The Sword of Tipu Sultan


The Sword of Tipu Sultan is a fictional semi historical drama that was first broadcast on the DD National in February 1990. Based on a novel by Bhagwan Gidwani, this drama is a fictional portrayal of the life and times of Tipu Sultan, the 18th century ruler of Mysore.
The series was while widely praised for its casting and grandeur also attracted wide criticism for whitewashing the history and misrepresenting Tipu Sultan as a benevolent and tolerant ruler.

Production

The television drama was produced by the company Numero Uno International owned by movie director and producer Sanjay Khan. Akbar Khan, Sanjay Khan's brother, directed the first 20 episodes over a span of 18 months. The remaining episodes were directed by Sanjay Khan, and he also played the leading role of Tipu Sultan. A total of 52 episodes were shot, some of them in the Premier Studios in Mysore, Karnataka. Whereas, the music was composed by legendary Naushad and was photographed by Basheer Ali.
The series is based on a novel of the same name, written by the Montreal-based author Bhagwan S Gidwani. The novel was a best-seller, having sold about 200,000 copies, translated into many languages and reprinted in 44 editions. Gidwani also wrote the screenplay and script for the 60 episodes. The last few episodes were shot after the fire accident, a few years later.

Cast

Broadcast

The drama was first telecast in Hindi on the Doordarshan channel in February 1990. It was dubbed into Telugu and broadcast on ETV in 1996. In 2001, it was also telecast on Star Plus. The episodes were dubbed in Bengali and broadcast on BTV in the early 1990s and into Tamil and broadcast on the DD Podhigai channel in 2006. In the BTV broadcast, portions of dialogue were censored. Outside the subcontinent, the drama was shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom during the early 1990s. Other countries included Iran, Indonesia and Mauritius. An original pack of 12 DVDs was later released.

Fire accident

A major fire accident took place on 8 February 1989, in the Premier Studios of Mysore where the drama was being shot. Unavailability of firefighting equipment and ignorance of fire safety standards have been quoted as the major reasons. Loose wiring and absence of ventilators were further causes for the fire to spread. Instead of fire-proofing material, the walls had gunny bags and the temperature rose to around 120°C because of huge lights being used for the shooting. All these factors contributed to the massive fire; the final death toll was 62. Sanjay Khan himself suffered major burns and had to spend 13 months in hospital and undergo 72 surgeries. An ex-gratia amount of Rs.5000 was paid to the victims.

Awards

For his work on this drama, Sanjay Khan received the Gem of India Award.