immortal and nobody can kill her. Shaktimaan wants the time machine remote from Maharaniji which she stole from him while kidnapping Geeta and Dwijj to unknown place. Shaktimaan requests Maharaniji to return the remote and free both hostages. For her love she shows both Geeta and Dwijj. Later Maharaniji attacked Geeta by her magical dangerous rays so cruelly that she can be dead. What happened then is shown in the remaining episode.^[29]

Kashtak

During archaeology a tomb has been found buried. Kashtak comes out of it and want to rule the whole world. Later Shaktimaan defeats him.^[30]

Khali-Bhali

2 evil Small green and red devil creatures. They keep on quarreling with each other for no reason like kid. They eat humans and are nothing when they are Separated, but when they both combine they become huge creature and can easily defeat anyone and become really powerful.

Nataasha

She (Sunila) was also a demonic evil woman sent by Kilvish with her mates Kakodar (J.J) and Mathur (Deepak Bhatia). She can transform her body or face like a Shape shifter. She kills a C.B.I. officer and takes her face to interrogate Gangadhar and Geeta. Later her powers were ended due to Shaktimaan defeating Kakodar. To regain power, she kidnaps the son of a scientist with her mates to get the formula of invisible man which may help defeating Shaktimaan.^[31]

Behroopia

She can change her face and body through her body like Chameleon (Spiderman's villain). Once, she changes her face to Shaktimaan's and creates a fake fight to destroy the status of Shaktimaan. Later she again changes her face to Geeta Vishwaas and give a wrong interview on television about Shaktimaan. But Shaktimaan shows her real face to everyone later. Jaikaal punishes her angrily for her failure and gives her death.^[32]

Sunanda

She was a mutant like Akansha. She can touch any electrical wave and make her powers. Her neighbours want to kill her as they think that she is a witch. She was saved by Suryanshi samuday who want to help her. But she was kidnapped by Dr. Jaikaal. He offers her to make more powerful than Shaktimaan to revenge the society. He converts her to a superwoman and uses her to destroy Shaktimaan's status with another devil woman Behroopia. Later Sunanda changes heart and surrenders after seeing the reality of Kilvish and Jaikaal.^[33]

Kitanuman

Kitanuman an extremely dangerous green coloured creature he is completely made from germs and is also one of the servants of tamraj kilvish. Thousands of years ago Shri Satya turned him into a statue and later he gets freed from the statue and spreds germs so badly and turn each and every children of the world into old men. Kitanuman was one of the most dangerous and difficult devil to defeat for shaktimaan and had a really tough time with him. However later Shaktimaan kill him using his own germs. Later when shaktimaan defeats and burns him in space, unknown to shaktimaan his germs do not completely finish and are left in space. A space guard sheena, while coming towards the earth sees and take the germs and store them in a protective jar and later along with another space guard Mr. Subkar they try to kill germs, but Dr. Jaikal comes and injure them and takes the germs. He again brings kitanuman back to life, but later shaktimaan freeze Dr. Jaikal, Nadia (his assistant), kitanuman, along with 3 dangerous criminals of space and sentence them in the Inter Galactic Prison (A prison made in galaxy near the sun made by the space guards Mr. Subkar and Sheena).

Wolfa

An extremely dangerous devil clone created by Dr. Jaikal. She was made by cloning a women, Snake and wolf. She first attract people toward her and once a person touches her the person brutally dies. She is only lady with 3 Specialties of wolf, Snake and women. No one can touch her as the person dies on the spot when the person touches her. Later Shaktimaan kills her.

Pretolla

Like Tamraj Kilvish he has also lived more 6000 years and is a ghostly like creature he is extremely dangerous and when he gets hungry he eats away the body of the whole world and make them ghosts, he gets hungry very often once in 1000 years. 6000 years ago when he was in space Shri Satya created a protective coating around the earth, because of which he couldn't enter the earth for 6000 years. The protective coating could be broken by Shri Satya only or his rebirth Shaktimaan which was impossible, but Tamraj Kilvish controlled shaktimaan's brain with the power of smashed divya mani and shaktimaan broke the coating and allowed Pretolla to enter the earth as soon as he entered he turned half of the people of earth in ghosts as Tamraj Kilvish had only the half part of Shaktipunja (Pap Punja). Tamraj Kilvish sends his men to find the remaining part of Shaktipunja whereas shaktimaan travels time in different time zone along with geeta and Dwijj to collect 8 chakras and save the world. Later shaktimaan is successful in collectiing 8 chakras of life from different time zones and save the world and pretolla is send out of earth and the protective coating is again made.

Dakula

He is another devil send by Tamraj Kilvish to kill shaktimaan. He is completely made from fire and Tamraj Kilvish awoke him from thousands years of his sleeping to kill shaktimaan. He first spread destruction in the city by showing himself as Ranjeet Singh shaktimaan's father, but dies due to the attack of nitrogen gas which him, but he again re-emerges. Shaktimaan later kill him with nitrogen gas.

Lightman

He was created by Dr. Jaikal when he was rescued from jail by Sahab one of the main enemies of shaktimaan. He released him from prison to help him to kill Shaktimaan, he created lightman by cloning one hair of shaktimaan and sunlight. Later Shaktimaan took all light from lightman and took it inside his body which made him extremely week but he managed to fly to sun and transferred the light in the sun.

Kekda Man

He is one of the two very dangerous creation of Dr. Jaikal (along with Jonk Jonkaa), he was a clone created by Dr. Jaikal by fusing cells of Crab & human, he was made by cloning a kidnapped Suryanshi,with Suryanshis power. He has extremely dangerous poision which even gave shaktimaan a lot of pain. He was later killed by Dr. Jaikal as he was betrayed by shaktimaan.

Jonk Jonkaa

He is one of the two very dangerous creation of Dr. Jaikal (along with Kekda Man), he was a clone created by Dr. Jaikal by fusing cells of leech. Shaktimaan killed him but he kidnapped shaktimaan and send him to Dr. Jaikal and shaktimaan's evil clone was made.

Plastica

The most dangerous creation of Dr. Jaikal, she is made of plastic and release extremely dangerous poisonous gas which kills people in seconds. She can stretch any part of her body and there is no way to kill her.

Electric-man

He was the first super villain faced by shaktimaan. Dr. Chandola an evil mental scientist created him. He killed his son and after with electricity he tried to bring back his life, but when he comes to life he kills Dr. Chandola and spreads destruction in the city. Later shaktimaan defeats and kills him, him he is cyborg and can shoot lightning blots from his body he first attacked Geeta and shaktimaan saved geeta by killing Electric-man. That was the time when Geeta first time talked to Shaktimaan and asked about him.

Froga

He is half human half frog, he is really powerful and has a really long and sticky tongue which is really dangerous. His tongue is his main power source which he uses to catch its prey. He (along with visthar, Behroopia and Chinksu) spreaded a lot of destruction in the city but was defeated by Shaktiman and three other powerful Suryanshis.

Stone-man

He was created by Kapala who is also an enemy of Shaktimaan and a servant of Tamraj Kilvish, he can shoot stones from his body.

Chinksu

He is really power in hand to hand combat and is expert martial artist he can break trees into two pieces with his one punch he (along with froga, Behroopia and visthar) spreaded a lot of destruction in the city but was defeated by Shaktiman and three other powerful Suryanshis.

visthar

He is half snake half human and releases extremely dangerous poison from his mouth. His poison weakens shaktimaan. He (along with froga, Behroopia and Chinksu) spreaded a lot of destruction in the city but was defeated by Shaktiman and three other powerful Suryanshis.

Other characters

Mr. Subkar

A space guard, who is extremely powerful but not evil. The are at the side truth and he is so powerful that bullets, electricity and etc do not harm him, his mind works faster than computer and can also fly. He (along with sheena another powerful space guard) were in the process of killing the germs of kitanuman, when Dr. Jaikal attacked them and they had to flee. Even suriyanshis do not know about. he (along with Sheena) is the owner of Inter Gallactic Prison. Later in a spaceship they follow Jaikal but Jaikal blasts their spaceship and Mr. Subkar and Sheena and badly injured and turn. So shaktimaan finds a special flower to save their and in the process he catches Dr. Jaikal and then freezes him along with the others in the Inter Galactic Prison (A prison made in galaxy near the sun made by the space guards Mr. Subkar and Sheena). When Mr. Subkar and Sheena are saved they are about to leave Mayor of the city Kumar Ranjan comes and name them foreign spy living visas and do not allow them to go. Later to defame shaktimaan he spreads a virus in the city and says it is done by the space guards. Also kidnaps Mr. Subkar and Sheena and tells its done by Shaktimaan and an arrest comes out for Shaktimaan, but Mr. Subkar and Sheena brings the truth by showing the real face of Kumar Ranjan.

Sheena

Another powerful space guard. She first came to the earth in her space, when shaktimaan tried to stop her he was attacked by powerful rays from her space. Like Mr. Subkar electricity and bullets do not harm her, her mind is faster than computer and she can also fly. She (along with Mr. Subkar) is the owner of Inter Gallactic Prison. Sheena and Mr. Subkar were the first people who saw Shaheb's real face and made him arrested by the police. Later in a spaceship they follow Jaikal but Jaikal blasts their spaceship and Mr. Subkar and Sheena and badly injured and turn. So shaktimaan finds a special flower to save their and in the process he catches Dr. Jaikal and then freezes him along with the others in the Inter Galactic Prison (A prison made in galaxy near the sun made by the space guards Mr. Subkar and Sheena). When Mr. Subkar and Sheena are saved they are about to leave Mayor of the city Kumar Ranjan comes and name them foreign spy living visas and do not allow them to go. Later to defame shaktimaan he spreads a virus in the city and says it is done by the space guards. Also kidnaps Mr. Subkar and Sheena and tells its done by Shaktimaan and an arrest comes out for Shaktimaan, but Mr. Subkar and Sheena brings the truth by showing the real face of Kumar Ranjan.

Dr. Shishya

He is an really powerful Suryanshis or even one of the most powerful Suryanshis, he posses telekinetic power and can bring anyone to himself or even no one can move if he catches them. He lives with Sanjeev Mahashay at the secret places of Suryanshis in the city and even runs a hospital. He has also helped shaktimaan many times in defeating Tamraj Kilvish's armies.

Vivek/Andhi and Abhimanuv

He is an really powerful Suryanshis he has the power of wind and wind come out from his eyes. He lives with Sanjeev Mahashay at the secret places of Suryanshis in the city and even runs a hospital. He one blow from his mouth throws the person wherever he wants. He is later killed by Tamraj Kilvish but his brother Abhimanuv of same powers joins them and fills his place and also helped shaktimaan many times in defeating Tamraj Kilvish's armies.

Abhinav/Vidyut

He is an really powerful Suryanshis he has the power of fire and fire rays come out from his eyes. He lives with Sanjeev Mahashay at the secret places of Suryanshis in the city and even runs a hospital. He has also helped shaktimaan many times in defeating Tamraj Kilvish's armies.

Sanjeev Mahashay

The Chief head of all the Suryanshis places in the city. He first met Shaktimaan as Gangadhar when he lost his memory. He is a genius and has a very powerful, with the help of his brain power he can break any thing and even kill any one. He has the power of Earth and his voice reaches till the end of the earth wherever he wan he is the head of a hospital.

Jwaala and Euroo

They are aliens from Sudoko planet. They landed on earth to save there lives from the three evil aliens who wants to destroy everything. Later Dr. Jaikal kidnaps them, to use their powers for darkness (andhera).

Kamini

Nupur Alankaar plays the small role of Kaamini as a filmy gossip writer in Shaktimaan. She is attracted towards Gangadhar, talking very lovely to him which makes Geeta jealous

Shailaa

She loves Toyman as a friend. But Toyman loves her like a lover. After using poisonous colours in toys many children die. As a result Toyman is sent to jail. Shailaa begins hates him and never wants to see his ugly face again. She is later married to a new man. When Toyman discovers this, he finds her and kills her along with her whole family.

Episode

461 episodes in first season

Episode list

1. SuperHero Is Pandit Gangadhar
2. Gangadhar Encounters Geeta Vishwas
3. Super Hero Named as Shaktimaan
4. Making of Electricman
5. Gangadhar Interviewd by Geeta
6. Gangadhar Teams up With Geeta
7. Shaktimaan Destroys Electricman
8. Enters Kapala
9. Shaktimaan Fights Kapala
10. Kapala wants to Capture Geeta　
11. Shaktimaan(Gangadhar) Finds House To Live
12. Kapala Runs Away
13. Kilvish The of Darkness Calling
14. Shaktimaan Plays Aankhmaicholi With His Friends
15. Appu in Trouble
16. King of Darkness Addresses His Subject
17. Shaktimaan Saves Appu
18. Enters Queen of Jalkur Nagri(An Under Water Kingdom)　
19. Acid Attack From Jalkur Nagri(An Under Water Kingdom)　
20. Shaktimaan Enters Jalkur Nagri(An Under Water Kingdom)
21. Johaharu Defames Shaktimaan
22. Shaktimaan The Problem of Jalkur Nagri
23. Mayor J.J(Kakodar)Wants To Buy Aaj Ki Awaaz　
24. Appu Wants Shaktimaan Doll
25. Kapala Creates Stoneman
26. Shaktimaan Defeats Stoneman
27. Shaktimaan Saves Earth
28. J.J Wants To Know The Secret of Shaktimaan
29. C.B.I Raids Aaj Ki Awaaz
30. Shaktimaan Saves Geeta
31. Shalu and Hatheli Kidnaps Gangadhar
32. Girgit Kidnaps Geeta
33. Shalu Dupes Sethji

Main cast

• Mukesh Khanna as Shaktimaan/Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkaar Naath Shastri/Major Ranjeet Singh/Sree Satya/evil clone shaktimaan(Male lead)
• Vaishnavi Mahant^‡ as Geeta Vishwas, Female lead

^‡ – Kitu Gidwani was the original actress to play Geeta and was later replaced by Vaishnavi Mahant due to unknown reasons.

• Surendra Pal as Tamraj Kilvish
• Tom Alter as Mahaguru
• Kishore Bhanushali as Naurangee the thief
• Rajendra Gupta as Geeta's Father
• Lalit Parimoo as Dr. Jaikal
• Raman Khatri as Sahab/Kumar Ranjan
• Nawab Shah as Mayor JJ (Jai Kumar Janardhan)/Kakodar
• Deepshikha as Paroma/Sheraali (dual roles)
• Sunila Karambekar as Queen Mayaadri
• Brij Mohan Pandey as Bankelal/Toyman
• Nupur Alankaar as Kaamini (Film gossip writer at Aaj Ki Awaaz)
• Shikha Swaroop as villain alien (special appearance)
• Goga Kapoor as Bilas Rao
• Deep Raj Rana as Inspector Jai Singh, a Corrupt Police officer.
• Sharad Smart as Satyaprakash Nirala, the 1st editor of Aaj Ki Awaaz
• Raju Shrivastav as Durandhar Singh, the 2nd editor of Aaj Ki Awaaz and a media person who hates Shaktimaan
• Urvashi Dholakia as Maansi Sharma
• Kavita Kaushik as Teemira/Behroopia
• Manjeet Kullar as Kaushalya (Ranjeet Singh's wife)
• Neelam Mehra as Maansi mother
• Sneha Rao
• Tarika Khanna

Fame

Shaktimaan is the defender of the truth and justice as well as a role model for his television audience, even going so far as to lecture viewers on hygiene, patriotism and education.

When Shaktimaan first aired on Doordarshan, there were a lot of controversy created as children set themselves on fire or jumped off buildings hoping that Shaktimaan would save them.^[34] In an effort to promote responsible behaviour among children, Mukesh Khanna spent a substantial part of the airtime in explaining to the children that the stunts shown on television were not real and should not be emulated.^[35] Khanna also stated that most of the controversies were fake and were raised in media to undermine its popularity.^[36]

Shaktimaan was one of the most popular and longest-running television series for Indian children on the Doordarshan channel.^[37] In an interview with Nupur Rekhi of indiantelevision.com, Khanna told that, he has even received letters from the external affairs minister and then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee saying that he has done a very good thing in choosing the role of Shaktimaan and keeping up to it. He has been featured in The Wall Street Journal on the front page reflecting on Shaktimaan's (and hence Khanna's) positive influence on children.

Later a series of comic books appeared featuring Shaktimaan and published in many Indian languages as well as English in association with Diamond Comics and Raj Comics. Shaktimaan merchandise like costumes, stickers, dolls, etc. were also introduced in market.

In the wake of the 2001 Gujarat Earthquake, Mukesh Khanna toured the affected areas in character as Shaktimaan topping morale and giving relief to people.

Animated Series

Shaktimaan: The Animated Series produced by Reliance Animation was aired on Sonic, a new channel by Viacom 18 in India.^[38] A 3D film featuring Shaktimaan was announced on 24 March 2012. Mukesh Khanna who played the role of Shaktimaan confirmed this. It started airing on Nickelodeon India from 7 May 2012.^[39]

Movie

Hamara Hero Shaktimaan was the first film of the series which was aired on Pogo TV on 30 June 2013.

See also

• Space Sheriff Gavan
• Superman

References

External links

• Shaktimaan at the Internet Movie Database
• Shaktimaan Comics
• Shaktimaan at the International Catalogue of Superheroes
• Shaktimaan profile at BizHat.com
• Interview with Mukesh Khanna at Indiantelevision.com