Subah was a very popular TV serial of its own times and it was aired on Doordarshan during 1987. The music for the title song” is raat ki subah nahin” in this serial was given by legendary music director of Bolly wood, R D Burman. The story line of the serial was based on the novel “Avan” by Sivasankari, the famous Tamilian social activist and author. The basic theme of he story was effect of drug abuse on younger generation of the society and how it can be overcome. It was the story of four young boys as heroes who were from different family backgrounds.
The first one was the son of a shattered family and there was no one to support him. The second boy had lost his father and he had to support the entire family creating a big burden on his weak shoulders. The third boy belonged to a very rich family and literally he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth whereas the fourth one was from a normal middle class family. Though all these four boys were from diverse family backgrounds and their pleasures and woes differed, they all became friends due to one common factor, drug abuse.
The message of the serial was clear. Anybody can be a victim of drug abuse irrespective of the family background. It was curiosity that led the youngsters to drugs. The serial was telecast on Doordarshan in 1987.
Subah is a narrative of a famous Tamilian social activist and author Sivasankari’s ‘Avan’ on drug abuse or addiction which had been adapted into a tv serial in 1987 and telecasted on Doordarshan (DD National Channel). The show was way too ahead of its period. It took up a serious matter of Drug Abuse at that time when the national TV channel was busy delivering shows like Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana and Mahabharata, Fauzi, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru’s literary piece, ‘The Discovery of India’, and Mirza Ghalib’s graceful life among other entertaining programs. It gave its viewers something to ponder and discuss among their family members, a grave matter of which nobody liked to talk much about.
The story begins with four young college lads who eventually find themselves trapped within the brutal clutch of drug addiction. Its main aim was to highlight the fact that anyone can fall prey to such addiction irrespective of their caste or creed, thereby focussing on the lives of four addicts. One of which was the son from a devastated family with no one there by his side to support him. The other one had to take the burden of supporting his family at an early age after his father’s death. The third one had a silver spoon in his mouth, thus born in a wealthy and prosperous family whereas the fourth boy belonged to an ordinary middle-class family.
Although they came from an entirely diverse background with different glee and anguish, they all became pals due to one common habit. Not to forget that the story also provides a few solutions to overcome this self-destructing problem. Subah is a direction of illustrious Bharat Rangachary, who gave Hindi Film Industry many hits like Khatrnaak, Waqt Hamara Hai, and Baat Ban Jaye among others. The music for its title track ‘Is Raat Ki Subah Nhi’ was composed by none other than Rahul Dev Burman and was much appreciated by the masses.
On the other hand, where Salim Ghouse played the role of Bharat, Kumar Bhatia came to be known as Prem. Rajesh Asthana and Anil Bajaj also amazed the audience with their portrayal of Appu Swami and Prasun Sinha respectively. The cult show became hit among masses, and its lead cast Salim Ghouse, Kumar Bhatia, Rajesh Asthana and Anil Bajaj became stars overnight. The audience started taking this problem into consideration by discussions and debates to curb it completely through various measures.