NEW DELHI:  A new series on the story of Urdu as representing the evolution of India’s secular, syncretic identity is to be telecast on Doordarshan’s national channel every Sunday from this week.

The 13-episode docudrama Dasten-e-Urdu series with music by the renowned singer Shubha Mudgal has been directed by Aparna Srivastava Reddy and produced by eminent Urdu activist Kamna Prasad and will be telecast on Sundays at 9:30 pm.

According to the makers, languages reveal the history of a civilisation and the texture of a culture, then.

The series brings alive the fascinating history of this language, breaking the myths by unveiling several interesting cross-cultural connections.

Dastan-E-Urdu explores the journey of Urdu language and its mushtarqa tehzeeb. Be it literature, journalism or popular culture that is expressed in recent times through theatre, films, television or the new media, Urdu language has retained its eminent place in the mind and hearts of people.

In order to showcase the language’s grandeur and its tehzeeb in purest sense, the producers have deployed deep research into Urdu’s language journey while conceptualising it. The show takes the viewer on a pan-India journey, capturing all the aspects and nuances that underscore Urdu’s poetic opulence, its Ganga-Jamuni syncretic essence as well its everlasting, universal appeal.

‘Understanding the evolution of Urdu, gives fresh insights into who we are as Indians’ is the bottom line of the show. Covering myriad shades and influences of Urdu language, the programme is being shot all over the country – from Kashmir to Kerala. It delves into dramatisation of key personalities and reconstructions of key periods in the history of the language.

A galaxy of experts including professor Gopi Chand Narang, Javed Akhtar, professor Shamim Hanfi, Shamsur Rehman Farukhi, Pandit Gulzar Dehlvi, professor Mushirul Hasan, Dr Karan Singh and Farooq Sheikh among other stalwarts creates a panoramic view of Urdu’s evolutionary journey for the viewer.