Vikram Aur Betaal
Original title
Vikram Aur Betaal
Released
10/13/1985
Origin country
IN
Genre
Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Status
Ended
Number of seasons
1
Number of episodes
26
Vikram Aur Betaal was a children's television programme aired on DD National. The series contained stories from Indian mythology that aim at teaching kids life lessons while entertaining them. The concept of the program was based on Baital Pachisi, a collection of tales about the semi-legendary King Vikram and the Vetala, a vampire-like being.
Vikram Aur Betaal is based on 'Betaal Pachisi', written in the 11th century by Kashmiri poet Somdev Bhatt. These are spellbinding stories told to the wise King Vikramaditya by the witty ghost Betaal
The first episode is about how Raja Vikramaditya and Betaal meet. Betaal tells him a story of Suryamal, who falls in love with a woman and marries her with her parents' consent. En route to home, dacoits attack and behead Suryamal and his friend. Suryamal's bride, a devout worshipper of the goddess Durga, tries to commit suicide after seeing her husband dead. Goddess answers her prayers and decides to bring them both alive. Excited with joy, the bride puts Suryamal's head on his friend's body and vice versa.
Virvar with his mighty physical strength gains the position of being bodyguard to King Rupsen. But he charges him a hefty sum of 9 tolas of gold daily. One day the goddess of wealth (Raj Laxmi) tells Virvar that a demon who sleeps in a cave will soon wake up and eat the king to satisfy his hunger. Being king's bodyguard, Virvar along with his family decides to sacrifice their lives and hence enter the cave. After knowing what Virvar did to save his life, King Rupsen feels ashamed of not doing his duty of protecting his masses and he too enters the cave. The goddess of wealth comes and tells them all of how it was all her plan to test Virvar if he really was loyal as he charged a huge amount.
King Yashodhan, a just and skilled ruler, initially rejects a marriage proposal from a rich couple's daughter due to false advice from his darbaris, who were influenced by an evil businessman. Later, the same girl falls in love with and gets engaged to the King's Commander. When the King sees her beauty and desires to marry her, the loyal Commander sacrifices his love and breaks off the engagement out of duty. On the wedding day, the darbaris reveal the entire truth to the King about the previous deception and the Commander's sacrifice. Being just, King Yashodhan decides to unite the Commander with his love instead of marrying her himself.
Somprabha, a beautiful girl of marriageable age, is threatened by a demon who vows to take her away. Three suitors emerge: a brave warrior Vir Singh who saves her father, a poet who writes about her beauty, and an engineer who builds flying machines. During the matchmaking ceremony, the demon abducts Somprabha as promised. The three suitors combine their unique talents - the poet's knowledge, engineer's Viman, and warrior's strength - to rescue her. After returning safely home, Somprabha must choose between her three worthy suitors.
Prince Vajramukti falls in love with a mysterious girl in the forest who communicates through gestures, indicating her name (Padmavati), location (Karnapur), and father's profession (dentist) - all cleverly decoded by his friend, the minister's son. Upon finding her, Vajramukti proposes marriage and she accepts, but their happiness is threatened when the King of Karnapur also desires to marry Padmavati. The minister's son devises a cunning plan, first stealing Padmavati's jewelry while disguised as a thief, then appearing before the king as a sage claiming the jewelry's owner had seduced him. Enraged by this false testimony, the king banishes Padmavati, unwittingly enabling her to marry her true love, Prince Vajramukti, with whom she lives happily ever after.
King Veerketu of Ayodhya, troubled by a mysterious thief plaguing his kingdom, disguises himself to catch the culprit personally. Meanwhile, a wealthy young woman named Manna falls in love with a skilled young man who impresses her with his acrobatic abilities, despite her history of rejecting numerous suitors. The king befriends the thief (who is the same young man Manna loves) and learns he turned to theft because corruption prevented him from becoming a soldier, leading to the thief's arrest after the king reveals his true identity. During the trial, Manna's father pledges to protect the thief, revealing his daughter's love for him, which causes the thief to display mixed emotions. Moved by their friendship and understanding the thief's circumstances, King Veerketu not only pardons him but elevates him to the position of Commander.
In a tale of kindness and destiny, Satvasheel, a job seeker, helps a weary king in the jungle with water and amla fruits, leading to his appointment at the royal court. After becoming a trusted courtier, he embarks on a mission that leads him to discover an underwater kingdom, where he meets its queen and spends time exploring this mysterious realm. Upon his return and sharing his adventures, the king, accompanied by Satvasheel, ventures to this underwater kingdom themselves, where they successfully conquer it through combat. The story concludes with the king arranging Satvasheel's marriage to the underwater kingdom's queen, symbolically repaying the simple act of kindness with Satvasheel's amla fruits from their first encounter.
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