Shaktimaan


Shaktimaan is an Indian Hindi-language superhero television series created and produced by Mukesh Khanna. Inspired by American superhero Superman, the series aired on DD National from 13 September 1997 to 27 March 2005. Khanna starred as the titular superhero, who gains superhuman abilities through meditation and the five elements of nature, and his alter ego, Pandit Gangadhar Vidhyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri, a photographer for Aaj Ki Aawaz. The series also featured Vaishnavi Mahant as journalist Geeta Vishwas and Surendra Pal as the primary antagonist, Tamraj Kilvish.
The series was widely popular and received recognition for its impact on children, with Khanna being acknowledged by Indian political leaders for his portrayal. The show was followed by Shaktimaan: The Animated Series in 2011 and a television film, Hamara Hero Shaktimaan, in 2013. In 2024, Khanna announced the revival of Shaktimaan through a teaser video.
In 2025, Shaktimaan made a comeback as an audio series titled ' on the audio entertainment platform '''. According to media reports, the adaptation comprises a 40-episode new storyline that expands the original universe of the superhero. The narrative takes Shaktimaan’s mission beyond fighting traditional evil, focusing instead on humanity’s greed and the reckless exploitation of nature. The series introduces a new antagonist, , a former guardian of balance who becomes corrupted and seeks to restore harmony to Earth—even if it means resorting to destruction.

Plot

Humanity existed in peace until the onset of the Kali Yuga, which brought greed and hatred, leading to its decline over 6,000 years. To restore balance, a mystical sect of saints known as the Suryanshis chose a man to rise against evil and protect society. He was trained in Kundalini Yoga to awaken his seven chakras, granting him mystical and supernatural abilities. As part of his training, he underwent the ritual of death, immersing his body in holy fire to attain complete control over his powers. When the five natural elements—fire, earth, water, wind, and sky—infused his being, he transformed into a superhuman. With his newfound powers, he vowed to eradicate corruption and injustice. Recognising his heroic deeds, journalist Geeta Vishwas named him Shaktimaan.
It is later revealed that Shaktimaan is the reincarnation of Shri Satya, a member of the Suryanshi Sect from the Mahabharata era 5,000 years ago. To maintain his secret identity, he assumes the persona of Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri, a comical and eccentric photographer who speaks in formal Hindi.
Shaktimaan's greatest adversary is Tamraj Kilvish, the embodiment of darkness and evil, who seeks to spread corruption and chaos.

Cast

  • Mukesh Khanna as Pandit Gangadhar Vidyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri / Shaktimaan, Major Ranjeet Singh, Shri Satya, Evil Clone Shaktimaan
  • Kitu Gidwani as Gita Viswas
  • *Vaishnavi as Gita Viswas, Vaishnavi replaced Gidwani as Viswas
  • Surendra Pal as Tamraj Kilvish / Guru Sarvagya
  • Lalit Parimoo as Dr. Jaikaal
  • * Arun Bakshi as Dr. Jaikaal
  • * Amit Mishra as Dr. Jaikaal
  • Tom Alter as 1st Mahaguru
  • Arun Mathur as 2nd Mahaguru
  • Salil Sudhakar as 3rd Mahaguru
  • Gajendra Chauhan as 4th Mahaguru / Shuv
  • Mohsin Memon as Appu
  • Raju Shrivastav as Durandhar Singh, the 2nd editor of Aaj Ki Awaaz
  • Manjeet Kullar as Kaushalya, Shaktimaan's biological mother/ Maharani Shavalika
  • Ashwini Kalsekar as Shalaaka / Kaali Billi
  • Dolly Minhas as Shaliyaa / Safed Billi, elder sister, and guardian of Shalaaka
  • Shweta Kawatra as Kalushah Karadunga Ruler
  • Shweta Shinde as Matandikaa Daak Bunglow Witch
  • Sharmila Shetty as 2nd Villain Alien with Shikha Swaroop, Behroopia in starting Episodes Later Replaced By Annu Kashyap, Sheena Alien
  • Sunila Karambelkar as Queen Mayaadri and Natasha in starting episodes
  • Annu Kashyap as Teemira / Behroopia
  • Kishore Bhanushali as Naurangee the thief
  • Rajendra Gupta as Prof. Gyanesh Viswas, paranormal scientist, Gita Viswas's father
  • Nawab Shah as Mayor JJ "Jai Kumar Janardhan" / Kakodar
  • Deepak Bhatia as Mathur / Girgit
  • Mohan Gokhale as The Invisible Man
  • Alka Amin as Dr. Nadia Jackal Assistant in last episodes
  • Sharad Smart as Satyaprakash Nirala, the 1st editor of Aaj Ki Awaaz
  • Ram Sethi as Harishchand Satyavadi, the editor of Dainik Dhamaka
  • Dilip Darbar as Inspector Salim Qazi
  • Jitu Mehta as Constable Bhinde
  • Arvind Vekaria as Manager of Rajputana Dharamshala
  • Allauddin Khan as Tony Bhai
  • Deepshikha Nagpal as Paroma and Sheraali
  • Arun Bali as Dayal Chopra, Businessman, and owner of Aaj Ki Awaz
  • Zahida Parveen as Nisha Saluja, a reporter who replaced Geeta at Aaj Ki Awaaz
  • Shikha Swaroop as Alien / Jal rani
  • Goga Kapoor as Vilas Rao
  • Deepraj Rana as Inspector Jai Singh, a Corrupt Police officer
  • Urvashi Dholakia as Maansi Sharma
  • Neelam Mehra as Maansi
  • Faqir Nabi as Kapala/ Dr. Sahab
  • Raman Khatri as Sahab / Kumar Ranjan
  • Jay Mishra as Ghosh Babu
  • Brijmohan Pandey as Raja / Toyman / Bankelal
  • Sanjeev Chaddha as Shudhanshu Ji
  • Ajit Mehra as Swami Ji
  • Govind Khatri as Mahashay
  • Shubhangi Latkar as Arundhati Devi
  • Hemal Dharia as Hemal
  • Urmila Amar as Leela Lautekar
  • Nupur Alankar as Kamini, film gossip writer at Aaj Ki Awaaz
  • Raj Premi as Johaharu
  • Swati Anand as Sunanda Superwoman & Copycat of Shaktimaan
  • Durgesh Nandini as Rachna
  • Shravani Goswami as Shalini
  • Manav Sohal as Shalini's husband
  • Preeti Puri as Inspector Amrita Arora

    Production

Development

Mukesh Khanna conceived Shaktimaan in 1981 while working on a film with Rajshri Productions. He shared the idea with producer Rajkumar Barjatya, and they planned to develop it as a film titled Aakash, but the project did not progress. Khanna later revived the concept under his own production banner, Bheeshm International, named after his acclaimed role as Bheeshma in Mahabharat.
In a 1997 interview with Screen, Khanna explained that the growing popularity of superhero content among children influenced his decision to create Shaktimaan. Observing his nephew's fascination with animated superhero shows, he saw an opportunity to introduce an Indian superhero. He noted that while Indian mythology featured powerful figures, it lacked a dedicated superhero like Superman or Spider-Man. This led him to create Shaktimaan, a character born from a yagna and the combined energies of the universe.
For Shaktimaan’s alter ego, 'Pandit Gangadhar Vidhyadhar Mayadhar Omkarnath Shastri', Khanna wanted a distinct, comical persona to contrast with the superhero’s powerful presence. The character’s appearance, including buck teeth and floppy hair, was inspired by American comedian Jerry Lewis.
The series was sponsored by Parle-G from its debut episode. In 2004, sign language interpretation was introduced for the social messages delivered at the end of episodes to make them accessible to a wider audience.

Special effects

Mukesh Khanna aimed for Shaktimaan to feature the "best-ever" special effects on Indian television. However, after the series aired, he admitted that it fell short of his expectations. He had envisioned effects comparable to those in Superman, Independence Day: Resurgence, Spider-Man and Terminator, but acknowledged that the availability of advanced computer graphics and trained professionals in India was limited at the time. The special effects for each episode cost ₹2 lakh, with a total expenditure of ₹10 lakh in 1997.

Release

Broadcast

Shaktimaan aired for 450 episodes on Doordarshan National from 13 September 1997 to 27 March 2005. The series was later dubbed and broadcast in multiple Indian languages, including Tamil on Doordarshan Tamil and Chutti TV, and in Odia on Tarang. Reruns aired on STAR Utsav and Dangal TV, while a re-edited version premiered on Pogo TV in 2006, including an English-dubbed version for the network.
In 2019, Mukesh Khanna stated on his YouTube channel, Bheeshm International, that the series was canceled due to high broadcasting costs, which resulted in financial losses. He clarified that the decision was not influenced by concerns over children imitating stunts from the show, as was widely speculated.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shaktimaan was re-telecast on DD National from 1 April 2020 after the suspension of ongoing productions. It was also aired on DD Retro starting 13 April 2020.

Home media and streaming services

The series was released on DVD by Ultra India. The series was also launched on their YouTube channel on 17 February 2011. A Bhojpuri version was also launched on Ultra Kids Zone's YouTube channel in 2014.
The series was made available to stream on Amazon Prime Video in 2019.

Fictional biography

Origin

Shaktimaan received powers from seven gurus who trained and blessed him with "yogic shakti which was natural power." He was the chosen warrior against evil by Siddha gurus of a cult named Suryanshi. They are followers of the star Sun. As part of the training, he trained with Kundalini Yoga to awake the 7 chakras of the body and gain 'supernatural' powers from them. To gain complete control over his powers, he performed the ritual of death. However, this did not cause death but made him more alive than when he was a normal man. He also performed Yajna in which he entered the fire himself and dissolved his body in the fire. Then, the five elements of life, i.e. fire, wind, water, earth, sky revived his body giving him special powers from them. Thus, after leaving his mortal body, he was given a superhuman form to fight against the evil in the world as Shaktimaan.
After Shaktimaan was created, he set out to destroy his archenemy Kilvish. But, as the Mahaguru explained, Kilvish can only be defeated after evil is destroyed. Shaktimaan's mission is to destroy the sin within people, not the sinned people. Shaktimaan's adventures show him pursuing justice and saving his friends while Kilvish and his minions plot to defeat him.