MUMBAI: Two decades ago, in the era of a lone terrestrial channel, Doordarshan, in homes, which had one black and white television set minus the remote control, came a serial called Buniyaad.
The Ramesh Sippy directed serial, Buniyaad – meaning foundation – literally laid the foundation of a milestone in Indian television history. That was in 1986. Today 20 years later, the serial is poised to make comeback on SaharaOne from 26 January at 8 pm.
In order to create awareness around the show, the channel will be unleashing a couple of below the line (BTL) activities in TRP cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi.
Alok Nath, Ramesh Sippy, Kiran Juneja and Kanwaljeet reliving the moments at the relaunch party of ‘Buniyaad’
“We will be putting up screens in cooperative housing societies in these cities where we will air the show reel of Buniyaad. We are starting with about 10 screens initially. The challenge is to take it to the ground and generate as much hype as possible around the show,” said Sahara One Television COO Purnendu Bose.
Apart from this, the usual multimedia campaign comprising print, radio and cable will also be unleashed. “We are also doing some activity with cable operators wherein they too will be shown the show reel of the serial. Plus, we will also have promos on cable,” he said.
Another important aspect is that the show will be promoted on the internet in order to “capture the Internet savvy generation, who are not aware what the show is all about,” said Bose. Blogs, viral marketing and cross promotions on other websites will be a part of the Internet promotions around Buniyaad. Animated Buniyaad banners displayed on various portals.
A contemporary website steeped in old world charm on Buniyaad will also be launched, which will take readers down memory lane where they can read the synopsis of the serial, learn more about its cast and crew, download photographs of Buniyaad characters and also share their memories with like-hearted viewers-on the special Buniyaad blog.
Bose added, “With telenovella, game-shows being the order of the day, Buniyaad with its strong family value drama will bring back family TV viewing, that’s on the decline.”
In order to inform the media fraternity about the relaunch of the serial, the channel is sending out bricks (that symbolises foundation) with the Buniyaad logo on it.
SaharaOne Media and Entertainment Ltd CEO Shatanou Aditya said, “Re-launching Buniyaad, is SaharaOne’s way of acknowledging this soap as a benchmark in the history of Indian television. And we hope that it will recreate the same magic it did during its last run on television.”
Sippy said, “It is a great to have Buniyaad back on television. The subject and the show have always been very close to my heart. And I hope that the current generation would also enjoy it the same way as the elders.”
Buniyaad premiered in 1986 on Doordarshan and the 54 episodes show ran for a year. The cast included Alok Nath, Kiran Juneja, Kanwaljeet, Kulbhushan Kharbhanda, Abhinav Chaturvedi, Kruttika Desai amongst others.