Latest news with #RKNarayan
India.com
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- India.com
Not Mirzapur, Panchayat, Family Man, or Gullak, this 39 year old TV show is still on top, has 9.4 IMDb rating, series is…
The craze of OTT, the third screen of cinema, has increased a lot now. Understand that OTT is a destination where all new and old films and series are available to watch, and on this platform, we can entertain ourselves at our convenience. OTT is mostly famous for series content, which includes famous series like Mirzapur, Gullak, Panchayat, The Family Man, and Sacred Games. All these series have also got great ratings, but you will be surprised to know that among all these, there is also an old TV show, which still outweighs these series. Online rating platform IMDB has also given it a great rating. Do you know about this TV show? Know about this popular TV show We are talking about the TV show Malgudi Days, released in the year 1986, which was seen on Doordarshan. It had 13 episodes in English and more than 50 episodes in Hindi. Based on short stories by RK Narayan, this show was made by the makers with borrowed money. This show got so much love from the audience that all the debt of the makers was paid off. This TV show has a 9.4 IMDb rating The first three seasons of the show were directed by Shankar Nag, and the fourth season by Kavita Lankesh. Its first and second seasons had 13 episodes each, and the fourth season had 15 episodes. IMDb has given this show a rating of 9.4. This rating is even higher than today's superhit series Panchayat, Gullak, Mirzapur, and The Family Man. This show became very popular in the 80s, and Indian Railways paid tribute to it by changing the name of Arsalu Railway Station in Karnataka to Malgudi Railway Station. The cast of the show included many important stars, including Girish Karnad and Anant Nag. Where can you watch Malgudi Days? The important character of the show, Swami, was played by Master Manjunath, whose acting impressed the audience a lot. A film was made in the year 2020 with the same name, Malgudi Days, which can be watched on Amazon Prime. It was written and directed by Kishore Moodbidri.
Hans India
14-05-2025
- General
- Hans India
Tributes paid to R K Narayan on his death anniversary
Bengaluru: One of the writers of early Indian literature in English, R K Narayan, known for his seminal works like 'Malgudi Days' and 'The Guide' passed away on this day in 2001. Born in Chennai, Narayan spent a considerable time in Mysuru of Karnataka. He passed away after a prolonged illness in a Chennai hospital. The writer, known for his 'unpretentious' style of writing, eventually found fame beyond India as well. In a review of Narayan's works published in 'The New Yorker' American novelist and critique, John Updike called him a 'writer of a vanishing breed – the writer as a citizen; one who identifies completely with his subjects and with a belief in the significance of humanity.' Karnataka's elected representatives took to 'X' to remember the legend on his death anniversary on Tuesday. 'Remembering the literary giant #RKNarayan on his death anniversary. Through his gentle wit and deep humanity, he turned everyday Indian life into timeless 'Malgudi' literature. In doing so, his stories showed us that simplicity holds depth, and ordinary lives carry extraordinary meaning,' wrote Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, D K Shivakumar. Remembering the literary giant, UT Khader, speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly and MLA of Mangaluru, said, 'His characters, simple yet profound, continue to live in the hearts of readers, offering a mirror to our everyday lives with warmth, wit, and gentle irony.' BJP legislator, Byrathi Basavaraja, MLA of K R Pura constituency, paid his tribute to 'the foremost among Indian English writers' too. MLA of Mahalakshmi Layout in Bengaluru K Gopalaiah said, '…the master storyteller brought 'Malgudi' to life and made Indian English literature truly our own.' Araga Jnanendra, MLA of Thirthalli and Munirathna, MLA of Rajarajeshwarinagar were among those who paid their tributes to the uber-famous writer and his 'timeless words'. Meanwhile, national broadcaster Akashvani has reposted an interview of Narayan by U R Ananthamurthy, yet another literary giant who was shaped by the socio-politics of Karnataka, especially Mysuru, in remembrance of the day. The interview, available in Akashvani's official YouTube channel, was commissioned by AIR Mysuru.
India Today
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Why RK Narayan's Malgudi Days still feels like a slice of real India
On a warm afternoon in the 1930s, a young man in Madras sealed a letter to his friend in Oxford. Inside was a manuscript he believed had little chance. He even joked that it could be tossed into the destiny, as it often does in good stories, had other manuscript became Swami and Friends, and it gave birth to Malgudi, one of India's most beloved fictional With this book, RK Narayan built a universe that would live in the hearts of millions of Indians for decades to somewhere between Madras and Mysore, Malgudi wasn't a real town. But to readers, it might as well have been. You could almost smell the hot pakoras by the roadside, hear the chatter from the Board High School, and spot Swaminathan loitering with his friends under the shade of a tamarind tree. (Photo: Narayan introduced Malgudi in his first novel, Swami and Friends (1935), published thanks to the help of his friend and legendary author Graham Greene, who recommended it to a publisher in was the kind of world that didn't rely on political drama or larger-than-life heroes. Malgudi was about ordinary people -- rickshaw pullers, shopkeepers, schoolboys, astrologers -- and their quietly moving lives. It was a microcosm of Indian TO TELL STORIESRasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami was born on October 10, 1906, in Madras. His father was a school headmaster, facing frequent job transfers. Narayan spent much of his childhood with his grandmother, learning early lessons in mythology, music, and storytelling. RK Narayan with his family in the 1920s. RK Laxman is around 4 years old here (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) After a rather unremarkable time at school, and he even failed the university entrance exam on his first attempt. However, he eventually graduated from Maharaja's College in Mysore with a degree in began working as a journalist and teacher, but his heart was set on writing. After multiple rejections, his first big break came with Swami and Friends, and it set the tone for the rest of his WHO FELT LIKE NEIGHBOURSadvertisementNarayan's books never screamed for attention -- they quietly tapped on your shoulder. And once you opened the door, they pulled you was just a schoolboy, but in him, generations of readers saw their own childhood mischief and The Guide, Raju the tourist guide transforms into a reluctant spiritual leader -- a journey filled with irony, humour, and there was Jagan in The Vendor of Sweets, an old-fashioned father trying to understand his westernised son. Each of these stories carried a strong emotional undercurrent, without ever becoming characters were less like characters, and more like people you knew. WHEN MALGUDI CAME TO TVIn 1986, Malgudi Days hit Indian television screens -- and a new generation fell in by Kannada actor-director Shankar Nag, and with iconic sketches by Narayan's brother RK Laxman, the series was filmed in Agumbe, Karnataka, a sleepy town that looked like it had stepped straight out of the pages of the episode adapted a different short story, from 'A Hero' to 'The Missing Mail', and the theme music by L Vaidyanathan still rings nostalgic in the ears of Indian series aired on Doordarshan, but its magic has lasted for decades -- reruns, YouTube uploads, and even an Amazon Prime listing continue to draw in LOSS, WRITTEN QUIETLYIn 1933, Narayan married Rajam, a happy union that ended in heartbreak when she died of typhoid in 1939. He was devastated, and it deeply affected him and influenced his writing. RK Narayan with his wife, Rajam (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) Out of that pain came The English Teacher, a novel that captured his grief with unflinching honesty. The book reads like a conversation with his lost love. It was raw, beautiful, and deeply remained devoted to their daughter, Hema, and never remarried. Narayan's philosophy emphasised the importance of simplicity and authenticity, both in life and literature.A LEGACY BUILT ON SIMPLICITYOver the decades, Narayan wrote 14 novels, countless short stories, essays, and even memoirs like My Days. His writing was never flamboyant. There were no fireworks in his prose, just a steady flame that kept readers was often called 'India's answer to Chekhov' -- though Narayan himself was modest about such comparisons. He once said he simply wanted to 'write about ordinary people going about their lives'.AWARDS, HONOURS, AND A SEAT IN PARLIAMENTRecognition came, slowly but surely. Lyle Blair of Michigan State University Press (Narayan's U.S. publisher), RK Narayan and Anthony West of The New Yorker (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) Narayan was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1964 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2000. In 1986, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, where he voiced concerns about education, especially the burden of heavy schoolbags on children -- a classic Narayan received honorary doctorates from multiple universities and was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize, though he never won it.A QUIET GOODBYERK Narayan passed away on May 13, 2001, at the age of 94. But Malgudi didn't die with lives on -- in dusty old paperbacks passed down in families, in nostalgic TV reruns, and in new readers discovering Swami, Raju, and Jagan for the first time. It feels more real than many places on the wasn't just a setting. It was a feeling. And through it, Narayan gave us the rarest of gifts: stories that felt like home.
