📺 Grew up on Shaktimaan reruns, put an episode on for my nephew recently

I found an old Shaktimaan episode on YouTube a few weeks back while looking for something else. Watched the whole thing. Almost an hour gone before I noticed. The theme music alone did it. I was 8 again, sitting on the floor on a Sunday morning, not allowed to talk. So I did something silly and put an episode on for my nephew, who's 8 now. He lasted maybe 4 minutes before the comments started. Why is the fire a sticker? Why does he spin so slowly? Is that a real rope? Everything he's used to looks sharper. I got defensive, which was ridiculous. I said, we thought this was the best thing ever. He said, okay, but you were small. That one hurt a little. By the third episode something changed. He leaned in a bit when the fight started. He still laughed at the effects. But he also asked what happens if the bad guy wins. The ending speech, where Shaktimaan tells everyone to be good, didn't bother him either. I expected him to roll his eyes. He just nodded and asked for biscuits. It's not great television by today's standards. I know that. The acting is stiff and the sets wobble. But it meant what it said. Nobody was winking at the camera or selling toys. Next I'm trying some old Doordarshan serials with him and seeing what sticks. I'll report back, though I'm sure he'll just ask for the iPad again.

The fire being a sticker made me laugh. I remember thinking it was real as a kid. I showed my younger cousin an old serial last year and he lasted 6 minutes.

My daughter did almost the same thing when I tried an old Doordarshan serial on her. She said it looked like a school play and went off to find her tablet. By episode 3 she was sitting next to me asking what happens next. Kids notice when something means what it says, even if the sets are shaky and old.