There’s a popular saying in sports, “Leave when people ask why, not when people ask why not” – and I think all of us who grew up watching and loving Shaktimaan will agree that the point of ‘why not’ has long passed for the man who gave Shaktimaan to us, Mukesh Khanna. It has been nearly 2 decades since Shaktimaan last aired. However, Mukesh Khanna still seems to be not just obsessed about it, in limiting the creative freedom of the beloved character to only himself, he comes out as possessive and conservative.
It’s sad to see this happen as it’s needless to mention the impact this show had on the ’90s kids of India. Though we all know now that most of the Shaktimaan plot lines, villains, and the titular character himself were inspired by the comics from the West to varying degrees, it was still a remarkable attempt to make something of this sort for the first time. However, since then the sensibility of the demographic the show was targeting towards has shifted far from what it was back then. Add to it the exposure to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the movies in the DC Universe – nostalgia alone can’t be a saviour for the show anymore. If at all Shaktimaan makes a comeback, in the competition for eyeballs – it has to produce poignant stories with world-class visual effects, which of course requires a lot of studio money.
It’s important to understand where this attitude towards the OG show he had created comes from, we have seen multiple characters being destroyed because of the greed of large corporate studios, but we are apprehensive that his obsession with the franchise will ruin its legacy. When Mr. Khanna dropped the teaser for what seemed like a new season of the show, the internet didn’t take it particularly well.
Though he has confirmed that the actor to play Shaktimaan is still not finalised, his constant dismissals, which are at times brutal, and his vague comments about the future of the beloved character have left the internet dazed, confused, and irritated.
Though Mukesh Khanna’s heart might be in the right place to bring back the show, it needs to be backed by everything relevant to contemporary standards, which as it stands, seems not to be the case. Shaktimaan is and always will be India’s first superhero, but it needs to come out of primitive times.