‘Yule Love Stories’ — Zee TV

‘Yule Love Stories’
Later known as Love Stories.
Year: Anytime between 1994 to 1998. (Zee5 has listed the dates and years of the series ranging from 1993 to 1994. The years are incorrect. This show is definitely not from the first season of Zee TV.)
Total Episodes: 53.
Runtime: Approximately 22–23 minutes (30 minutes on TV with ad breaks).

Deepika Amin in a still from episode 12.
© Zee Entertainment

Sometime in the mid-nineties a feel-good, mellifluous tune introduced a purely romantic anthology series Yule Love Stories. Some stories were good, some were mediocre; some had happy endings, while a few ended on a heart-breaking note; some had feel-good youthfulness, while others had a sense of yearning and melancholy. Most importantly, there was dignity in those characters. The name Yule came from the sponsor Yule Tea group. After disassociation from the sponsor, the show was re-named to Love Stories, which is not a search-friendly title. Most stories finished in one episode while some went on for two parts. It also featured stories from directors like Anubhav Sinha and Ashutosh Gowariker who would go on to become famous film directors in future. Ashutosh Gowariker’s episode 49 and 50 ‘Vapasi’, written and enacted by himself, was the provenance of his 2004 film Swades starring Shahrukh Khan and Gayatri Joshi. There are two different stories called ‘Vapasi’, the first is in episodes 30 and 31 directed by Anubhav Sinha, while the second is Ashutosh Gowariker’s.

It was a precursor to the popular show Rishtey. They were practically same shows. The only differences were that the latter had one-hour episodes which allowed for better plot and character development; the stories in Rishtey dealt with various relationships, while Yule Love Stories was strictly grounded to romantic stories.

My favourite episodes are ‘Dhadkan’ and ‘Doc Subbu’. The former is a dreamy and fairytale-type story. The jazz background score is reminiscent of Kenny G is perfect. Whereas the latter is a light-hearted and charmingly uncomplicated romantic story which would have done better in the one-hour format.

© Zee Entertainment

Title Song: Only lyrics in the song were Yule love stories sung by a female singer whose name is so far unavailable. The tune was also a precursor to the tune of Rishtey.

Availability: The series is uploaded on Zee5 and Zee TV’s YouTube channel. I would recommend watching it on Zee5 to hear the title song, which is shamefully cut from the YouTube channel. A few of the available episodes have their endings truncated both on Zee5 and YouTube.

Episode and Cast list: I have compiled a list of episode names, cast and crew. Some episodes are missing from Zee’s library and there’s no data available on them so far. It’s difficult to say if the missing portions and episodes still exist. Among the available episodes, a few have their titles missing (due to Zee’s unethical editing); therefore, I have given them temporary titles in brackets for reference. The list is a work in progress. I will update the list as I get more data.

Yule Love Stories
No.	Episode Name	Actors	Credits
1	Pehla Pyar	Rajit Kapoor, Renuka Shahane, Asawari Joshi, Sulabha Deshpande	Writer: Brij Katyal Producer: Radha Seth Director: Ramesh Gupta
2	Maut Ke Rahi	Pavan Malhotra, Deepika Deshpande Amin
3		Tushar Dalvi, Renuka Shahane	(The episode is unavailable. The exact number and title are unknown.)
4
5	The Note	Renuka Shahane, Mahesh Thakur	Writer: Brij Katyal Producer: Radha Seth Director: Ramesh Gupta
6	The Anniversary	Anju Mahendru,  Parixit Sahni, Kalpana Iyer
7	Toofan Se Pehle	Mahesh Thakur, Winnie Paranjpye
8–9	Mehendi	Ananya Khare, Jatin Sial, Sudhir Dalvi
10
11	(Dosti)	Pavan Malhotra, Renuka Shahane
12	(Will)	Deepika Deshpande Amin
13	Asha	Pavan Malhotra, Winnie Paranjpye	Writer: Brij Katyal Producer: Radha Seth Director: Ramesh Gupta
14	Memories	Tom Alter, Asawari Joshi
15
16
17		Vaquar Shaikh	(The episode is unavailable. The exact number and title are unknown.)
18–19	Dhadkan	Natasha Singh	Odyssey Video Communications Ltd.
20	Faasle	Roshini Achreja, Vinay Jain, Smita Jaykar
21	(Flashback)	Kartika Rane, Rakesh Thareja, Rituraj Singh
22	Chaal	Pooja Madan, Rakhee Tandon
23
24–25	Nazdeekiyan	Sanjeev Seth, Ashwin Kaushal
26	Jazbaat	Rituraj Singh, Ardhendu Bose, Tarakesh Chauhan, Kanika Shivpuri	Odyssey Video Communications Ltd.
27	Uska Sach	Milind Gunaji, Vineet Kumar	Writer: Kamlesh Pandey Producer & Director: Anubhav Sinha
28–29	Parvaz	Sadiya Siddiqui, Seema Pahwa, Nirmal Pandey, Jitendra Shastri
30–31	Vapasi	Utkarsha Naik, Shishir Sharma
32
33
34
35
36
37
38–39	Love... just happens	Aly Khan, Rakhee Tandon, Bhairavi Raichura	Screenplay: Priya Singh Paul
40	(Ek Raat)	Pooja Madan, R. Madhavan	Director: Vivek Behl
41–42	Aakanksha	Sachin Khedekar, Iravati Harshe	Odyssey Video Communications Ltd.
43	Tasveer	Vinay Jain
44-45	Yaadein	Viplove, Prateeksha Lonkar
46-47	Saadhana	Iravati Harshe, Yatin Karyekar
48	Bio-Data	Kumud Mishra
49-50	Vapasi	Ashutosh Gowariker	Odyssey Video Communications Ltd. Writer: Ashutosh Gowariker
51	Anokha Milan		Odyssey Video Communications Ltd.
52	Interview	Deepraj Rana
53	Doc Subbu		Odyssey Video Communications Ltd. Director: Anand Subramanian

‘Saanp Seedi’ — Zee TV

‘Saanp Seedi’ 

Also known as Snakes and Ladders, Maha Saanp Seedi.
Years: 1992 to at least 1994.
Host: Mohan Kapur.
Hostess: Bindiya.
Guests: Moon Moon Sen, Parvati Khan, Rahul Roy, Arjun, Namrata Shirodkar etc.
Director: Adi Pocha.
Produced by UTV Movies (also known as United Television).

Mohan Kapur from Saanp Seedi promo.
© UTV Movies
Courtesy: Zeshaan Ejaz

A game show provenanced on the popular board game Snakes and Ladders was a fantastic idea which was backed up by a superb presentation. It was a vibrant show, well-presented by Mohan Kapur. He deliberately played a smug and somewhat unlikeable host; he pulled it off well without coming across an obnoxious snob.

There was a new guest every episode and four participants dressed red, yellow, green and blue uniforms. The show’s format was changed a few times but the basic format was like this: in the first round of the show, the host would ask each participant a frivolous question about the guest with two answers, pre-rated by the guest: the right answer would get them on the board, while with the wrong answer they would have to pull a chain, emptying a pendant bucket of water on their heads. In the main round, each question would have four options rated from 1 to 4 by the guest beforehand. The participant would jump on the vertical Snakes and Ladders board upon receiving the score from the guest. They would also have to ride the water slide in certain situations. The participant standing on the highest number at the end would be the winner.

A celebrity guest smudging cake on Mohan Kapur. 
© UTV Movies 
Courtesy: Zeshaan Ejaz

The show had a few different rounds, changed from time to time but the original format was arguably the best. In one round the guest would “autograph” the participants on their face with paint, subject to their answers. The tired new rounds like anda dhulai, jai anda dhulai but they were shortly changed.

In one particularly low-scoring episode the winner stood on the first number on the board, while the remaining three participants could not even stay on the board and hence remained locked in the cage outside. One of the participants was called Jeeganesh, who was greeted by his friends in the audience with “Ganpati Bappa Moreya” chants. Another participant was called Prachi but neither of them won the show. At the end of one episode from the earlier days of the show, a guest lured Mohan Kapur to jump off the water side. When the guest’s turn came to do the same, he backed out while mocking Mohan Kapur.

The show had many celebrity guests ranging from television to films (or even other fields). If I find out the names of more guests I will update the list.  So far there is only one episode of the show available, which is uploaded by one of the participants on YouTube.

The show’s theme music was a beautiful jazz tune that matched the show’s flair and verve. Decades have gone by but Saanp Seedi remains the most vibrant game show of India. 

‘Daak Ghar’ and ‘Bollein Taare’ — Zee TV

‘Daak Ghar’
Channel: Zee TV
Years: 1992 to unknown.
Hosts: Phalguni Parekh and Tushar Dalvi.

Phalguni Parekh
Courtesy: Zeshaan Ejaz

Daak Ghar was a show about Zee TV, co-hosted by Phalguni Parekh and Tushar Dalvi. They would talk about the current and upcoming shows, news about the channel and read letters from fans across the world. They would also interview a guest usually actors connected to Zee TV’s shows from their homes through a video conference or a pre-recorded interview.

One of the guests was Surendra Pal who was playing the notorious ghost Vikranta Jabbar from the longest Zee Horror Show episode ‘Saaya’ that lasted for 11 parts. At the end of the episode he was asked to recite a jingle from the episode. Amongst other guests was Shatrughan Sinha’s family including his twin boys.

It had a pleasant opening theme without lyrics, which is unfortunately not available anywhere. It was an inoffensive show that allowed people to get authentic news about the programmes. Both the hosts were affable and spoke like well-mannered, well-cultured individuals.

‘Bollein Taare’
Channel: Zee TV
Years: 1992 to unknown.
Host: Unknown.

Bollein Taare (the spelling could be wrong) was a morning show talking about astrology, horoscopes etc.

Theme song
The show’s best part was its theme song. The song was mainly sung by a male singer, possibly a famous one, whose name isn’t available as of now. The song probably had some female vocals as well.

The lyrics aren’t perfect; some lines or words may be missing. There’s no footage of this show available anywhere on the internet.

Lyrics
Kiski kismat hai roshan. Kiske hain vaare nyare. Kiske hain bhag adhoore. 
Dekhein kya bollein taare. Dekhein kya bollein taare. 
Kisko apnana hoga. Kiso thukrana hogya. 
Shayad batlayein tare kis mod pe jana hoga. Kya kya batlayein taare. 
Dekhin kya bollein taare. Dekhein kya bollein taare.