‘Commander’: Zee TV

This is where it all began. The first show to be aired on Zee TV was Commander. Ramesh Bhatkar, the veteran Marathi actor, was a perfect fit for the role. He had the talent and charisma to play the iconic detective. He left the show after 103 episodes. Sudhir Mittoo slipped into Commander’s part with ease. He played the eponymous sleuth for a few months. Eventually Ramesh Bhatkar made a return till the end of the series. Both were good in their own ways, the way every actor who played James Bond brought his own touch to the character whilst keeping the essence.

Ramesh Bhatkar
© Sri Adhikari Brothers
Courtesy: Zeshaan Ejaz

Little is known about Commander’s personal life. His last name or for that matter his first name are unknown. It’s likely that Commander is between 35–45 years of age, like James Bond. He lives by himself and is obviously single. There’s no mention of his background or clues to his parents, relatives or any love interest. He has a few close friends with whom he plays tennis. The mystery works well for the character. He has a helper named Tony (played by Sharad Sharma) who carries out the field work and enquiries. There’s a secretary as well who changes from time to time. Commander’s character is uncomplicated and powerful. He is stern but not dour. He is real, grounded, yet charismatic. He is not your average six-pack Joe, he doesn’t have a finely chiselled stubble; he has a strong presence and there’s something about that him that tells you that he is not just another person in the crowd. Ramesh Bhatkar brought that out with ease. He was a wonderful actor who strangely wasn’t seen in any other popular show that time (not that I am aware of). On the other hand, Sudhir Mittoo had a thankless task of fitting into a role made memorable by another actor, but his version of Commander stood out on his own. He mostly dressed in suits and got into more hand-to-hand combats.

Sudhir Mittoo
© Sri Adhikari Brothers

The episodes had no names. Most stories were two episodes long while a few finished in one episode. I am tempted to compile a cast and episode list of Commander but that’s a tall task, which I will reserve for another day. Zee TV has finally uploaded the show on its YouTube channel, though more than 60 episodes are still missing.

Years: 1992-1995.
Producers: Sri Adhikari Brothers.
Runtime per episode: Around 20 minutes (30 minutes with advertisements).
Total Episodes: Likely more than 150.

Season 1: Ramesh Bhatkar (episode number 1 to 104).
Season 2: Sudhir Mittoo (episode number 104 to unknown; probably 15-25 episodes in total).
Season 3: Ramesh Bhatkar (until the final episode).

*Episode 104 showed highlights of a few earlier episodes, followed by an introduction to the new Commander.

Commander theme
Title Song Singers: Annie, Shankar Mahadevan (vocals).

Like most shows of that era, one of the best aspects of Commander was its title music and background score. The theme song was mostly instrumental with minimal lyrics. Annie did a fantastic job singing the song with her long range voice and a touch of western music, complemented well by Shankar Mahadevan’s classically Indian vocals.

Most of the title song can be listened at Zee TV’s official YouTube channel in the following links:

1. From episode 17.
2. From episode 104 (nearly complete version; watch till the end of the video).
3. From episode 2 (tune only).