Gopal Kaul Presents

Cross posted to my Kashmir Blog.
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Late 1960s, Gopal Kaul was one of the earliest and famous faces of Doordarshan. According to one of the most intriguing and famous stories from the early days of Doordarshan, Gopal Kaul, in a somewhat comic way, was the reason why Salma Sultan became a newsreader. The story goes that Gopal Kaul, who was already a known face on Doordarshan, didn't want to be a newsreader, he wanted to be a producer and was always was often at loggerheads with the DD people. One day to put an end to his newsreading tussle, in a unique way of protest, Gopal Kaul reported to job with his head completely shaved off. An emergency replacement was found nearby in Salma Sultan.

In my post about 'Famous old faces of Doordarshan' Gopal Kaul was one big and obvious missing name as I couldn't find a single image of him online. But then recently, Gopal Kaul's son Ashutosh Kaul wrote to me and generously offered to share his personal collection with this blog. He also informed me that among many other things Gopal Kaul also used to read President's speech in Hindi.

Thanks to Ashutosh Kaul here are some rare and wonderful images of Gopal Kaul at work:

Gopal Kaul in a play (with turban on right corner) along with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and  Babu Rajendra Prasad.

Gopal Kaul with Raj Kapoor.

Gopal Kaul with Manna Dey

Gopal Kaul after retirement.
Ashutosh Kaul informs that Gopal Kaul finally retired from Lucknow Doordarshan and  settled down in that city.
He passed away in year 1999. And he did became a Producer in Doordarshan.