Om Namah Shivay is back on COLORS. The iconic show that created records and earned a legion of loyal fans, has a remarkably interesting back story about how it was made. Dheeraj Kumar, who directed it, revealed in a recent chat, that it took nine long years of research by renowned scholars and writers before they started shooting it. The veteran director said that it was the longest time he has ever taken to do preparations for any show that he has ever made.

Talking about the research on the show, Dheeraj Kumar said, "Om Namah Shivay commenced its telecast in the year 1996. However, our research was on since 1987. Nine long years we spent on research for the program. The kind of shows we were doing before were quite different, mostly social patriotic shows and crime thrillers etc. So, we wanted to get this right."