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Today's generation of TV viewers are in for a treat. From 26 January onwards, when they switch on SaharaOne at 8 pm Monday through Saturday they will have an opportunity to enjoy what the previous generation did in the form of the ever fresh television classic Buniyaad. The network is all set to re create the magic of a young couple growing up in an India bedevilled by religious strife and the travails of their family after that.

What is laudable about the SaharaOne's initiative is perhaps the timing. Some channels are going all out to launch new shows based on foreign concepts and formats. Others are continuing with long running high TRP generating tear jerker soaps. SaharaOne has gone ahead and taken up a classic that is Indian and has mass appeal. The channel management's belief: "There is a whole generation out there who would be raring to catch a glimpse of the subtle yet intense romance between Masterji(Alok Nath ) and Lajoji (Anita Kanwar)."

"It's the best that we have got! It is replete with the history of the country and hardly15 per cent of the present generation must have seen it," says SaharaOne, COO, Purnendu Bose.

Buniyaad is special in more ways than one. It was the highest rated programme on TV in the 80's - along with Hum Log - till Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana achieved the same feat. It portrayed the trials and tribulations of partition with such sensitivity that the actors working in the show became household names and it was one of the earliest TV serials in Indian television history to have lavish sets and overwhelming drama.

The show produced by Sippy Films, premiered on Doordarshan in 1985. It was aired twice a week — on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 9 pm. For the one and a half years it was on air, Buniyaad ruled — people would not move out of their houses so that they wouldn't miss the show. The cast included Anita Kanwar, Alok Nath, Kanwaljeet, Kulbhushan Kharbhanda, Abhinav Chaturvedi, Kruttika Desai, Kiran Juneja and others.
The show will see some changes that have been brought about due to technical necessities and to make it more in tune with the current generation. " It has been touched up a little bit. We have also done some colour correction. Sonu Nigam has sung the original sound track and he was thrilled to bits to be able to be part of such a classic," says Bose.

The relaunch of Buniyaad in 2006 is extra special for Kiran Joneja. The lady met her husband, director, Ramesh Sippy on the sets of this show. "It's been a long journey of 20 years, and it's been a happy one.I am really looking forward to watching the show myself, it brings back such happy memories," says the actor who is currently doing Sinndoor on Zee.

On the relaunch of Buniyaad
Actually it feels really nice. I am looking forward to watching it on screen, as I haven't seen the show in its totality. I am very excited, even my colleagues at work seem to be waiting for it to air again!

On whether she expects Buniyaad to repeat its success
I really don't know about that. See, there is a whole new generation who haven't watched the show, but have heard a lot about it. But I always believed that every show has its own audience. Buniyaad is a classic and it will have its own loyal audience.

On her memories of the show
It was the best work that I have done. It was great working on the show and remember, I met my husband ( director, Ramesh Sippy) on the sets! From then on its been 20 years of togetherness, happy memories and loads of fun.

On the idea of airing the show on SaharaOne
It was entirely their (SaharaOne) idea. They approached us with the idea and we agreed! But the show has been previously rerun on Star and Zee and DD as well.

On working on television today
Well, change is the keyword on television today. I have always believed that if an artist doesn't change with the times he will be left behind. The role that I am doing now in Sinndoor is an interesting one and that's why I decided to do it. Frankly, I work for 20-22 days and I wish it were 15. And as far as the teh quality of work on television is concerned, I am not complaining. See, people get bored with seeing the same stuff, although it takes time for them to get bored!(laughs) But times have changed, the moralistic viewpoint that Buniyaad had cannot work today! The glamour and the bold scenes that we see today is a reflecyion of what is presently happening in society...nothing can be done about it! But again, I think change is welcome!

'Veeranwali was bold and modern'

Buniyaad is back, not bigger but certainly brighter. Twenty years after the first modern Indian family soap went off the Doordarshan beam, it will return to Sahara on Republic Day in a glossier, colour-corrected avatar.

"The serial had created history at that time. It ran for 105 weeks at a stretch from 1984 to 1986. In fact, it is the Sholay of Indian television. But barely 25 to 30 per cent of today's viewers have seen it," says Purnendu Bose, Sahara One Television COO, explaining the reason for its revival.

The connection is not far-fetched. Buniyaad came from the Sippy stable, the makers of Sholay. "The content is fabulous. It had the top writers, editors and cameramen of the time," says Deepti Bhatnagar, who has acquired the telecast rights from G.P. Sippy's grandson Sasha.

Alok Nath, the adorable Masterji, explains the phenomenon that the Partition drama was. "Television was in its infancy then and for the middle class, Doordarshan was the cheapest form of entertainment. When Hum Log came, closely followed by Buniyaad, people were exposed to a new genre — soap opera. Most could identify with the trauma of Partition. We did so much research on the location, the dialect and the mannerisms to get everything right. So much effort is hardly put into a project these days."

The success was stunning. "Even the minor actors in Buniyaad were recognised all over the country in those days," recalls actor Kanwaljit Singh. "On Tuesdays and Saturdays, when the show came on air there would be curfew on the streets," laughs Alok Nath, who has acted in numerous mega ventures on the big and small screens since, but for whom his "top role" remains Masterji. "Buniyaad made me what I am," he confesses.

There have been earlier instances of Doordarshan shows returning on satellite channels. Shaktimaan, for instance, staged a comeback on Pogo last year but after considerable editing, changes in background scores and addition of special effects for a faster-paced story to suit GeneratioNext.

But Buniyaad is Buniyaad. "It is such a beautiful story and so well-told. In fact, our editor was complaining that he did not have any work on it," laughs Bhatnagar.

The fact that it is a period drama also justifies keeping the look and feel completely unchanged, she adds. "Buniyaad was rooted in values which we have left behind in the rat race. It had a soul," adds Bose.

The editing being done is all of four minutes per episode to accommodate commercial breaks, and even chopping that much is tough. What is being done, though, is a frame-by-frame colour correction on Smoke. "Such top-of-line edit machines were not available then. And technical finesse is so essential on satellite television that we have to add gloss and effects, manually correct make-up and ensure uniform voice level," says Bhatnagar.

Buniyaad gets ready to roll again from January 26 at 8 pm on Sahara One.