Who can top Aamir Khan? Only God, apparently.
In a bid to maintain its high viewership in the Sunday morning slot after the end of Aamir’s popular Satyamev Jayate series, Doordarshan is launching a new series on the Ramayana in the same time segment starting this weekend.
Simulcast with Zee
The one-hour show, Ramayan , will be shown on DD-National at 11 a.m. Directed by Moti Sagar, the epic will be simulcast with Zee TV.
Doordarshan is attempting to recreate the success of Aamir Khan’s show on social issues which has gathered a fan following over the past three months.
Simulcast with Star TV, Satyamev Jayate grabbed eyeballs, boosted ratings and raked in advertising revenues for the beleaguered public broadcaster.
‘Timeless classic’
On the new programme, a DD statement said: “The timeless classic based on ‘Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas’ is still relevant in contemporary times and will be able to provide wholesome entertainment and message to the entire family, right from grandparents to children, in a joint TV viewing experience.”
Doordarshan is also hearkening back to its glory days in the late 1980s when a possible audience of 100 million viewers across the country tuned in to 78 episodes of Ramanand Sagar’s original Ramayan every week.
Interactive apps
Bringing the classic into the modern era, however, the new Ramayan will have interactive apps on social networking websites, said the statement, adding: “The jet-setting, smartphone-toting denizens of the Twitter age can benefit immensely from applying its learnings to their lives!”
In the latest avatar of the epic, TV actor Neil Bhatt will play Lakshman, with Shikha Swaroop portraying Kaikeyi and Rishabh Shukla cast as King Dashrath.
