Tenali Rama was a 1990 Hindi TV series aired in Doordarshan DD National (DD1). The series was made by T.S. Nagabharana in which Vijay Kashyap played the lead role. It was based on short stories by Kamala Laxman. The series is a biopic on the great poet of Andhra Pradesh. Tenali Rama was a poet of wit and humour. The childhood days of Tenali was full of comedy which was depicted well in this TV series. Garlapati Tenali Ramakrishna popularly known as Tenali Rama or Vikata Kavi was a court-poet of Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century. He was one of the Ashtadiggajas, who were patrons of Krishnadevaraya & also referred to as Tenali Rama in some parts of Southern India. He was known for wit and a high volume of poetry written in the Telugu Language. The author of this TV series Kamala Laxman is the wife of cartoonist R.K. Laxman. This TV show was liked by both children and adults alike.
Tenali Rama is known for a lot of historical works in the field of poetry. He has contributed a volume of poetry in the Telugu language. He is known for his wit. His life has been portrayed in the serial with the title Tenali Rama which is familiar in the southern part of India. Tenali Rama was well known for mocking at the other poets of his time with his poetical works, and this is what portrayed in the serial. Tenali Rama’s stories are equally famous as that of Akbar and Birbal. Both are known for the same thing that is for their intelligence. Both are very similar as individuals if we compare now also.
Each episode of Tenali Rama carries a moral message to teach people a lesson from entertainment. It is a popular 90’s show. Wit and humor were the main elements of each episode of the show. In this show, Tenali Rama acted as the solution seeker to each problem with intelligence. Tenali was the jester of the king Krishnadevaraya who was the emperor of Vijayanagara. He was a great help to the king. The king and his jester Tenali Rama had a good bond between them which was admired by people at times.
Now if we talk about the making of the show then it was hard to shoot the show at that time with less equipment. It took so long duration of 55 days for the makers and the actors to shoot only for 13 episodes. Most of the shooting of the show was done in Bengaluru. Because the courtroom and the palace in which the king and his jester discussed most of the matters was the Bengaluru Palace. Yeah, it was hard to make the show up to the mark, but at the other side, it was fun to shoot at such heritage locations. That’s all for Tenali Rama.
Garlapati Tenali Ramakrishna, famously known as `Tenali Rama´, was a court artist of `Vijayanagara´ Empire in the sixteenth century. He was one of the `Ashtadiggajas´ who were benefactors of `Krishnadevaraya´. He was known for his mind and great work in literature in the Telugu language. He is known for his intelligence and for deriding different writers and famous identities. The stories of Tenali Raman are exceptionally famous as Akbar-Birbal stories, both known for their knowledge. `Tenali Rama´ was his story, a famous television show of the drama genre on Doordarshan Channel.
Tenali Rama was full of humour, and moreover, taught something new after every episode. The story starts in Garalapadu, a village in Karnataka. Rama was a very indolent child. He used to do nothing except sleeping. His mother Lakshmamma used to tell him to go to the sea to take a bath, but instead, Rama used to go there and sleep.
One day, while he was lying beside the sea, he heard a priest chanting `Om Shanti´. He started staring the priest. The priest shouted and told him to go home. After so much of scolding, when Rama used to go to school, he used to get a good scolding from his Guru, as there too, he used to play and perform notorious acts and not let anyone study. One day, when he was at the sea trying to sleep, he again saw the priest who was chanting. This time, the priest came to Rama and said, ``You should go to the temple, the Goddess will give you her blessings, and you will become knowledgeable´´.
Rama thought to go the temple and find a place to sleep there, as his mother would scold him if she gets to know he didn't go to school. When he reached the temple, he saw ladoos, milk, fruits and much more kept in front of the goddess's statue. Feeling hungry, Rama went inside and asked the goddess if `he´ could eat the food. Assuming that the goddess won't mind, he ate some of the food kept there and went to sleep in front of the entry of the temple. He started dreaming. A Goddess came in his dream and asked him to select from a cup of milk, which would make him rich, and a cup of honey, which would make him knowledgeable. Rama, being a smart kid, mixed both and drank it. Seeing his intelligence, the Goddess granted him both wealth and knowledge.
From the next day, Rama started waking up on time, going directly to sea to take a bath, come back, pray and then ask his mother for food. His mother couldn't believe that Rama has become sincere. After this began the journey of `Tenali Rama´ to the King's court-house. `Tenali Rama´ showed many such short stories in every episode with a new meaning. `Vijay Kashyap´ played the role of Rama. He is now a well-known artist and has worked in various TV serials and Bollywood movies. The show was produced by `Padamras TV International´ and directed by `T.S. Nagabharana´