| Genre: | Historical drama |
| Director: | Sanjay Khan |
| Creative Director: | Farah Khan |
| Starring: | S. M. Zaheer Maya Alagh Lalit Tiwari Bhupinder Singh Barkha Madan |
| Composer: | Mohammed Zahur Khayyam |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Hindi |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 104[1] |
| Executive Producer: | S. Mirza Khan |
| Producer: | Sanjay Khan |
| Editor: | Aditya Warrior Rajesh Rajput |
| Cinematography: | Sushil Chopra |
| Company: | Numero Uno International |
| Network: | DD National |
| First Aired: | [2] |
1857 Kranti is an Indian historical drama television series directed by Sanjay Khan and produced by Numero Uno International Limited. The drama, aired on Doordarshan National from 2002 to 2003, tells the story of the Indian Revolt of 1857.[3] The drama was temporarily interrupted after four episodes in its earlier run due to change in commissioning norms.[4] [5]
Speaking at the launch of the drama, Sanjay Khan, Chairman and Managing Director of the Numero Uno said, "The revolt of 1857 referred to as the Second Mutiny by the British is a very important facet of India’s freedom struggle. Therefore, in the age of low-cost family dramas, I have attempted to bring serials which have qualities of an epic and good cinematic values.[7] India's first war of independence of 1857 is not more than three pages in any school textbook. What we are presenting is the drama and the sacrifices that people made for the nation so that nationalistic fervour is never lessened, but enhanced."[8] There are quite a few songs in the drama that don't stop the progression of the story. We have recorded three songs out of the 20 planned.[8] "We are proud to say this is the most expensive serial on Indian television, a television series on a cinematic scale," claims Hormuzda Davar, the CEO of the Numero Uno. The crew included over 150 technicians, 80 artistes, 150 horses, 10 elephants, 50 camels and over 2000 sword fighters.[8] The drama approximately cost Rs 16 crore.[9]
The first 12 episodes of the drama was shot in Rajasthan, Chambal, Trichur, Red Fort, Umargaon and Cochin at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore.[8] From 6 April 2003, the 1857 Kranti shifted to the Sunday prime time (at 2130 instead of 1100 hours) on DD National to boost the viewership.[10]