Dheeraj Kumar: It took us 9 long years of research to create Om Namah Shivay

The iconic show, ‘Om Namah Shivay’ that created records and earned a legion of loyal fans, has a remarkably interesting back story about how it was made. It is back on Colors, Dheeraj Kumar who directed it, revealed in a recent chat, that it took nine long years of research by renowned scholars and writers before they started shooting it. The veteran director said that it was the longest time he has ever taken to do preparations for any show that he has ever made.

Talking about the research on the show, Dheeraj Kumar said, “Om Namah Shivay commenced its telecast in the year 1996. However, our research was on since 1987. Nine long years we spent on research for the program. The kind of shows we were doing before were quite different, mostly social patriotic shows and crime thrillers etc. So, we wanted to get this right. We associated with professor Madhusudhan Pathak of Oriental Research Institute of Baroda. Initially, We also brought in stalwarts like Achala Nagar who has written Baaghban and Dr. Rahi Masoom Raza who worked on other classic mythological shows and then there was Darshan Laad, who was also the writer of big mythological shows of that time. All these people conducted research in association with Dr. Madhusudan Pathak of Oriental Research institute on Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas to bring our show to light.”