Childhood memories - Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (1984) - Doordarshan Serial

Director : Kundan Shah and Manjul Sinha

Main Leads : Shafi Inamdar, Swaroop Sampat, Rakesh Bedi and Statish Shah.

‘Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi’ was the official first ever ‘ sitcom’ of the Indian Television. It was about a couple, a brother-in-law, and the trouble they get into. Usually staid and boring sarkari broadcaster developed a sense of humour on Friday nights. Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, the tale of fun couple Raja and Renu forever quarreling in sweet banter became an instant laugh riot across the nation. The roads would usually be empty in most towns come 8.30 pm. London video stores would await periodically for the copy of the serial’s tape. The box-office openings in cinemas were affected, as actor Jeetendra once complained.

And Shafi Inamdar and Swaroop Sampat became your next-door neighbors, whatever your neighborhood.

Fun facts…..‘Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi’ trivia
* Kishore Kumar sang the incredibly famous title track ‘Yeh Jo Hai, Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi’.
* Farida Jalal made her comeback in television with the serial.
* The entire serial was shot on a single camera set up.
* The line ‘30 years ka experience hai’ was actually written by Satish Shah himself.
* The first episode that was shot of the serial was actually the first episode on air as well. The
serial had no pilot episodes.

All the episodes ara available in VCD and DVD format over at Shemaroo’s online shopping website.