Chhota Bheem
Chhota Bheem (lit. 'Little Bheem') created by Rajiv Chilaka, is an Indian animated television series. Premiered in 2008 on Pogo TV, .[1]
Chhota Bheem | |
---|---|
![]() Promotional poster | |
Also known as | Little Bheem |
Genre | |
Written by |
|
Directed by | Rajiv Chilaka Binayak Das Shyamal Chaulia Sidheswar Shukla Arpan Sarkar Rosauro B. Adorable Owell Mina Asit Mohapatra Arvind Jadeja |
Opening theme | "Chhota Bheem" |
Ending theme | "Chhota Bheem" (Karaoke) |
Country of origin | India |
Original language(s) |
|
No. of seasons | 12 |
No. of episodes | 624 (48 made for television movies) |
Production | |
Running time | 11 minutes |
Production company(s) | Green Gold Animations |
Distributor | Green Gold Animations |
Release | |
Original network | Pogo TV |
Original release | 6 April 2008 – present |
Chronology | |
Related shows | |
External links | |
Website | |
Production website |
Plot
The series is set in the fictional Kingdom of Dholakpur, somewhere in rural India. The series revolves around Bheem, sometimes referred to as Chhota Bheem due to his young age, a nine-year-old boy who is brave, strong and intelligent.[2] Bheem's rival is Kalia, who is envious of Bheem's popularity. Kalia, along with his sidekicks, twin brothers Dholu and Bholu, always plot to embarrass and defeat Bheem, but never succeed.
Most of the initial stories revolved around Bheem and his friends Chutki, Raju and Jaggu's rivalry with Kalia and his friends Dholu and bholu. However, as the series has progressed, this topic has been adopted as the subject less often, although Kalia is still just as eager to prove himself superior to Bheem. A large number of episodes along with all the films also focus on Bheem and his team solving various problems affecting the village, unravelling mysteries, fighting evils that seek to harm Dholakpur or its inhabitants, and on their antics which often get them into trouble.
During Bheem's early days, the broadcaster Pogo had stressed that storyline be kept simple and mysteries and complex plot avoided at all cost, as the viewers were too young to understand, but nowadays there is no such restriction. The timeline and Dholakpur too have been allowed to become fluid and stretchable and this has caused the characters to become more person-like and less childish. Supernatural events have often been used in episodes, like Dholakpur being attacked by the demon Kirmada, the evil witch, or giants, Bheem and his friends being affected by dark magic and curses, and so on. Bheem and his team participating in various competitions in Dholakpur or in adjoining kingdoms is also a common theme, as is the celebration of Indian festivities.
Characters
The Seven Important Characters of this show are Bheem, Chutki, Raju, Jaggu, Kalia, Dholu and Bholu.
Chhota Bheem
Bheem is an adventurous and fun-loving 8 1/2 year old boy who is gifted with extraordinary superhuman strength. This power is a boon for his village Dholakpur, which is constantly beset by all kinds of pens. Almost all the children of Dolakpur, a majority of the people, as well as Raja Indravarma himself, look up to Bheem for solutions to their problems, ranging from mysterious disappearances of some villagers and attacks by wild animals, to drought situations in the village. Bheem has a big heart and he always uses his strength to help those who are poor, wronged or needy, and may be considered a little guardian of the villagers and the animals in and around Dholakpur. Bheem is often seen defeating enemies who attack Dholakpur or harm the villagers, like the evil demon Kirmada, the robber Mangal Singh, and the evil witch. Through his valiant acts, Bheem has earned the trust of Dholakpur, and Raja Indravarma. Indravarma regards Bheem so highly that he often discusses major issues regarding the kingdom's welfare with him and his friends, and they are also sent to neighbouring kingdoms as Indravarma's emissaries. Bheem is often selected as Dholakpur's representative in many competitions, especially those regarding physical strength like wrestling, cycling, etc. Bheem loves food and has an insatiable appetite for laddus, which in fact, give him a surge of energy and make him even stronger than he normally is. These laddus are often stolen by Bheem from Tuntun's laddu shop, and are also offered by Tuntun's daughter Chutki, much to her mother's anger. This habit of stealing laddus is his only prominent fault. Bheem once even won a competition organised by Tuntun on who could eat the most laddus. He is also good at most sports, and is fairly intelligent. He is depicted as a fit boy, almost always wearing nothing but an orange dhoti (loose cloth worn around the groin).
Chutki
Chutki is a seven-year-old girl and the daughter of Tuntun Mausi , the laddu-maker. Also, she leads the female role in the series. She is Bheem's closest friend, and assists him on their adventures. Sometimes, Bheem relies upon her for solving any puzzled or difficult situations. She had first met Bheem, Raju and Jaggu when Bheem had saved her from a raging bull. While she is responsible about her household chores and gentle towards all people and other creatures, she can be tough too, when the situation demands it. She often steals laddus for her friends from her mother's shop. Among the group, Chutki is the most intelligent. She is very skilled in chess and has won laurels for Dholakpur in the game. In many episodes, and in the telefilm 'Chhota Bheem - Masters of Shaolin', she has been depicted to be good at martial arts. She also has many ideas or tricks to help Bheem in many of his adventures, as seen in the episodes "Pirates on the ship", and "Hercules". Surprisingly, she has been shown to be greedy for gold in the episode "The Curse of Bramhbhatt-Part 2". Chutki's hair is always tied into two plaits, she is fair-skinned with big eyes and has a slender build, and she generally wears a pink two-piece dress. She is usually very calm and composed but sometimes she becomes angry especially when Bheem interacts with any other girl. She defeated many people like Bulbul in "Girls vs Girls", etc. She takes care of Bheem and likes to give him laddus stolen from her mother.
Raju
Raju is a cute, courageous and fun loving four-year-old kid, whose role model is Bheem. Raju's size belies his courage, which he gets from his father, the Senapati (chief officer) of the King's army. Raju also wants to be the Senapati of the Army. (seen in the episode "Chutki's Wish"). Mostly seen wearing a blue underwear, he is very good in archery and has won the "Arjuna Cup". He often loses his temper when he sees something wrong happening. He appears as the superhero protagonist in the spin-off movie "Mighty Raju".
Jaggu
Jaggu is a talking monkey or bandar. Jaggu has his own special way of solving problems, using tricks and his amazing sense of humour. Jaggu and Bheem always have fun together, be it exploring forests or eating icecreams. From him, Bheem learns useful techniques like swinging from trees. Whenever they are really hungry, it's Jaggu who assists him in stealing laddus. He also loves playing tricks on Kalia and Dholu Bholu. He wants to be the protector of all animals in the jungle (seen in the episode "Chutki's Wish").
Kalia
Kalia is the owner of two slaves, dholu and Bholu which he illegally purchased from the black market. It cost him 3 years in dholakpur jail. (kalia low key likes rani indumati that is why he's always jealous of bheem)
Dholu and Bholu
Dholu and Bholu are identical twins and followers of Kalia Pahelwan. Though they are not strong themselves, they bask in Kalia's strength. But they were the kindest brothers and they also won a trophy for their best brotherhood. But sometimes, they may fight playfully and scolded by Kalia and Kalia himself try to join them.
Indumati
Rajkumari Induamti is the princess of Dholakpur and Daughter of Raja Indraverma. She is also a friend of Bheem and is fond of Bheem.
Kichak
Kichak is a 16-year-old wrestler from Pehelwanpur. He is later introduced in the series. Like Kalia, Kichak is jealous of Bheem, since Bheem is more popular than he is. But, he is defeated in all the occasions when he challenged Bheem for a bull race, cricket match, in a contest for champions, in a hockey match, in a football match and in many other situations. He has a couple of friends and sidekicks like Chipru, Manna, Motu and Birju, etc., who aid him but also get the punishment with him. He then was noticed helping and advising a participant in the episode "Girls versus Girls", but later escaped. Surprisingly, he was seen helping Bheem in the movie "Bheem vs Aliens".
Chhota Manu
He is also a character from Pehelwanpur. A strong, 5-year-old child who is first shown in the episode "The boxing match". He is physically strong and clever. His archrival is Raju, whom he never managed to defeat. He is also an aid as well as a friend of Kichak.
Raja Indravarma
The King of Dholakpur is King Indravarma. He is the father of Indumati. Though himself a valiant warrior, he mostly relies on Bheem for any crisis in the kingdom. He is also shown to be thoughtful on every occasion. He is a hockey player and also played an important role in a hockey match by making Bheem win. His enemy was King Chandravarma. He is 35 years old, according to the movie "Chhota Bheem: The Rise of Kirmada". He once was given a special diamond called Kohenoor from his ancestors. But he promised to give the diamond to three of Dholakpur's most notorious criminals, Shatadhanwa, Kritavarma, and Akrur. But he broke his promise. This made the three criminals very angry. Akrur and Kritavarma had sent Shatadhanwa to kill King Indravarma. While King Indravarma was sleeping, the wicked Shatadhanwa killed him and took away the Kohinoor diamond. But thanks to the Sanjeevani plant that belonged to a learned Brahman named Gargya, the king came back to life. After getting the Kohinoor diamond, the three criminals became upset that the king was still alive. The guilty Shatadhanwa gave the diamond to Akrur and fled Dholakpur. But Bheem and his team caught Shatadhanwa while he was fleeing. They took him to the king. King indravarma had Shatadhanwa arrested for his crime. When Akrur and Kritavarma heard that Shatadhanwa was arrested, they both went into hiding. Kritavarma stayed in Dholakpur but he was living in the guise of a barber and became the king's royal barber. Akrur was living in the guise of a minister and became the king's prime minister.
Daku Mangal Singh
Mangal Singh is a daku (dacoit) (his name is a parody of Gabbar Singh from the famous Indian film Sholay) who used to terrorize Dholakpur when he was free. But he was caught by Bheem when he went to take some plants to cure Indumati (as she was ill) and nabbed him. Soon, he escaped with the help of his followers and kidnapped the princess, but again he was caught by Bheem. In the episode "Old Enemies", he returned and robbed the Treasury but was later caught by Bheem. He, then became a small thief in the episode of "Greed". Daku Mangal Singh is the leader of all thieves and pirates.
Dhooni Baba
Dhooni Baba is a sage who lives in a cave. In the former episodes, he was called as "Baba Bol Bachchan" and has a body smeared with ash and seen meditating on some needles. Later, his body has no ash smeared and he walks with a walking stick. He is described as a sage who knows almost everything. He gives advice and also solution to Bheem and his friends. In the episode "Superheroes", he had granted Bheem and Raju to be superheroes for a day. He has helped Bheem in various occasions like in the episodes "Curse of Bramhabhatt", "Chhota Bheem Aur Krishna", "Daku Mangal Singh" and "King Chandravarma".
Tuntun Mausi
Tuntun is the mother of Chutki. She owns a laddu shop where she sells laddoos. Her laddu is considered as the most tastier one in the series. She stays mostly angry with Bheem as he steals laddoos from her shop. She usually gets angry with Kalia also and hits him with her belan.
Bheem’s Family
Bheem has a family of five members-
- Mother: Bheem’s unnamed mother lives with him in their home. She is shown as cameo in many episodes and some movies.
- Grandfather- Bheem’s grandfather is also a fighter like Bheem. Bheem resembles his grandfather in fighting. His grandfather owns a magical trunk having magical items in it. He also like laddus.
- Father: His father is a labor in another town. He was shown in episode ‘’Diwali Dhamaka’’ and was responsible for bringing the two headed demon in Dholakpur. But also gives idea to Bheem regarding Demon’s death.
- Grandmother: His grandmother is never shown in the series but was shown in an advertisement.
Professor Shastri Dhoomketoo
An inventor who Lives In Gyanpur. He often ends up getting problems with his inventions, like getting his inventions stolen, or malfunctioning. His inventions include a time machine, a hot air balloon, a super fast bicycle, etc. Many of his inventions were misused by Raju. There used to be Professor Avi, whose place is taken by Professor Dhoomketoo.
Shivani
Bheem's foster sister is Shivani. She lives in Pehelwanpur and runs a dhaba there named "Shivani ka Dhaba". Her father is imprisoned, and to free him she needs 500 gold coins. But the Pehalwan Dabbu tries to take over the Dhaba. Bheem comes to her rescue and even frees her father from jail. In the episodes of "20-20 Cricket" and movie - Chhota Bheem: Bheem vs Aliens, she has been seen supporting Bheem's team. Also Shivani and Chutki are shown to be good friends.
Buri Jadugarni ( The Evil Witch)
She is an evil witch who is an enemy of Bheem. She meets Bheem in the episode ''The Chocolate World''. She tried become the queen of dholakpur(Queen Madhu) but never succeeded because of bheem and his team.It is possible that she tries to destroy bheem is because he broke her wand while rescuing Kalia from her clutches who was turned into a rat for using her broom.
In the episode of " Dholakpur ki nayi rani" she has a son who helps her in becoming the queen (plan failed).
Achhi Jadugarni (The Good Witch)
She is a good witch who helps Bheem in defeating Buri Jadugarni.
She lives in Agdam( A place of good wizards and Witches). She is kind to animals and plants unlike Buri Jadugarni
Voice cast
Hindi version
- Pinky Rajput (present), Rupa Bhimani (former) - Chutki
- Julie Tejwani - Raju
- Rajesh Kava - Jaggu
- Shailey Dubey (present), Sabina Malik Mausam (former) - Kalia
- Jigna Bhardwaj - Dholu and Bholu
Production
Development
Rajiv Chilaka wanted to create his own intellectual property instead of working for other companies. He established his animation studio Green Gold Animation in 2001. He had to struggle as no TV channel was ready to pick up the Indian animation content and most Indian contents aired were mythological in nature. His company produced Vikram Betal and Krishna animation shows which convinced Pogo TV to give chance. After the five years of conception, Chhota Bheem made his first appearance in 2008 on Pogo TV.[3] It succeeded and continued to run.[1] He is financed by Samir Jain, who belongs to the famous Jain-cum-Agarwal business family from Meerut. Raj Viswanadha, who did the writing for the first four years of Bheem before leaving the series, Arun Shendurnikar, Nidhi Anand are prominent among those who have written the stories for the show.
Influences
Rajiv Chilaka had conceived an adventurous young boy with the strength and attributes of Bhima from Mahabharata, living in an unspecified period in medieval India. He was also influenced by his childhood spent with Disney's animated shows, Tintin, Amar Chitra Katha and other superhero comics.[1]
Broadcast
It is aired on Pogo TV in India. As of August 2011, more than 200 episodes, 29 movies have been released and aired. [4]
In April 2020 DD National acquired the syndication rights of the series from 17 April 2020 to 3 May 2020 when the production of the ongoing series had to be stopped by the channel due to COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
Reception
The show became highly successful among younger children due to its relatable characters and vernacular nature. It is considered as the India's largest children's entertainment brand. The show has viewership of 40 million viewers in India and beyond. The brand is valued around ₹ 300 crore in 2013.[1] The show received backlash from older audience due to its poor storyline and stereotype portrayal of characters.[6]
Films
Feature films
- Chhota Bheem and the Curse of Damyaan [3]
- Chhota Bheem and the Throne of Bali [3]
- Chhota Bheem: Himalayan Adventure [7]
- Chhota Bheem: Kung Fu Dhamaka
Television films
- Chhota Bheem: Journey To Petra
- Chhota Bheem: Bheem vs Aliens
- Chhota Bheem: Master of Shaolin
- Chhota Bheem: Dholakpur to Kathmandu
- Chhota Bheem Aur Hanuman
- Chhota Bheem Aur Ganesh in The Amazing Odessey
- Chhota Bheem and the Broken Amulet
- Chhota Bheem In Junglee Kabila
- Chhota Bheem And The Crown of Valahalla
- Chhota Bheem and the Incan Adventure
- Chhota Bheem And The Shinobi Secret
- Chhota Bheem aur Neeli Pahaadi
- Chhota Bheem Banjara Masti
- Chhota Bheem Dus Pe Dus
- Chhota Bheem Mayavi Gorgan
- Chhota Bheem ki Baazi
- Chhota Bheem aur Paanch Ajoobe
- Chhota Bheem Mission Mangalyaan
- Chhota Bheem And The Sky Dragon
- Chhota Bheem aur Chhalchaya
- Chhota Bheem in Dinosaur World
- Chhota Bheem African Safari
- Chhota Bheem Romani Adventure
- Bheemayan
- Chhota Bheem Troll Se Takkar
- Chhota Bheem Kala Yodha
- Chhota Bheem Roopsi Romaanch
- Chhota Bheem Nawadir Ke Shehzaade
- Chhota Bheem Jaadui Jaal
- Chhota Bheem Rise Of Damyaan
- Chhota Bheem Arazim Ka Raaz
- Chhota Bheem Ban Gaya Superstar
- Chhota Bheem aur Krishna
- Chhota Bheem & Krishna: Pataliputra- City of the Dead
- Chhota Bheem & Krishna: Mayanagari
- Chhota Bheem: The Rise of Kirmada
- Chhota Bheem aur Krishna vs Zimbara
- Chhota Bheem aur Krishna Masti in Vrindavan
Spin-offs
Mighty Raju
Mighty Raju is first spin-off series of Chhota Bheem focusing on the character Raju in modern world, who has superpowers and is known as "Mighty Raju" and lives in the modern city, Aryanagar.
Arjun - Prince of Bali
Arjun - Prince of Bali is the second spin-off series of Chhota Bheem based on the Chhota Bheem and the Throne of Bali character Arjun. Arjun is the young prince of Bali. It features his adventures with his friends and pet Zimbu, a baby tiger. Each episode consists of two stories and is targeted for kids up to 13 years of age. The series will show adventures of Arjun during his childhood. It exists in the same timeline as that of Chhota Bheem. The series aired from 1 June 2014 to 11 September 2016 on Disney Channel India.[8][9][10]
Super Bheem
Super Bheem, a third spin-off series of Chhota Bheem was launched in 2017. It is an updated version of Bheem with superpowers. Super Bheem is based on Chhota Bheem: Sky Dragon. The Super Bheem show is 3D animation whereas the Chhota Bheem is traditional 2D animation.[11]
Mighty Little Bheem
Mighty Little Bheem, a fourth spin-off launched in 2019 on Netflix.[12]
Other
Green Gold Animation launched merchandise and comics in 2009, and toys in 2010. They had brand association with many products such as a drink, soups, fans, stationary, bags, biscuits. They also produced mobile games including educational ones.[1] The merchandise portfolio expanded to more than 300 products and they established merchandise store franchise Green Gold Store, which has stores in several cities of India.[3]
References
- Balakrishnan, Ravi (25 May 2016). "How homegrown hero Chhota Bheem took on Mickey, Spidey, Oggy, and won". The Economic Times. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- "10 Life Lessons to Learn from Chhota Bheem". Success Stories. 30 November 2013.
- "'Chhota Bheem No. of episodes & movies, aired and planned as in August 2012, for future". Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
- "Chhota Bheem comes of age". DNA India. 28 August 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
- "Chhota Bheem will be a part of Doordarshan along with Mahabharata's real Bheem". Business Insider.
- "The Dumbest Shows On Indian Television That Make Us Want To Facepalm". www.mensxp.com. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
- Krishnamoorthy, Suresh (5 January 2016). "Chhota Bheem, now in the Himalayas!". The Hindu. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- "Disney set to launch Green Gold Animation's 'Arjun, Prince of Bali'". 31 May 2014. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- "Disney India bets big on Arjun". 1 June 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- Disney India (14 March 2016). "Arjun, Prince of Bali - Season 3 - Hiranya Trailer 1" – via YouTube.
- "Super Bheem to be weekly show". Retrieved 30 March 2017.
- "Inpired from Chhota Bheem, Netflix to launch first animated series 'Mighty Little Bheem'". DNA. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2019.