Chhota Bheem

Chhota Bheem is an Indian animated comedy adventure television series. It was created by Rajiv Chilaka.

Outline
The series was created by Rajiv Chilaka. Premiered in 2008 on Pogo TV, it focuses on adventures of a boy named Bheem and his friends in the fictional kingdom of Dholakpur. In this series, Bheem and his friends are usually involved in protecting Raja Indravarma, the king of Dholakpur and his kingdom from various evil forces. Sometimes they also help other kingdoms. It is one of the most popular animated series for children in India. There are also currently 44 movies that are based on the show.

Plot
The series is set in the fictional kingdom of Dholakpur somewhere in rural India. The series revolves around Bheem,sometimes referred to as Chhota Bheem. due to his small age, He is a nine-year-old boy who is brave, strong and intelligent. Bheem's rival is Kalia, who is envious of Bheem's popularity. Kalia along with his sidekicks, who are twin brothers named Dholu and Bholu,always plot to embarrass and defeat Bheem, but never succeed. Most of the initial stories revolted around Bheem and his friends Raju,Jaggu and Chuttki and rivalry with Kalia and his friends. Bheem gets his strength from laddoos, a orange Indian sweet. However, as the series has progressed, this Kalia topic has been adopted as the subject less often, although Kalia is still just as eager prove himself superior to Bheem,A large number of episodes also focus on Bheem and his team solving various problems affecting the village. Fighting Misty fighting evils that seek to harm Dholakpur or its inhabitants and their antics which often get them into trouble during early days. Broadcaster Pogo TV has stressed that storyline be kept simple and mysteries and complex plot avoided as all cost as the viewers where too young to understand but nowadays there is no restrictions.

Characters
 Chhota Bheem
 Raju
 Jaggu
 Chutki
 Tuntun Mausi
 Rajkumari Indumati (Daughter of Indraverma and Princess of Dholakpur)
 Indraverma (King of Dholakpur)
 Kalia
 Dholu (sidekick of Kalia)
 Bholu (sidekick of Kalia)
 Avi Chacha (Scientist)
 Kichak
 Chhota Manu
 Dhoomketu (scientist)

Development
Rajiv Chilaka wanted to create his own intellectual property instead of working for other companies. He established his animation studio Green Gold Animation in 2001. He had to struggle as no TV channel was ready to pick up the Indian animation content and most Indian contents aired were mythological in nature. His company produced Vikram Betal and Krishna animation shows which convinced Pogo TV to give chance. After five years of conception, Chhota Bheem made his first appearance in 2008 on Pogo TV. It succeeded and continued to run. He is financed by Samir Jain, who belongs to the famous Jain-cum-Agarwal business family from Meerut. Raj Viswanadha, who did the writing for the first four years of Bheem before leaving the series, Arun Shendurnikar, Nidhi Anand are prominent among those who have written the stories for the show.

Influences
Rajiv Chilaka had conceived an adventurous young boy with the strength and attributes of Bhima from  living in an unspecified period in medieval India. He was also influenced by his childhood spent with Disney's animated shows, Tintin, Amar Chitra Katha and other superhero comics.

Cast

 Bheem - Vatsal Dubey (seasons 2-13), Bheem was voiced by Sonal Kaushal in all of the episodes of season 1 and Sonal reprises her role to voice him in some movies of Chhota Bheem while Vatsal Dubey and Parignya Pandya Shah voices him in others

 Raju - Julie Tejwani in show and all of the movies of Chhota Bheem

 Chutki - Rupa Bhimani in show and all of the movies of Chhota Bheem

 Jaggu - Rajesh Kava in show and all of the movies of Chhota Bheem

 Kalia - Mausam in show and all movies of Chhota Bheem

 Dholu and Bholu - Shaily Dubey and voiced by Jigna Bhardwaj in all movies of Chhota Bheem

Spin-offs
Mighty Raju

Mighty Raju is the first spin-off series of Chhota Bheem. It is about the character Raju in the modern world, who has superpowers and is known as "Mighty Raju". He lives in the modern city, AryaNagar.

Arjun – Prince of Bali
 
Arjun - Prince of Bali  is the second spin-off series of Chhota Bheem. It is based on the Chhota Bheem and the Throne of Bali character Arjun. Arjun is the young prince of Bali. It features his adventures with his friends and pet Zimbu, a baby tiger. Each episode consists of two stories and is targeted for kids up to 13 years of age. The series show the adventures of Arjun during his childhood. It exists in the same timeline as Chhota Bheem. The series aired from 1 June 2014 to 11 September 2016 on Disney Channel India.

Super Bheem

Super Bheem is third spin-off series of Chhota Bheem. It was going to launch in 2017, but it was launched in May 2016 with the birthday special movie Main hoon Super Bheem. It is an updated version of Bheem with superpowers. Super Bheem is based on the 24th movie of Chhota Bheem, Chhota Bheem: Sky Dragon. The Super Bheem show is 3D animation whereas Chhota Bheem is traditional 2D animation. It originally premiered on Pogo TV in 2017 but it also aired in 2019 on Cartoon Network India.

Mighty Little Bheem

Mighty Little Bheem is the fourth spin-off. It launched in 2019 on Netflix. It is intended for younger children. In this series, the story's focus is on 1 - 2 year old Bheem. Another thing to note is that in this series, Kalia (Bheem's Friend) is known as Vijay instead.

Chhota Bheem Kung Fu Dhamaka
 
Chotta Bheem Kung Fu Dhamaka is the fifth spin-off of Chotta Bheem. It launched on January 12, 2020. It was the third series in 3D CGI format. The series is based on the Chhota Bheem film of the same name. 

Animated television series
Indian television