The iconic mythological show Om Namah Shivay was first aired in the year 1997 on DD National. The show, based on tales of Lord Shiva, received immense love from its audience and is fondly remembered even now. This show that caught popular imagination is back with Colors TV.
The iconic theme song and title track was created by Pandit Jasraj and depicts the sentiment and tonality of the show beautifully against the backdrop of a silhouette of Lord Shiva in his various dance mudras. The song became a part of the collective consciousness and the director of the show, Dheeraj Kumar, who made the show under his banner Creative Eye Limited said, “We had a brilliant title track sung by the legendary Pandit Jasraj Ji, composed by Sharang Dev. We wanted to do justice to the powerful way he had sung the song. The challenge was how do we depict Shiv Ji in a timeless manner? Lord Shiva is cosmic energy, and how to show cosmic energy on screen?”
To overcome the challenge Dheeraj Kumar along with his team decided to use the talent of dance director Madhav Krishan and a few special effects to create a lasting image that is celebrated till today. Dheeraj Kumar adds, “Along with Madhav Kishan and our special effects director Ramesh Meer of FX Factory, we mulled over how to bring about the perfect effect on screen. So, I told Madhav he had to dance in various mudras of Shiva. Then we took that and inserted fire inside his silhouette with the help of Ramesh and his erstwhile team along with our chief cameraman Ajay Tandon and my associate in direction, Anwar khan. Also, our Art Director Ratnakar Phadke, who was a popular art director in films, guided this process. He understood the ground realities. While we had limited technology, we had a lot of skill and knowledge. We worked with the best artistic minds resulting in a theme sequence that is legendary and is remembered to date.”
The show aired from 1997- 99 and telecasted 208 episodes. The show is being re-run and viewers are liking it all over again.