Bible Ki Kahaniyan Explained

Network:DD National
Producer:Jose Punnose
Editor:Raghupathy
T. R. Shekhar
Cinematography:Ashwini Kaul
Ramachandrababu
Camera:Single-camera
Runtime:50 minutes
Company:Navodaya Studio
Last Aired:[1]
Num Episodes:6
Creative Director:Jijo Punnoose
Image Alt:DVD cover of Bible Ki Kahaniyan.
Based On:Bible
Developer:Navodaya Appachan
Starring:See Cast
Language:Hindi
Voices:Arvind Mehra
Lalit Tiwari
Narrated:Lalit Tiwari
Theme Music Composer:Karthik Raja
Opentheme:"Ashkon se Jisne Seenchi Zameen" by Karthik Raja
Composer:Louis Banks
Mohan Sitara
Vanraj Bhatia
Karthik Raja
Sharreth
Country:India
Num Seasons:1

Bible Ki Kahaniyan is an Indian Hindi-language television program based upon scriptures from the Bible. The production aspired to complete both Old Testament and New Testament narratives of the Bible but was later discontinued after covering the Patriarch narrative in the Book of Genesis.[2] It was produced by Appachan through his Navodaya Studio and was broadcast on DD National from 1992 to mid 1993 and again, concluding with the remaining episodes, in 1996.[1]

Premise

The series follows these narrative arcs from the Bible:[3]

Cast

Background and production

Jijo, the series' creative director, based his chief reference point on novelist James Michener's The Source, a book that talks about the "pains and passions of the people in Biblical times".[4] [5] Casting was done by Anant Mahadevan and Meenakshi Thakkur and the characters were played by some of the important actors from Bollywood.[6] Much of the production work was done by people from the Malayalam film industry based in the state of Kerala. Indian historian George Menachery served as the research director, Sabu Cyril was the art director and Sunny Joseph worked on title photography, with additional cinematography by Ashok Kumar, the series had H. Sridhar as a music recordist, SL Puram Anand was the production executive, and Muthuraj served as an assistant art director. Editing work was done on Avid Media Composer and the series was shot on Kodak Super 16. Post-production was handled by Prasad Studios and Seventh Channel Communications.

Filming and locations

The series was shot on different locations in India per the narrative arcs: Kallar and Kanyakumari (Adam and Eve), Kanyakumari (Noah's Ark); episodes beginning with Patriarch arc which required desert scenery were shot in the state of Rajasthan (home of the Thar Desert) mainly in Pushkar and Ajmer; and Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu (Abraham). The shooting was supported by organisations such as the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department, Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, Ajmer Military School among others and received production assistance from the Government of Israel, Israeli Antiquities Authority, Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and N. Ram of The Hindu.

Research

Additional people credited and referred to for research work on the Patriarch episodes included Bishop Alphonsus Mathias of the CBCI, Antony Padiyara, Aharon Megged, Asher Weill, T. Carmi, Amihai Mazar, Jack Sasson, Avraham Biran, David Ussishkin, Trudi Dothan, R.J. Zwi Werblowsky, Nissim Ezekiel, Dom Moraes, Leela Naidu.

These institutions were also credited: Bible Lands Museum, Biblical Archaeology Society, British Council - Madras, Connemara Public Library, Eretz Israel Museum, Film Institute - Tel Aviv, Hebrew University, Indian Theosophical Society Library, Jawaharlal Nehru University Library, Jnana Deepa Institute for Philosophy and Theology, Orthodox Theological Seminary - Kottayam, Ratan Tata Library, Reader's Digest Association, National Centre for the Performing Arts, National Geographic Society, Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive, Israel Museum, and the University of Madras.

Sources consulted

BooksA number of religious texts and scholarly sources were consulted for the Patriarch episodes, these included:
BookAuthor
The Jerusalem BibleÉcole Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem
Pseudepigrapha and Apocryphas
Midrash
Antiquities of the JewsFlavius Josephus
Encyclopaedia JudaicaMacMillan Publishers
Encyclopedia BritannicaEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Jewish EncyclopediaFunk & Wagnalls
Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old TestamentJames B. Pritchard
Archaeology and the Old TestamentJames B. Pritchard
The Ancient Near East in Picturesed. James B. Pritchard
Documents from Old Testament Timesed. David Winton Thomas
The Interpreter's Dictionary of the BibleGeorge Arthur Buttrick
The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bibleed. Keith Crim
The Jerome Biblical CommentaryRaymond E. Brown
Joseph and His BrothersThomas Mann
The Ancient History of the Near EastHenry R. Hall
Ancient IraqGeorges Roux
Ancient MesopotamiaA. Leo Oppenheim
At that Time the Canaanites were in the LandIrit Ziffer
Babylon and the Old TestamentAndré Parrot
Cradle of CivilizationSamuel Kramer
The Cultural Atlas of MesopotamiaMichael Roaf
Ebla - An Empire RediscoveredPaolo Matthiae
The Archives of EblaGiovanni Pettinato
Everyday Life in Babylon and AssyriaGeorges Contenau
Folklore in the Old TestamentJames George Frazer
GenesisGerhard von Rad
Life and Language in the Old TestamentMary Ellen Chase
Myths, Legends and Customs in the Old TestamentTheodor Gaster
Stories from Ancient CanaanMichael D. Coogan
The Ancient GodsE. O. James
Cambridge World History
HazorYigael Yadin
Recent Archaeological Discoveries and Biblical ResearchWilliam G. Dever
ShechemG. Ernest Wright
The Art of Warfare in Biblical LandsYigael Yadin
The Bible As HistoryWerner Keller
The Historicity of the Patriarchal NarrativesThomas L. Thompson
The Old Testament PseudepigraphaJames H. Charlesworth
Treasures from Bible TimesAlan Millard
Ugarit and the Old TestamentPeter Craigie
Women in Ancient HistoryHarriet Stowe
WanderingsChaim Potok
Dawn of CivilizationStuart Piggott
ArticlesArticles referred to in the production of the Patriarch episodes included:

National Geographic

Bible Review/Biblical Archaeology Review

Music

The title song by music director Karthik Raja was based on 126:5–6 KJV. The Patriarch episodes had lyrics written by Kaifi Azmi and Hasan Kamaal with songs sung by Kavita Krishnamurti, Vinod Rathod, Suresh Wadkar, and Vani Jairam. These episodes included recreated Hurrian songs by Anne Draffkorn Kilmer, and Ancient Greek music by Gregorio Paniagua. Music from "The Music of the Bible Revealed, Tapes and the Book" by Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura, and "The Rise of Ancient Israel" by the Biblical Archaeology Society was also included in these episodes with Vantoura also serving as an advisor.

Broadcast and release

Broadcast

The first Episode "Adam and Eve" aired on 20 December 1992 on DD National. DD discontinued the series after few episodes because there was fear of communal tension as some people, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, had objections with the portrayal of Islamic prophets on screen.[7]

Home media

A 4 disk set of Bible Ki Kahaniyan was released on DVD by Indus Video in the NTSC standard, containing all six episodes of the series that were broadcast by Doordarshan.

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Ananth Mahadevan. Ananth Mahadevan. Once Upon A Prime Time: My Journey on Indian Television. 20 July 2020. Embassy Books. 978-93-89995-09-1. 97–. 31 December 2020. 7 February 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240207013940/https://books.google.com/books?id=KioKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT97#v=onepage&q&f=false. live.
  2. Book: Maria Francesca Piredda. Film & mission: per una storia del cinema missionario. Ente dello Spettacolo. 2005. 978-88-85095-26-7. 41. 19 May 2021. 7 February 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240207014050/https://books.google.com/books?id=vufYAAAAMAAJ. live.
  3. Web site: Bible Ki Kahaniyan [4 DVD Set] DVD (1993)]. Induna.com. 31 December 2020. 14 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200814083556/https://www.induna.com/1000013299-productdetails/. live.
  4. Web site: The Third Coming - the Indian Post. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110725210445/http://www.cscsarchive.org:8081/MediaArchive/essays.nsf/(docid)/ED38A5B9DEBCD505E5256C4A005F72EF. 25 July 2011. 23 February 2011.
  5. Web site: January 15, 1993. TV serial 'Bible Ki Kahaniyan' emphasises more on authenticity than spectacle. December 27, 2018. 27 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181227084706/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/story/19930115-tv-serial-bible-ki-kahaniyan-emphasises-more-on-authenticity-than-spectacle-810562-1993-01-15. live.
  6. Web site: Indian television has a long way to go: Kabir Bedi - Indian Express. archive.indianexpress.com. 4 January 2020. 21 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170321205341/http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/indian-television-has-a-long-way-to-go-kabi/711325. live.
  7. Web site: More mythology on DD's Sunday slot. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110928001235/http://www.cscsarchive.org:8081/MediaArchive/essays.nsf/%28docid%29/74F88593A9D030D96525693F0037D2D4. 28 September 2011. 23 February 2011.