Shaktimaan (franchise)

Shaktimaan was conceptualised by Khanna in 1981 when he was working on a film with Rajshri Productions. He narrated the idea to producer Rajkumar Barjatya, who liked it, and the two adapted it into a film titled Akash. In November 1997, Screen reported quoted him: "I would watch my nephew sitting glued to the TV whenever Power Zone came on, shooting with imaginary fire guns, or operating some imaginary hi-fi gadget in his own little world. That's when it struck me that if I made Shaktimaan I would have a readymade audience of kids who are always most impressed with SFX tricks." Over the development of the titular character, Khanna said, "In Indian mythology, there are a lot of strong characters but no super-heroes. All we get to see our Superman or Spider-Man, who are alien concepts. That's why I decided to create an Indian superhero, Shaktimaan, who is born out of a yagna, and a result of all the creative energies of the universe. A superhero who can fly... disappear. And when he is not in his super-hero avataar, he's a bumbling photographer who always misses scooping much to the chagrin of his boss Geeta Vishwas." He added that the attire of Shaktimaan's alter ego, "complete with buck teeth and floppy hair", was inspired by American comedian Jerry Lewis.[1]

Having wanted the "best ever" special effects seen on Indian television, following the series' airing, Khanna felt that it "[fell] is short of [his] expectations". He added, "When I had planned the serial I wanted the kind of special effects seen in Superman, Spider-Man and Terminator. Maybe I was too ambitious. Computer graphics has just arrived in India and there is lack of trained professionals here." He further said, the special effects for each episode cost him ₹2 lakh, and ₹10 lakh overall.[1] In 2004 Sign language interpretation was launched for the social message given at the end of the episodes.[2]

The series was sponsored by Parle-G from its first episode.[1]

In 2019, Khanna revealed through his YouTube channel Bheeshm International that the show had to be cancelled because the high broadcasting charges were bringing him losses, and not due to complaints of children imitating stunts from the show as popularly believed.[3]

On 15 March 2019 a show named Sorry Shaktimaan started on a YouTube channel having the same name. It is the educational section of Shaktimaan .[10]

When Shaktimaan first aired on Doordarshan, there were a lot of controversies created as children set themselves on fire or jumped off buildings hoping that Shaktimaan would save them.[12] In an effort to promote responsible behaviour among children, Mukesh Khanna spent a substantial part of the airtime in explaining to the children that the stunts shown on television were not real and should not be emulated.[13] Khanna also stated that most of the controversies were fake and were raised in media to undermine its popularity.[14]

A series of comic books appeared featuring Shaktimaan and published in many Indian languages as well as English in association with Diamond Comics and Raj Comics.

Shaktimaan merchandise like costumes, stickers, dolls were introduced in the market.[15]

Shaktimaan: The Animated Series won 2012 FICCI BAF award for best animated TV series.[17]

• Shaktimaan at IMDb
• Interview with Mukesh Khanna at Indiantelevision.com