Vedic Tales Top India's TV Ratings

[Guest guest]

Scriptural Tales means money for Doordarshan TV, with some blessings

from above

Anuradha Raman

 

 

 

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New Delhi, December 20: Looks like it's as crowded on Doordarshan as

in the Hindu pantheon. The public broadcaster's favourite serials

aren't those with schizoid families, adulterous men and women or

feuding mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, but mythologicals.

 

Five mythologicals are on air, and eight are waiting for DD's

blessings. With the exception of two, the rest were approved only

this year. In fact, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma

Swaraj issued a written reply to a starred question in the Lok Sabha

that ``it is the constant endeavour of Doordarshan to select/approve

serials based on Indian mythology for telecast on its various

channels,''

 

The serials waiting to come up on air include Vishnu Puran, Ganesh

Mahima, Jai Jai Sri Ganesh, Jai Jwaala Maa, Jai Jagdambe, Jai

Santoshi Ma, Jap Tap Vrat and Srimad Bhagwat.

 

Obviously, the enthusiasm is based on some very this-wordly

calculations. The phenomenal success of serials like Ramayan and Sree

Krishna are cases in point. If 97 per cent of the population is said

to have watched Ramayan, Sree Krishna fetched nearly Rs 130 crore for

DD.

 

Of the current lot, Om Namah Shivaiah commands a minimum guarantee of

Rs 53 lakh, Jai Hanuman Rs 66,37,500 and Jai Ganga Maiya, Rs

20,25,000. The still-to-be-approved Jap Tap Vrat, produced by Dhiraj

Kumar's Creative Eye, has a minimum guarantee of Rs 40,500.

 

Interestingly, with the exception of Bible Ki Kahaniyan, DD hasn't

received any proposals from private producers for serials on other

religions.

 

The fact that the gods make money hasn't been lost on private

channels. ``Ma Shakti (Star), Vishnu Puran and Jai Ganesha (on ZEE)

and Sree Ganesha (Sony) are treading the path shown by DD,'' a Mandi

House official crowed.

 

But it seems the gods are particularly munificent with DD alone. In

the latest list provided by the Television Audience Measurement

(TAM), which Star and Zee keenly follow, the gods are rated only

after the top 35 programmes. But on Doordarshan's Audience Research

Rating (DART), gods enjoy a rating of 40 points!

 

DD officials agree that mythologicals are tackily produced and

promote superstition and blind faith. Yet, they've got the viewers

glued in their couches. And since DD has pocketed 70 per cent of

general viewership, it doesn't want to rock the boat.

 

In fact, producer Ramanand Sagar, a pioneer in this department,

complains that ``five serials compared with 56 on air does not make

for a large divine presence.'' The more, the better, argues Sagar,

who has produced Ramayan, Sree Krishna, Mahalkaxmi and Jai Ganga

Maiya.

 

``I want people to come forward with scripts from other religions

too, but there is none. Serials based on religion instil values and a

sense of duty among viewers,'' he proclaims.

 

 

2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.