Sultan Shehryar was a kind, considerate and just King whose kingdom extended from Turkey to China. Due to the infidelity of his wife he had turned into a beast. He would marry a virgin everyday and with the first rays of the Sun execute her in the morning as his revenge on the race of woman. The Vazir’s wise daughter Sheharzade decided to make this animal Sultan Shehryar a human. She decides to free and bring back a woman’s dignity in the Sultan’s kingdom.
Princess Sheharzade decided to marry Sultan Shehryar - even if she was to be his bride for only one day. Every night she narrated the Sultan one story - full of eastern wisdom full of human greatness and sacrifice - but every morning the story ended at a point which aroused the Sultan’s curiosity as a child and he wanted to know further the fate of the Magic Lamp or the Forty Thieves or the Genie imprisoned in the Brass bottle - and hence every night Sultan Shehryar spared princess Shehrazade’s life for one more night. This continued for 1,001 nights. Arabian Nights alias “Alif Laila” alias 1,001 nights has lived through centuries, broken all political barriers and appealed to the old and young alike. It has inspired great English writers such as Sir Richard Burton who translated the same in English for His Majesty - The Queen of England, Queen Victoria.
The show taught the younger generations the human values that should be followed, which are the same across all the major religions of the world. For example to speak to the truth is a universal and fundamental teaching which can be found across cultures.
Year of telecast: Alif Laila was launched on DD2 in 1994 where a total of 143 episodes were telecasted. In the 30 odd stories selected for the above multi-lingual t.v. serial - Aladdin and the magic lamp - was in 13 episodes - Alibaba and forty thieves in 15 episodes and Sindbad the sailor in 58 episodes.
It was also telecasted in South Africa, U.K., Bangladesh, and Srilanka and also launched at 4 th Cairo festival for Radio and Television (Egypt).
Direction and Casting: Alif Laila made under the banner of “Sagar Entertainment Ltd”. The initial few episodes were directed by Mr. Prem Sagar himself. The research and the usage of Urdu language in the show created a new genre in itself. The special effects and production values were nicely done as the technology and budgets got better.
Girija Shankar played the role of Sultan Shehriyas, Seema Kanwal played the role of Princess Shehrazade and actor Shahnawaaz was the Vazir.
Awards & Recognition: "Alif Laila" was the winner of “Most Outstanding television Serial” awarded by India Cinegoers Academy.
Audience Reaction: This show has a great recall value still and was extremely popular with Indian audiences. The show has travelled outside of India to Muslim nations where it was very well received.
The Muslim audience in India felt proud of the universal culture and teachings of Islam which are weaved into interesting and entertaining stories in the series, and the show was watched by entire families irrespective of their religion.