NEW DELHI: Doordarshan is to telecast a new serial, ?Yeh Hai India Meri Jaan?, supervised by the eminent filmmaker Saeed Akhtar Mirza who is known for some of the gems of parallel art cinema of the seventies and eighties.

The director will also have two other directors on board - Virendra Saini and Sumit Khanna ? for this unique series that aims at discovering some of the lesser known parts and cultures all over the country.

The new series will be telecast from 20 January from 9 pm to 10 pm.

The Executive Producer of the serial is Rahila Mirza and Music is by Sanjeev Srivastava.

?Yeh Hai India Meri Jaan? is the story of Megha, an enthusiastic, young film maker, who sets out on a journey to discover the India she has only read about, but never really experienced.

Tired of the superficial soap operas, game shows and reality programmes on air, she decides to produce and direct a TV serial of her own: one that will tell the story of ordinary Indians, capturing their voices, feeling the touch of their hands, breathing in the aroma of their homes and experiencing first hand, their generous hospitality.

Her father who owns a private TV channel is skeptical of her project but gives her the opportunity to prove him wrong. Defying his pessimism, she sets out on this voyage of discovery, all the while encouraged by her doting grandfather and supportive boyfriend.

Megha chooses to travel by road, to capture the myriad hues of India. The journey takes her over 19,000 kilometres and across 13 states of the country -- through deserts, plains, mountains and valleys, across rivers and even dangerous, high altitude passes -- before she heads back to Mumbai. She chooses a team of five enthusiastic professionals who during the course of the journey emerge not only as her colleagues but also confidants and the voice of her conscience. As they drive together, they not only see a country and its people, but also begin to see themselves and each other in a way that they never did before.

?Yeh Hai India Meri Jaan? merges the fictional journey of these six characters with the documentary footage of the people they meet, and it is enriched by a travelogue, that captures the immense beauty and diversity of the Indian terrain.

Akhtar is known as a writer, director and producer of films and television series like Ghashiram Kotwal (1976), Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan (1978), Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai (1980), Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! (1984), Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989) and Naseem (1995) and the TV series Nukkad (1986).