Nukkad

Nukkad (Street Corner) was the name of a popular Hindi TV serial that aired on the Indian television channel DD National in 1986–87. It was directed by Kundan Shah and Saeed Akhtar Mirza; it was written by Prabodh Joshi.

It starred Dilip Dhawan, Rama Vij, Pavan Malhotra, Sangeeta Naik, Avtar Gill in lead roles. The serial received tremendous response from the viewers and some of the characters such as Khopdi, Kaderbhai and Ghanshu Bhikari became household names. Nukkad was one of the three most popular TV serials on Doordarshan in the eighties; the other two being Hum Log and Buniyaad.

The first season of Nukkad aired in 1986–87 had 40 episodes. Each was based on an everyday issue of lower income people and often revolved around one or two specific characters. Some episodes ended on hope and positive consolation while some had a sad but realistic conclusion. The treatment was based on simplicity and reality, making the episodes endearing.

Due to the popularity of this series, the producers re-launched the Nukkad brand in 1993 in a new modern "avatar". It was titled Naya Nukkad and included the original cast with new characters. Naya Nukkad did not match the popularity of the original Nukkad series.

Overview

The serial dealt with the struggles of the lower income labor class in cities.

Cast

• Dilip Dhawan—Guru (Guru aka Raghunath is a small-time electrician don and the de facto leader of the Nukkad gang. Helpful and impartial by nature, Guru is often useful in resolving petty quarrels between the Nukkad residents)
• Avtar Gill—Kaderbhai(Kader Kutty owns a small dingy restaurant which often becomes a meeting point for other Nukkad members. He is generous and does not charge the poor Nukkad members for tea and snacks)
• Pavan Malhotra—Hari (Hari Mourya is a humble hard working youth who owns a small shop for repairing bicycles and filling air in bicycle tyres. Hari is besotted with Madhu, the attractive, educated daughter of Gupta seth. However Gupta seth despises their romance and is always watchful of Hari & Madhu.)
• Sameer Khakhar—Khopdi (Khopdi aka Gopal is a chronic drunkard who is loved by all)
• Haidar Ali—Raja (Raja Patel is an unemployed vagabond who moves around smartly dressed in a suit and with an "I know it all" attitude)
• Javed Khan—Karim miya Hajaam (Karim is a barber and owns a small hair cutting salon)
• Sangeeta Naik—Radha (The domestic maid who works in the houses at Nukkad. She loves Hari and is annoyed that he does not reciprocate and instead loves Madhu.)
• Rama Vij—Teacherji (Teacherji aka Maria is a widow who lives alone. Guru and Maria both love each other, but do not explicitly confess their love.)
• Ajay Wadhavkar—Ganpat Havaldar (Ganpat is the neighborhood havaldar often called in whenever there is trouble at Nukkad.)
• Suresh Chatwal—Dukhiya shayar(Dukhiya Chandigarhi is an unemployed "shayar" who lives for free with Guru. Dukhiya bores everybody with meaningless shayaris (couplets). He Khopdi and Raja form the unemployed trio who live off other's money.)
• Suresh Bhagwat—Ghanshu Bhikari (Ghanshu aka Ghanshyam is the neighborhood beggar.)
• Shrichand Makhija Chaurasia Paanwala (Chaurasia is a paanwala with a paan-beedi shop next to Kaderbhai's restaurant)
• Kundu Mochi (The cobbler by the streetside)
• Tambi Waiter(Tambi works as a waiter at Kaderbhai's restaurant)
• Dagdu Jamadar(Dagdu is the municipality sweeper at Nukkad)
• Bengali Bandwala ( An old trumpet player)
• Gupta Seth (Owner of grocery stores)
• Maniklal Seth (Owner of a jewelry shop)

Other characters included Madhu (Hari's love interest and daughter of Gupta seth), Suresh (rich spoilt son of Seth Maniklal) and the wives of Maniklal and Guptaji.

Description

The serial dealt with the struggles of lower income people in cities trying to make a living in an increasingly harsh social and economic climate. The premise was that they all work and live together at the local street corner (Nukkad) and every evening they share jokes and sometimes their never-ending troubles and unfulfilled dreams with each other.

External links

• Nukkad at the Internet Movie Database