Bahadur Shah Zafar TV Serial was aired on Doordarshan DD National (DD1) in the year 1986. Legendary Actor Ashok Kumar played the lead in it. ‘Bahadur Shah Zafar’ was produced at the end of 1986 by B.R. Chopra and Ravi Chopra of B.R. Film Production Company.
B.R. Chopra and Ravi Chopra directed the serial. The acting of Ashok Kumar in this serial as Bahadur Shah Zafar was highly acclaimed. It had a total of 29 episodes. The music was composed by Raj Kamal and the voice was given by Mahendra Kapoor, ‘Kavita Krishnamurthy’, and ‘Anuradha Paudwal’.
Dr. Rahi Masoom Reza was the dialogue writer of the serial. Actors like Shammi Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Raj Babbar also included in the cast. Ashok Kumar gave a brilliant performance in the series. He showed the suffering of Zafar’s life and how he had ultimately become very much dependent on East India Company. Despite being not a very strong ruler, Ashok Kumar had portrayed Zafar’s love for ghazals and poems excellently. It may be noted that Bahadur Shah Zafar was the last Mughal Emperor.
This emperor allowed the East India Company to collect taxes from Delhi and maintain a military force in it. Zafar never had an interest in statecraft or had any political ambition. After the Indiana rebellion of 1857, British exiled him from Delhi. He was a noted Urdu poet, having written some ghazals. Actor Raj Babbar played the role of Akbar in the series. It was telecasted in the year 1986.