This 1999 comedy series was the worst Indian TV show ever made as per IMDb ratings
Fiction on Indian television began in the mid-80s with serials like Hum Log and Buniyaad and was diversified with mythological hits like Ramayan and Mahabharat. Most experts agree that the quality of content on Indian television was extremely high in the 80s and early 90s, partly due to few shows being present on the TV. However, as TV channels proliferated and more shows came in, some had lesser than desired quality. Many are called so bad by critics that they are cancelled within weeks of being launched.
The worst Indian TV show ever is…
In 1999, producer-director Anil Pal conceptualised a comedy serial called Hello Friends, based on the lives of six young friends living in Mumbai. If the concept sounds similar, it is because the show was heavily inspired by the iconic American sitcom Friends, which was running in its sixth season at that time. Hello Friends had characters and plot lines totally lifted from Friends and some of its episodes were shot-by-shot copies of Friends. “The jokes are very Indian,” its maker Pal had said about the show to India Today back in 1999. But still, the show was panned by critics. On IMDb, it has a lowly rating of just 1 out of 10, the lowest of any Indian TV show.
All about Hello Friends
Created by Ajit Pal, Hello Friends marked the acting debut of three MTV VJs – Maria Goretti, Cyrus Broacha, Nikhil Chinappa. These three joined Simone Singh, Aparna Tilak, and Anil Dimbri in the lead roles. Talking about casting the VJs, Anil Pal had told India Today at the show’s launch, “They are the idols of the youth who are a readymade audience for the show.” Apart from them, several known actors like Kunal Vijaykar, Mandira Bedi, Samir Soni, Kishwer Merchant, Bhavana Balsaver, and Eva Grover had supporting roles. Hello Friends was cancelled after just one season of 26 episodes. The original outlasted it by four years, finishing with 10 seasons and over 200 episodes.
The DNA app is now available for download on the Google Play Store. Please download the app and share your feedback with us.
