From Guptagamini to Paapa Pandu: Best Kannada TV shows of all time

Kannada TV has produced some of the finest shows in the history of Indian television. Here's a quick look at some of the best Kannada shows of all time which will surely drive fans nostalgic.

There was an entire generation that grew up on the humorous banter of Pacho and Pandu. Paapa Pandu was all about a poor husband dominated by his doting wife. The show completed about 1041 episodes on the small screen.

Silli Lalli created a laugh riot on Kannada small screen in early 2000. The story revolves around Vittal Rao, a doctor, and his family's day-to-day lives. Often one or more family members face new trouble and the entire family works together to solve it.

The show depicted the culture of Dakshina Kannada and Tulu Tulu-speaking community. Guddada Bhootha was one of the first suspense thrillers on Kannada TV, which was quite a hit. The show had Prakash Rai in the lead role and was produced by Girish Kasaravalli. Kannada filmmaker Nirup Bhandari was inspired by the concept of Guddada Bhootha so much that his latest work has a reflection of it.

This show needs no introduction. Written by RK Narayan, the TV show was based on his stories from the book of the same name. Although the show was aired in Hindi, it is worth a mention as it was directed by veteran Kannada actor Shankar Nag. The show featured many famous celebrities from the Kannada film industry of those days viz. Master Manjunath, Girish Karnad, Vishnuvardhan, Ananth Nag, Arundhati Nag and Vaishali Kasaravalli, to name a few.

Fondly known as ‘CSP’, T N Seetharam's work which includes shows like Mayamruga, Manvantara, Muktha, and Muktha Muktha reflected the lives of the middle class. Soulful title songs and the iconic courtroom scenes were an added attraction of Seetharam's series.

Danda Pindagalu is a television series that showcased the struggle of five young graduates who are unemployed. The title song of the show 'Danda pindagalu... Ivaru waste bodygalu... Thu, thu!!' is evergreen.

Directed by Vaishali Kasaravalli, Modala Mane portrayed the crisis in an orthodox joint family of Madhwa Brahmins, who lived in the North Karnataka region. The show managed to grab the eyeballs of the viewers for its traditional costumes, the ancient locations in that region and the authentic north Karnataka accent. It is also said to be the first Kannada mega serial that was directed by a professional woman filmmaker.

The star-studded daily soap was one of the most viewed daily soaps in the early 2000's. The show produced many promising actors like Sundarshri, Jyothi, Shankar Aryan, Grishma Uday, and many other TV artists (especially Sushma K Rao).

It was one of the very first woman-centric shows, which focused on how a woman gets the strength to overcome every problem and emerge as a winner in life. The serial was considered unique, as every week it featured adapted themes from famous novels of Karnataka. Kaadambari had Radhika Pandit, Sindhu Kalyan, and Shwetha Chengappa in prominent roles.