' ''The Sword of Tipu Sultan'' is an Indian historical drama that was first broadcast on the

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 ...

in February 1990. Based on a novel by Bhagwan Gidwani, this drama was a portrayal of the life and times of

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He int ...

, the 18th century ruler of

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, the series was widely praised for its casting and grandeur. The drama faced many obstacles including a major fire that burnt down the Premier Studios,

and claimed 62 lives.

Production

The television drama was produced by the company ''Numero Uno International'' owned by movie director and producer Sanjay Khan. Akbar Khan, Sanjay Khan's brother, directed the first 20 episodes over a span of 18 months. The remaining episodes were directed by Sanjay Khan, and he also played the leading role of

. A total of 52 episodes were shot, some of them in the Premier Studios in

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 ...

. Whereas, the music was composed by legendary Naushad and was photographed by Basheer Ali. The drama was based on a novel of the same name, written by the

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

-based author Bhagwan S Gidwani. The novel was a best-seller, having sold about 200,000 copies, translated into many languages and reprinted in 44 editions. Apart from being the author, Gidwani also wrote the screenplay and script for the 60 episodes. The last few episodes were shot after the fire accident, a few years later. Other prominent actors who were chosen for this drama included Seema Kelkar,

Anant Mahadevan Anant Mahadevan (born 28 August 1950), also credited as Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, is an Indian screenwriter, actor, and film director of Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi language, Marathi, Tamil language, Tamil films and television shows. Having been ...

Mukesh Rishi Mukesh Rishi (born 19 April 1956) is an Indian actor and film producer who works primarily in Hindi and Telugu films. He has also appeared in Malayalam, Kannada, Punjabi, Marathi and Tamil films. He got his first break in Hindi in 1988 and has ...

Shahbaz Khan Shahbaz Khan may refer to: * Shahbaz Khan (actor), formerly Haider Amir, Indian actor * Shahbaz Khan (colonel), Pakistan Army colonel * Shahbaz Khan (cricketer) (born 1991), Pakistani cricketer * Shahbaz Khan (hydrologist), Australian climatolog ...

and

Deepika Chikhalia Dipika Chikhlia Topiwala is an Indian actress known for playing Devi Sita in Ramanand Sagar's television series Ramayan and for acting in other Indian TV serials. She was also known for her debut film ''Sun Meri Laila'' (1983), opposite Raj K ...

Cast

* Sanjay Khan as

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali ( حیدر علی, ''Haidarālī''; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the att ...

as Tipu's mother *

Maya Alagh Maya Alagh is an Indian television and film actress. Personal life Maya is married to Sunil Alagh, who is a former managing director and CEO of Britannia Industries. Their daughter Anjori Alagh is also an actress. Maya started off her caree ...

as Tipu's Grandmother * Malvika Tiwari as Rukaiya, Tipu's Wife *

Seema Kelkar Seema may refer to: Films * ''Seema'' (1955 film), a Hindi film * ''Seema'' (1971 film), a Hindi film People *Lehlohonolo Seema (born 1980), football (soccer) player from Lesotho * Seema (actress) (born 1957), Indian film actress *Seema Aissen Wea ...

as Saida *

Syed Badr-ul Hasan Khan Bahadur Syed Badr-ul Hasan Khan Bahadur was an Indian actor and classical dancer who acted in silver screen and television. He was known as Pappu Polister. Biography Khan Bahadur was a descendant of Wajid Ali Shah. He acted in ''The Sword of Tipu Sult ...

as Maharaja of Mysore *

Ananth Narayan Mahadevan Anant Mahadevan (born 28 August 1950), also credited as Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, is an Indian screenwriter, actor, and film director of Malayalam, Hindi, Marathi language, Marathi, Tamil language, Tamil films and television shows. Having been ...

as Diwan

Pandit A Pandit ( sa, पण्डित, paṇḍit; hi, पंडित; also spelled Pundit, pronounced ; abbreviated Pt.) is a man with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge whether it is shashtra (Holy Books) or shastra (Wea ...

Purnaiah *

Mir Sadiq Mir Sadiq held the post of a minister in the cabinet of Tipu Sultan of Mysore. Fourth Anglo-Mysore War In the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore against the Brit ...

* Radhakrishna Dutta as Balkrishna *

Arun Mathur Arun may refer to: People * Arun (given name), including a list of people with that name * Ila Arun, Indian actress * Priya Arun (born 1967), Indian actress * Bharat Arun (born 1962), Indian Test cricketer Places * Arun, Badakhshan, Afghanist ...

as Nizam Ali Khan *

Sudhir Kulkarni Sudhir is an Indian masculine given name. The Sanskrit word ' means "very wise", "resolute". Notable people with the name include: * Sudhir (Pakistani actor) (1922–1997), Pakistani actor *Sudhir (Hindi actor) (1944–2014), Bollywood actor ...

Nana Phadnavis Nana Fadnavis (Pronunciation: aːna pʰəɖɳəʋiːs, fəɖ- also Phadnavis and Furnuwees and abbreviated as Phadnis) (February 12, 1742 – March 13, 1800), born Balaji Janardan Bhanu, was an influential minister and statesman of the Marath ...

* Tom Alter as

Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, (20 June 1760 – 26 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator. He was styled as Viscount Wellesley until 1781, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of M ...

Bob Christo Robert John Christo, was an Australian-Indian civil engineer and actor in Hindi films. Starting with Sanjay Khan's ''Abdullah'' (1980), he went on to act in over 200 Hindi films in the 1980s and 1990s, including '' Qurbani'' (1980), ''Kaalia'' ( ...

as General Mathews * Keith Stevenson as Lord Cornwallis *

Kanwaljeet Singh Kanwaljit Singh is an Indian actor who has performed in films as well as television serials. He has acted in Hindi and Punjabi films. Personal life He is married to Anuradha Patel, Ashok Kumar Kumudlal Ganguly (13 October 1911 – 10 Dece ...

as Ikram Mulla Khan * Kunika as Yasmin , wife of Ikram Mulla Khan *

Shreeram Lagoo Dr.Shriram Lagoo (16 November 1927 – 17 December 2019) was an Indian film and theatre actor, in Hindi and Marathi, in addition to being an ENT Surgeon. He was known for his character roles in films. He acted in over 250 films including Hindi ...

as Shivji *

Satyen Kappu Satyendra Kappu (born Satyendra Sharma; also credited as Satyen Kappu; 7 February 1931 – 27 October 2007), was an Indian character actor in Bollywood films. He has acted in 390 films. His most remembered role is Ramlal in the movie ''Sholay'' ...

as Mir Sayyed *

Sudhir Pandey Sudhir Pandey is an Indian film and serial television actor.General Shiekh Ayyaz *

Navtej Hundal Navtej Hundal (died 8 April 2019) was an Indian film and television actor. Biography Hundal worked in Hindi and Punjabi films and television series. He graduated from National School of Drama. His daughter Avantika Hundal is a television and ...

as Nanjanath * Rana Jung Bahadur as Devraj *

Jaspal Sandhu Jaspal is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Jaspal Atwal (born 1955), Indo-Canadian businessman *Jaspal Bhatti (1955–2012), Indian actor * Jaspal Parmar (born 1984), Indian footballer *Jaspal Rana Jaspal Rana (born 28 Jun ...

Ahmad Shah Bahadur Ahmad Shah Bahadur , also known as Mirza Ahmad Shah or Mujahid-ud-Din Ahmad Shah Ghazi (23 December 1725 – 1775 AD), was the fourteenth Mughal Emperor, born to Emperor Muhammad Shah. He succeeded his father to the throne in 1748, at the age ...

* Santosh Gupta(Actor) as Ramchandran, Childhood Friend of

Broadcast

The drama was first telecast in Hindi on the

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

channel in February 1990. It was dubbed into Telugu and broadcast on

ETV ETV may stand for: Television * e.tv, a South African terrestrial television channel * Educational Television (Hong Kong), a television series * Educational television, the use of television in education * Enhanced TV, an interactive television a ...

in 1996. In 2001, it was also telecast on

Star Plus 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 family dramas, comedies, ...

. The episodes were dubbed in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and broadcast on BTV in the early 1990s and into

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, nati ...

and broadcast on the

DD Podhigai DD Podhigai is Doordarshan's Tamil language channel. It is broadcast both terrestrially and via satellite. History Doordarshan Kendra Chennai's (''சென்னை தொலைக்காட்சி நிலையம்'') Regional sate ...

channel in 2006. In the BTV broadcast, certain portions of dialogue were censored. Outside the subcontinent, the drama was shown on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

during the early 1990s. Other countries included Iran, Indonesia and Mauritius. An original pack of 12 DVDs was later released.The Sword of Tipu Sultan
/ref>

Controversies

Fire

A major fire accident took place on 8 February 1989, in the Premier Studios of Mysore where the drama was being shot. Unavailability of firefighting equipment and ignorance of fire safety standards have been quoted as the major reasons. Loose wiring and absence of ventilators were further causes for the fire to spread. Instead of fire-proofing material, the walls had gunny bags and the temperature rose to around 120

°C The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The ...

(248

°F The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined his ...

) because of huge lights being used for the shooting. All these factors contributed to the massive fire; the final death toll was 62. Sanjay Khan himself suffered major burns and had to spend 13 months in hospital and undergo 72 surgeries. An ex-gratia amount of

Rs. Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

5000 was paid to the victims.

Awards

For his work on this drama, Sanjay Khan received the Gem of India Award.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sword of Tipu Sultan, The Indian period television series DD National original programming Indian historical television series 1990 Indian television series debuts 1991 Indian television series endings Tipu Sultan Television shows set in Karnataka Television series set in the 18th century Television shows based on Indian novels Television series about Islam