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S4 E1 · A Hero
Malgudi Days is a drama and family TV series that premiered on DD National on March 17, 1987. It has 4 seasons and 54 episodes so far and has ended. The latest episode, Season 4 Episode 1 "A Hero", aired on December 25, 2006.
## Series Overview Set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi, *Malgudi Days* brings R. K. Narayan’s celebrated stories to life through a rich collection of tales about ordinary people and everyday experiences. Blending humour, warmth, irony and social observation, the series explores childhood, family, friendship, ambition, poverty, tradition, superstition and the changing values of Indian society. From schoolboys and shopkeepers to servants, postmen, astrologers and wandering performers, each story captures the distinctive character of Malgudi while reflecting universal human emotions. Adapted from Narayan’s short stories and novels, *Malgudi Days* remains one of Indian television’s most enduring literary adaptations.
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54 episodes · 4 seasons
1987 · 16 episodes · Last episode: 39 years ago
The first season follows life in Malgudi through two extended stories. Swami & Friends captures the adventures, friendships, fears and growing pains of young Swami, while Vendor of Sweets shifts focus to Jagan, a traditional father struggling to understand his increasingly modern son. Together, the stories explore childhood, family, generational conflict and the changing face of Indian society.
Malgudi Days Season 1 release dates →After learning disturbing truths about Mali and Grace’s relationship, Jagan attempts to resolve matters through a traditional marriage. Instead, events force him to confront his failures as a father and reconsider what remains of his attachment to family and worldly life.
Mali becomes increasingly resentful of his father’s refusal to support the factory scheme, while tensions also develop between Mali and Grace. Jagan finds himself caught in a family conflict that exposes how little he truly understands his son’s new life. IMDb
Jagan is disappointed to discover that Mali has no intention of continuing the family sweet business. As pressure over Mali’s proposed factory grows, Jagan begins reconsidering his relationship with money, work and the business that has defined his life. IMDb
Grace tells Jagan about her background and how she met Mali, while Jagan introduces her to aspects of Indian society and tradition. The uneasy family peace is disrupted when Mali reveals an ambitious plan to manufacture an automated story-writing machine. IMDb
Mali returns from America accompanied by Grace, whom he introduces as his wife. While Mali remains distant from his father, Jagan develops an affectionate relationship with Grace and begins sharing memories of his earlier life with her.
Letters from America reveal how rapidly Mali’s outlook is changing and leave Jagan increasingly uneasy about the distance between them. News of Mali’s personal life and impending return also causes Jagan to reflect on his own youth and marriage. TVGuide.com
Jagan tries to understand Mali’s ambitions while remembering his late wife and the family life they once shared. He discovers that Mali wants to become a writer and is making plans that may take him far beyond Malgudi. IMDb
Jagan is a successful sweet-shop owner whose simple life is shaped by Gandhian ideals and traditional values. His comfortable world is unsettled when his son Mali announces that he intends to abandon his college education.
Lost outside Malgudi, Swami is rescued and eventually reunited with his worried family. But his absence has consequences for the cricket team, and worse news follows when he learns that Rajam will soon be leaving Malgudi.
As the cricket match approaches, Swami’s school drill repeatedly prevents him from attending practice. His increasingly desperate attempts to escape school obligations end in confrontation, rebellion and an unexpected journey away from Malgudi. IMDb
Swami struggles to adjust to the stricter Board School, where homework and compulsory drill leave little time for fun. His spirits rise when Rajam forms the Malgudi Cricket Club and challenges another local team to a match. IMDb
Swept up in the excitement of India’s independence movement, Swami joins a political protest and gets into serious trouble at school. His punishment leads to a dramatic break with the Mission School and the beginning of a new chapter in his education. IMDb
Swami desperately wants a bicycle wheel to use as a hoop and places his trust in a cartman who promises to help him. When the man cheats him, Swami, Mani and Rajam devise a childish plan to recover what he has lost.
Exam fever grips Swami and his friends, with Mani even trying to obtain hints about the question papers. Once the examinations end, the boys celebrate their freedom with an adventurous trip to the old Malgudi fort. IMDb
With examinations approaching, Swami’s father becomes increasingly strict about his studies. Meanwhile, Swami’s growing friendship with Rajam causes friction among his old friends, until Rajam attempts to bring the quarrelling boys together.
Nine-year-old Swami leads an ordinary schoolboy’s life in Malgudi until the confident Rajam joins his class. Rajam’s arrival immediately creates tension with Swami’s formidable friend Mani, placing Swami awkwardly between the two.
1987 · 13 episodes · Last episode: 39 years ago
The second season presents a collection of self-contained stories centred on the ordinary people of Malgudi. From servants, postmen and watchmen to struggling families, performers and eccentric townsfolk, each episode reveals the humour, compassion and irony hidden within everyday life. The stories frequently explore loyalty, poverty, ambition, superstition and the consequences of human judgement.
Malgudi Days Season 2 release dates →Postman Thanappa has become almost a member of Ramanujam’s family and takes a personal interest in arranging his daughter’s marriage. When devastating news arrives just before the wedding, Thanappa must choose between his official duty and what he believes will protect the family’s happiness. IMDb
After repeatedly failing his college examinations, Iswaran has become the object of ridicule among classmates and disappointment at home. Terrified of another failure, he avoids checking the results and struggles between hope, humiliation and despair. IMDb
A government minister with no actual portfolio desperately seeks ways to demonstrate his importance. His increasingly absurd schemes—including importing Korean grass—turn his political irrelevance into a sharp satire of bureaucracy, status and vanity. TheTVDB
Young Dodu is determined to earn money of his own and repeatedly launches small business ventures with great enthusiasm. His innocent attempts at commerce bring disappointment, confusion and finally an encounter with an archaeologist who understands the boy better than most adults do.
Actor Gopal is scheduled to film his character’s death scene on his birthday, the very day an astrologer has warned him to avoid anything inauspicious. Unable to persuade the filmmakers to postpone it, he devises his own comical safeguard against fate.
The Talkative Man recalls the time when he dreamed of becoming an accomplished flautist under a respected music teacher. His ambition takes a supernatural turn after he refuses food to a wandering mendicant and later plays a raga associated with snakes. TheTVDB
A young girl attracts the attention of filmmakers after they witness her performing and is invited for a screen test. While her parents become excited about the opportunity, the frightened child has very different ideas about the future being planned for her. TheTVDB
Years after making a religious vow during their son’s childhood illness, Nitya’s parents suddenly decide it must be fulfilled. The now-grown, independent-minded Nitya is horrified to discover that fulfilling it means sacrificing the hair he treasures.
Ranga, a travelling knife-sharpener, works tirelessly so his young daughter can receive the education he never had. His simple faith in others places him in danger when a seemingly helpful ride turns into an attempt to exploit him. IMDb
Sambasivan believes he has finally arranged the perfect marriage for his daughter, only for the groom’s family to make an additional dowry demand at the last moment. A gold belt suddenly becomes the price of preserving the wedding and the family’s honour. TheTVDB
After retiring from years of loyal service, former gateman Govind Singh discovers a talent for making clay models. When he sends one to his former employer and later receives an official-looking letter, his inability to read it fills him with mounting fear.
An elderly watchman guarding a lonely tank encounters a young woman intent on ending her life. During the long night he listens to her troubles and offers his own simple perspective, only learning many years later what became of her.
An elderly watchman guarding a lonely tank encounters a young woman intent on ending her life. During the long night he listens to her troubles and offers his own simple perspective, only learning many years later what became of her. TheTVDB
1987 · 13 episodes · Last episode: 39 years ago
The third season continues to explore the many lives that make up Malgudi, moving between comedy, hardship and quiet human drama. Its stories follow labourers, thieves, musicians, writers, servants and wandering performers whose seemingly simple lives lead to unexpected moral and emotional dilemmas. Multi-part stories such as Salt & Sawdust and Naga add greater depth to the season's portrait of relationships, survival and social change.
Malgudi Days Season 3 release dates →Impoverished goat-herd Muni encounters an American tourist beside an ancient horse statue outside his village. Neither understands the other’s language, yet they conduct an animated conversation that culminates in a transaction each man interprets very differently.
An elderly ayah devotes herself completely to the household she serves, particularly little Radha, who shares a special bond with her. The family barely considers that their endlessly dependable servant might have obligations and relationships beyond their home.
Venkatesh abandons Pundi and takes the more profitable monkey with him, leaving the boy alone with an ageing snake. Pundi must struggle to survive while his affection for the increasingly useless cobra makes practical choices painfully difficult.
Snake-charmer Venkatesh travels with his young son Pundi, earning their living by performing with a cobra. Their difficult existence changes when Venkatesh becomes involved with another woman and introduces a trained monkey into their act.
Swami takes Veena’s manuscript to a publisher, confident that her literary ambitions are finally about to be recognised. Instead, the publishers become fascinated by an entirely different part of the manuscript, setting off a chain of comic consequences. IMDb
Veena dreams of becoming a writer while her husband Swami handles much of the cooking at home. When she finally completes a romantic story, Swami suggests adding elaborate descriptions of the wedding feast and its recipes.
Childhood friends Ram and Ekambaram take very different paths in life, but their friendship endures until Ekambaram’s death. Entrusted with helping his friend’s struggling family, Ram gradually finds business instincts competing with loyalty and conscience. TheTVDB
Krishna married the woman he loved despite warnings that their horoscopes were dangerously incompatible. When his wife becomes seriously ill years later, an astrologer proposes an extraordinary remedy that forces Krishna to choose between fidelity, superstition and fear of losing her.
Orphaned Ramu is taken in by a merchant and gradually becomes a trusted member of both the household and the business. Years of loyalty appear to promise him a secure future, until trust and ambition take the relationship in an unexpected direction.
The Talkative Man wins a massive road engine in a fairground lottery and initially believes fortune has smiled upon him. He soon discovers that owning an enormous machine is much easier than moving, storing or disposing of one.
Raju is an experienced pickpocket who secretly follows a man wearing a distinctive green blazer and steals his wallet. A small discovery inside awakens Raju’s conscience, but his attempt to undo the theft may prove more dangerous than the crime itself.
A celebrated archaeologist arrives in Malgudi determined to prove that ancient Roman influence once reached the region. When an apparently remarkable artefact is discovered, academic excitement and public acclaim build rapidly—until its origins become rather less certain. TheTVDB
Kali, a poor labourer living near a school, has an enormous affection for children despite keeping his distance from them. When he finally earns enough money to buy sweets for the pupils, his innocent gesture is disastrously misunderstood.
2006 · 12 episodes · Last episode: 19 years ago
The fourth season brings together some of Malgudi's most memorable tales, blending humour, satire, mystery and deeply human drama. Stories such as A Hero, An Astrologer's Day, Doctor's Word and Forty-Five a Month examine courage, fate, friendship and family, while Lawley Road offers a sharp satire of bureaucracy and post-independence identity. The season closes with stories that highlight the warmth, eccentricity and timeless character of R. K. Narayan's fictional town.
Malgudi Days Season 4 release dates →The Talkative Man recalls a strange nighttime journey with the usually dependable driver Daas, who swerves near an abandoned temple to avoid someone no one else can see. Soon Daas begins speaking and behaving like a man who claims to have died centuries earlier.
Gopinath is a notorious miser who values every coin and reluctantly spends money even on his own grandson. When the boy disappears during an outing to the cinema, Gopinath suddenly discovers that his carefully guarded wealth is powerless against genuine fear and affection.
The writer grows increasingly dependent on Annamalai, but their friendship is tested when Annamalai needs to return to his village to settle a personal dispute. Separation reveals the depth of their attachment and the quiet loyalty that has developed between master and servant.
A writer seeking peace unexpectedly acquires Annamalai, an uneducated but hardworking labourer who remains at his new home. Annamalai becomes servant, cook, watchman and gardener, and an unlikely bond develops between two men from very different worlds. TheTVDB
Unemployed Ranga reluctantly searches for work and is offered four rupees to retrieve a valuable vessel from a frighteningly deep well. His efforts to avoid the dangerous assignment only lead to increasingly comic negotiations with the household that hired him.
Overworked clerk Venkat promises his young daughter Shanta that he will finally take her to the cinema. But an unexpected development at the office traps him between the needs of his family and the demands of the job on which they depend.
Dr Raman is famous for giving patients an unvarnished assessment of their chances of survival. When his closest friend becomes critically ill, the doctor must decide whether absolute honesty is still a virtue when hope itself might influence the outcome.
A seemingly gifted astrologer is confronted by a sceptical stranger who challenges him to reveal details of his past. The encounter becomes deeply personal when the astrologer realises that his customer is connected to a violent secret he has carried for years.
A miserly landlord becomes convinced that something supernatural is haunting his storehouse after a brass pot begins moving mysteriously. Terrified tenants summon an exorcist, unaware that the supposed spirit has a far more ordinary explanation. TheTVDB
Having acquired Lawley’s gigantic statue, the Talkative Man discovers that removing it is only the beginning of his problems. When evidence emerges that Lawley may actually deserve public honour, the municipality desperately tries to reverse its decision.
After Independence, Malgudi’s ambitious municipal chairman launches a campaign to remove colonial names and symbols from the town. The Talkative Man becomes involved when an enormous statue of Sir Frederick Lawley is declared unwanted and offered for disposal.
Swami’s father grows tired of what he considers his son’s cowardice and orders him to sleep alone in the office for a night. Terrified Swami reluctantly obeys, only for an unexpected encounter in the darkness to transform him into a local hero.
Created by Shankar Nag and Girish Karnad
Malgudi Days has ended, so no new episodes are scheduled. The final episode aired on December 25, 2006.
The most recent episode of Malgudi Days, Season 4 Episode 1 "A Hero", aired on December 25, 2006.
Malgudi Days has 4 seasons with 54 episodes in total.
Malgudi Days first aired on DD National on March 17, 1987.
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