Ranjeni orao was a Serbian television show produced in 2008 and aired on RTS1 during late 2008 and early 2009. The 17 episode series is based on the 1936 novel "Ranjeni orao" by Serbian author Mir Jam. The show had unprecedented success with the last episode averaging over 3 million viewers, making it the most watched Serbian television series ever made.
Plot
Like the novel, the television series is based in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between the two world wars and centres around the love life of the young and naive protagonist Anđelka Bojanić. After marrying a Montenegrin lawyer she quickly realises she has made a mistake. Since she had already lost her virginity in her teen years, something looked down upon at the time, her husband, who only learns of this after marrying her divorces her quickly. Anđelka relocates to Trebinje in order to put her life back on track. There she meets new people, her new love and most importantly her past catches up with her. This is where most of the drama and heart ache occurs.
Cast and crew
The television series was produced and adapted by the legendary Serbian producer and director Zdravko Šotra. The production company behind the series is Košutnjak Film. The major reason for the success of the show was mostly due to its writing, romantic style and drama, however it also received high praise due to the famous Serbian actors which appeared in the show. They included:
Sloboda Mićalović Ćetković as Anđelka Bojanić
Ivan Bosiljčić as Nenad Aleksić
Nenad Jezdić as Gojko Marić
Danica Maksimović as Saveta
Dragan Nikolić as Ugleša Knežević
Ratings
The show received extremely positive critical reviews and outstanding ratings. The show’s first episode, aired in December 2008, was watched by a respectable 1.5 million people. The show aired 4 times per week. Each episode saw a ratings increase. Soon after, newspapers and other media picked up on the massive success of the show. The final episode, with much fanfare, aired on January 15, 2009 was watched by 3.277.000 people, making it the most watched television show in Serbia to date. Due to viewer requests, once the show ended it was immediately reprised in primetime, making it the fastest encored show on RTS. In its repeats it also managed to produce extremely high ratings. Because of its success as a television series, the 1936 novel was quickly reprinted and hit the bookshelves in book stores across Serbia. In 2009 a film was produced based on the book and series with all the original cast from the television show appearing in it.
