''Malgudi Days'' is an Indian television series that started in 1986, and was filmed in both English (first 13 episodes) and Hindi (all 54 episodes), based on the 1943 short story collection of the same name by

R. K. Narayan Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami (10 October 1906 – 13 May 2001) was an Indian writer known for his work set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English along with Mul ...

. The series was directed by Kannada actor and director

Shankar Nag Shankar Nagarakatte (9 November 1954 – 30 September 1990) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer known for his work in Kannada-language films and television. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, Nag is often referred to as ...

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is ...

ian

L. Vaidyanathan Lakshminarayana Vaidyanathan ( ta, லக்ஷ்மிநாராயண வைத்தியநாதன்; kn, ಎಲ್.ವೈದ್ಯನಾಥನ್; 9 April 1942 – 19 May 2007) was an acclaimed musicologist, music director and compo ...

composed the score, while R.K. Narayan's younger brother and acclaimed cartoonist

R. K. Laxman Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman ''Pg. 11 in the source says that Laxman & his brother Narayan were Tamil Iyer Brahmins.'' (24 October 1921 – 26 January 2015) was an Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist. He is best known for his creation ...

was the sketch artist. The series was made by film producer T.S. Narasimhan. In 2006, the series was revived for an additional 15 episodes, which were directed by

Kavitha Lankesh Kavitha Lankesh is an Indian film director, screenwriter and a lyricist known for her work in Kannada cinema industry. She began as a documentary film-maker before directing her first feature film, '' Deveeri'' (1999), which went on to win int ...

Plot

The series is adapted from the collections of short stories written by

in his books ''Malgudi Days'', ''A Horse and Two Goats'', ''An Astrologer's Day and Other Short Stories'', as well as the novels '' Swami and Friends'', and ''

The Vendor of Sweets ''The Vendor of Sweets'' (1967), by R. K. Narayan, is the biography of a fictional character named Sri K. V. Jagan who is a sweet vendor of (a fictional Indian town) Malgudi. The story beautifully reflects his conflict with his estranged son and ...

.''

Episodes

Season - 1 (1986 - 13 Episodes) * A Hero / Hero * A Horse and 2 Goats / Muni * The Missing Mail / Dhakia * The Hoard / Maha Kanjus * Cat Within / Paap ka Gada * Leela’s Friend / Sidda * Old Man of the Temple / Mandir ka Budda * The Watchman / Chowkidar * A Willing Slave / Aaya * Roman Image / Rome ka Murthi * Sweets for Angels / Kaali * The Seventh House / Saathvan Ghar * Nitya Season - 2 (1987 - 13 Episodes) * Engine Trouble / Engine ki Kahani * Iswaran * The Gateman’s Gift / Govind Singh ki Bhent * The Edge / Dhara * Forty-Five a Month / 45 Rupiya * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 1 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 2 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 3 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 4 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 5 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 6 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 7 * Swamy and Friends / Swami – 8 Season - 3 (1988 - 13 Episodes) * Performing Child / Abhinetri * The Career / Ramji ki Leela * Trail of the Green Blazer / Pocket Maar * Naga – 1 * Naga – 2 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 1 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 2 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 3 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 4 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 5 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 6 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 7 * Vendor of Sweets / Mithaiwala – 8 Season - 4 (2006 - 15 Episodes) * Annamalai – 1 * Annamalai – 2 * The Gold Belt / Sone ka Kamarband * Dodu * Doctor's Word * Four Rupees * Neighbour's Help * Minister Without Portfolio & Korean Grass * Salt & Saw Dust – 1 * Salt & Saw Dust – 2 * Lawley Road – 1 * Lawley Road – 2 * The Antidote * The Snake Song * An Astrologer's Day

Cast

Master Manjunath Manjunath Nayaker is an Indian actor and public relations professional. He is better known by his screen name Master Manjunath and "Swamy" for his lead role in the television series ''Malgudi Days'' (1987) directed by Shankar Nag and in its fil ...

as W. S. Swaminathan "Swami" *

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

as W. T. Srinivasan *

Vaishali Kasaravalli Vaishali Kasaravalli (12 April 1952 – 27 September 2010) was a noted Kannada actress, television serial director, and costume designer. Early life She was born on 12 April 1952 in Gulbarga to theatre enthusiast parents Dr. Chitagopi and Ni ...

as Swami's mother * Suhasini Adarkar as Swami's grandmother * Kanti Madiya as Muniya "Muni" *

B. Jayashree B. Jayashree (born 9 June 1950) is a veteran Indian theatre actress, director and singer, who has also acted in films and television and worked as dubbing artist in films. She is the creative director of Spandana Theatre, an amateur theatre co ...

as Muniya's wife * Somu as Shopkeeper * Teddy White as Frank *

Deven Bhojani Deven Bhojani is an Indian actor and director. He is a theatre artist, who is best known for his Gujarati plays. He made his television debut with the famous show ''Malgudi Days'' in 1987. He mainly gained popularity for his comic roles and for ...

as Nitya *

Harish Patel Harish Patel (born 5 July 1953) is an Indian character actor. He has appeared in a variety of Hindi films, but in recent years has begun to appear in American projects like reimagination of '' Four Weddings and a Funeral'' on Hulu. His latest p ...

as Various characters *

Anant Nag Dr Anant Nagarkatte (born 4 September 1948) is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in Kannada cinema. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 200 Kannada films as well as Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam and En ...

as Various characters * Vishnuvardhan as Venkat Rao *

as Venkatesh *

Ramesh Bhat Ramesh Bhat is a multiple-award–winning Indian actor. He has worked predominantly in Kannada films and television serials. Early life Ramesh Bhat was born in Kundapur. He completed his primary education at Manki and portrayed national leader ...

as various characters * Rohit Srinath as Rajam
Raghuram Sitaram
as Mani * Chetan as S. Somashekar "Somu" *

Arundathi Nag Arundhati Nag (née Rao; born 1955/1956) is an Indian actress. She has been involved with multilingual Theatre in India, for over 25 years, first in Mumbai where she got involved with Indian People's Theatre Association ( IPTA), and did various ...

as Kamala * Sunil Sadanand as Mali, Jagan's son * Mandeep Rai as Narsimha, Jagan's cousin * Ashok Mandanna as Thanappa * Vasanth Josalkar as Govind Singh * Kalpana Naganath as various characters *

Dina Pathak Dina Pathak (née Gandhi; 4 March 1922 – 11 October 2002) was an Indian actress and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was an activist and President of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW). A doyenne of Hindi a ...

as Ayah * Jagadish Malnad as Sidda * Mico Chandru as Swamy's father * Sampath Raj as Ekambaram *

S. K. Padmadevi S. K. Padmadevi (1924 – 19 September 2019) was an Indian actress in the Kannada and Tamil film industries. Padmadevi started working in Kannada theatre in 1930 and remained active on stage till 1960. Later she was associated with All India Ra ...

as Elderly villager * Siddaraj Kalyankar (The Gold Belt) Main cast

Background and production

The series Malgudi Days, comprising thirty nine episodes, was first telecast on Doordarshan in 1986. Most of the series was shot in

Agumbe Agumbe is a village situated in the Thirthahalli taluka of Shimoga district, Karnataka, India. It is nestled in the thickly forested Malenadu region of the Western Ghats mountain range. Owing to its high rainfall, it has received the epithet ...

village in

Shimoga Shimoga, officially known as Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the central part of the state of Karnataka, India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of ...

district,

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. Some episodes were filmed in Bengaluru and some others in

Devarayanadurga Devarayanadurga is a temple town and hill station located in the district of Tumakuru in the state of Karnataka in India. The rocky hills are surrounded by forest and the hilltops are dotted with several temples including the Yoganarasimha and t ...

located in

Tumakuru Tumkur, officially renamed as Tumakuru, is a city located in the southern part of Indian state of Karnataka. Tumkur is situated at a distance of northwest of Bangalore, the state capital along NH 48 and NH 73. It is the headquarters of the ...

district in Karnataka. One episode, "Nitya", was shot entirely in Devarayanadurga. In 2004, the project was revived with filmmaker

replacing Shankar Nag as director. The new series was telecast from 26 April 2006 on Doordarshan. Most of the stories in the series are one episode long and were derived from the books ''

A Horse and Two Goats ''A Horse and Two Goats and Other Stories'' (also published as ''A Horse and Two Goats'') is a collection of short stories by R. K. Narayan, published in 1970 by The Bodley Head. The book is illustrated by R. K. Laxman Rasipuram Krishnaswam ...

'', '' Malgudi Days'', '' Swami and Friends'' and ''

''.

Legacy

Indian Railways decided to rename Arasalu Railway station of

Shivamogga District Shimoga district, officially known as Shivamogga district, is a district in the Karnataka state of India. A major part of Shimoga district lies in the Malnad region or the Sahyadri. Shimoga city is its administrative centre. Jog Falls view ...

, Karnataka, India to Malgudi Railway station as homage to the location of Malgudi Days serial.

References

External links

* {{Kavitha Lankesh DD National original programming Indian drama television series Adaptations of works by R. K. Narayan Indian period television series 1980s Indian television series 1987 Indian television series debuts 1988 Indian television series endings 2006 Indian television series debuts 2006 Indian television series endings Television shows based on Indian novels Television shows set in the British Raj Television series revived after cancellation Indian anthology television series