''Shaktimaan'' is an Indian

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program ...

consisting of TV series, comic books and films. The original work is ''

Shaktimaan Shaktimaan is an Indian Hindi-language superhero television show, created by Mukesh Khanna that aired on DD National from 13 September 1997 to 27 March 2005. Producer Mukesh Khanna played the role of Shaktimaan and his alter ego "Pandit Gang ...

'', which was produced by

Mukesh Khanna Mukesh Khanna (born 23 June 1958) is an Indian actor, talk show host and producer who works in Hindi language films and television shows. He is best known for his portrayal of Shaktimaan, the superhero character in ''Shaktimaan'' (1997–2005) ...

under his banner Bheeshm International and directed by Dinkar Jani and Vikram Veturi.

Production

Dinkar Jani &

first conceptualized SHAKTIMAAN in 1981, when MUKESH Khanna was shooting for his Film Dard-e-dil. It was first titled as Aakash, a superhero who comes from sky and saves people and then disappears. But, however the project got shelved as MUKESH Khanna got busy shooting for his future projects. In 1995, while trying to develop a spy show for

DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is a state-owned public entertainment television channel in India. It is the flagship channel of Doordarshan, India's public service broadcaster, and the oldest and most widely available terrestrial television channel ...

with Dinkar Jani, MUKESH Khanna suddenly thought of reviving Aakash and that's how SHAKTIMAAN got shaped. Aakash was even renamed as ''SHAKTIMAAN'' and Brij Mohan Pandey, Ghalib Asad Bhopali were hired for scriptwriting.

Television series

Shaktimaan (1997–2005)

''Shaktimaan'' ( hi, शक्तिमान) is a fictional Indian

from the television series of the same name which aired on

from 27 September 1997 to 27 March 2005 on Sundays. The series was produced by

and directed by Dinkar Jani. It has also aired on Pogo in English, Tarang in Oriya and Chutti TV in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

, and repeated its Hindi telecast on

STAR Utsav StarPlus is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly ''Star India''), a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. The network's programming consists of Soap opera, family dramas, ...

plays the roles of Shaktimaan and his

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri, a photographer for the newspaper ''Aaj Ki Aawaz''. Shaktimaan is depicted as a human who has attained superhuman strength and power through deep meditation and attaining control over five elements of life.

Kitu Gidwani Kaushalya "Kitu" Gidwani is an Indian actress and model. She has starred in several movies and serials on Indian television. Kitu played the role of Svetlana in ''Swabhimaan'' which brought recognition for her. Then she signed ''Shaktimaan'' ...

, and later

Vaishnavi Mahant Vaishnavi Macdonald (née Mahant) is an Indian film and TV actress who is best known for playing Geeta Viswas in Mukesh Khanna's television series ''Shaktimaan'', telecasted on Doordarshan. She is currently seen in Dangal (TV channel), Dangal' ...

plays the role of Geeta Vishwas, a reporter in the series who loves Shaktimaan.

Surendra Pal Surendrapal Singh (born 25 September 1953) is an Indian film and television character actor who works in Hindi films and TV series. He is best known for his roles of Dronacharya in ''Mahabharat'', Amatya Rakshas in ''Chanakya'', Tamraj Kilvish ...

plays the role of Tamraj Kilvish.

Shaktimaan: The Animated Series (2011–2012)

'' Shaktimaan: The Animated Series'' is an Indian animated

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

series based on the live-action series ''

''. It is created by Reliance Animation and was aired on

Sonic Sonic or Sonics may refer to: Companies *Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in fast-food restaurant chain *Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider and CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities *Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whic ...

on 20 December 2011. In 2017

Discovery Kids Discovery Kids (stylized as Discovery K!ds) is a brand name owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Starting as a television segment within the Discovery Channel, the brand expanded as a separate television channel. Most of its worldwide channels were ei ...

acquired the rights of syndication from Reliance Entertainment.

Shaktimaan (TBD)

In October 2019, Mukesh Khanna announced himself that a 3D animated series will be launched in future, with its teaser launching on 7 December 2019 at

Comic Con India Comic Con India (CCI) is a series of annual comic-based conventions held in India. The first edition was held in New Delhi in 2011 and over the years has expanded to other major cities in India such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahm ...

2019.

Web series

On 15 March 2019 a show named ''Sorry Shaktimaan'' started on a YouTube channel having the same name. It is the educational section of Shaktimaan .

Film

Cast and characters

Controversies

When ''Shaktimaan'' first aired on Doordarshan, there were a lot of controversies created as children set themselves on fire or jumped off buildings hoping that Shaktimaan would save them. 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. Khanna also stated that most of the controversies were fake and were raised in media to undermine its popularity.

Comic Books

A series of comic books appeared featuring Shaktimaan and published in many Indian languages as well as English in association with

Diamond Comics Diamond Comics is an Indian comic books publisher and distribution company, headquartered in Delhi. It is the largest comic book distributor and publisher in India. Diamond Comics created several original Indian comic characters like Chacha C ...

and

Raj Comics Raj Comics, is an Indian comic books publisher, based in New Delhi, India. It published a line of Indian comic books through Raja Pocket Books since its foundation in 1984 by Rajkumar Gupta, Manoj Gupta and Sanjay Gupta. Some of its most we ...

Merchandise

Shaktimaan merchandise like costumes, stickers, dolls were introduced in the market.

Awards and nominations

'' Shaktimaan: The Animated Series'' won 2012 FICCI BAF award for best animated TV series.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0389680, title=Shaktimaan
Interview with Mukesh Khanna
at Indiantelevision.com Television superheroes Indian superheroes Television characters introduced in 1997 DD National original programming Shaktimaan