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Tag: Devon Ke Dev…Mahadev

  • Lacklustre viewership may force SET to pull off ‘Prithvi Vallabh’: Anirudh Pathak

    Lacklustre viewership may force SET to pull off ‘Prithvi Vallabh’: Anirudh Pathak

    MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television’s (SET) bet on magnum opus Prithvi Vallabh didn’t go as planned for the channel. The show, according to its producer Anirudh Pathak, is likely to go off air from 1 July after completing its 45th episode.

    Since its launch in January, Prithvi Vallabh has been getting mixed reviews. The channel had earlier planned to divide the show into two seasons of 40 episodes each but the failure to garner the desired viewership has compelled SET to rethink this strategy.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Pathak said that there is a need to better think about characters while picking historical plots. “I thought Prithvi would do well as the story of an untold tale from the soils of Indian dynasty. But it’s unfortunate that it didn’t. It’s a learning for me. Now, I know that if one is producing a historical show, they should make sure that the audience knows about the character. For historical shows, only a well-known character can garner good ratings. I personally feel that shows with a classic storyline should not be run on the weekends. Had it been a daily soap, the show could have garnered better ratings,” he said.

    Prithvi Vallabh was the first show to come out of SET’s new sub brand SET Originals. Based on the book by well-known Gujarati writer Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, it depicts the history, mystery, vengeance and a love story between two arch-rival warriors Prithvi and Mrinal living in a kingdom far away.

    Pathak is no stranger to the genre having produced titles such as Devon Ke Dev..Mahadev, Siya Ke Ram and Mahakumbh, which have done fabulously well. Prithvi Vallabh was also the first show under his own banner launched in 2015.

    A student of Sanskrit, Pathak has been keen on working on mythological and historical shows. His interest began in the early TV years when saas-bahu sagas were dominant and the mythological and historical genres were not even considered to be capable of engaging viewers. “When I was doing saas-bahu shows, nobody, at that time, wanted to invest their money on big-budget serials. But now, they do. And since I always had an inclination towards myths and history, I decided to work on these genres. After Devon Ke Dev..Mahadev became a hit I was pretty much convinced that the Indian audience has the appetite to consume such content,” he added.

    The storytelling format has also changed since families that once used to get together and watch TV are now watching independently on their phones. So much so that people even in remote areas are consuming and comparing content such as Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones with Indian shows.

    Pathak feels that channels will now focus on finite content and gradually long-running shows will cease to exist.

    Pathak started his career as a writer with a crime show entitled Mujrim Kaun that aired on Sahara channel. After that, he worked with Balaji Telefilms as a writer for renowned shows like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kavyanjali, KumKum and Karam Apna Apna. During his tenure with Life OK, he also helmed other acclaimed shows such as The Adventures of Hatim. Post Life OK, he was the name behind Siya Ke Ram, a show which depicted Ramayana from Sita’s point of view.

    Pathak has created Chandrashekhar for Star Bharat, a show honouring one of the greatest freedom fighters of India, Chandrashekhar Azad. The show captures the entire life of Azad and what made him one of the undisputed fearless freedom fighters of all times. He is also making another historical show named Shankaracharya- based on the life of Adi Guru Shankaracharya, an Indian philosopher.

    In the near future, he is in talks with Colors for his upcoming historical show, which is a recreation of magnum opus Mughal-E-Azam. He is also planning to crack a deal with Eros Now on the mytho-historical genre for his upcoming digital series.

    Also Read :

    Ace creative visionary Anirudh Pathak helms his first individual project ‘Prithvi Vallabh’

    ‘Prithvi Vallabh’ is 20% history, 80% mystery: Anirudh Pathak

    Star Plus readies new mythological series ‘Siya Ke Ram’

  • ‘Mahabharat,’ ‘Devon Ke Dev Mahadev’ &’Naagin’ successful in China, audience longing for more

    MUMBAI: Life is stranger than fiction. Dreams sometimes are more real than reality. Political tiffs between India and China notwithstanding, it’s business as usual and more for the media and entertainment industry. The Indian mythological television dramas like ‘Mahabharat’, ‘Nagin’ and ‘Devon Ke Dev Mahadev’ are turning out to be highly successful with the Chinese audience.

    The Chinese audience is however no stranger to imported content in terms of dramas, especially from countries including the US, South Korea, Japan and the UK. Indian stories are new to them, but they are gaining popularity.

    Yang Buhui, who works in the gaming industry, said that Indian mythology was fascinating. Its philosophy and worldview, which were exotic and had been a wonderful new world to him, PTI quoted the state-run Global Times as reporting. Yang has also been running a volunteer group that provides Chinese subtitles for Indian tele-series.

    She started the group because of her most favourite Indian TV series ‘Devon Ke Dev Mahadev’ (DKDM), which premiered in 2011 and ran a total of 820 episodes. It narrates the stories of Lord Shiva, who is also known as Mahadev.

    Yang said she loved the drama because it’s a key to the world of Indian mythology. Besides, the actors were not only gorgeous, but their acting skills were good.

    Qing Qing, who works in education industry, said she loved the actors so much that she would watch the “raw” episodes – that is, in Hindi language, and not translated or subbed in Chinese yet.

    There was not much translation work done earlier for Indian dramas, and Qing said she had to wait for a long time for the Chinese subtitles. Qing has also enjoyed several Japanese and South Korean dramas in the past, as well as comics and anime, but now she mostly enjoyed Indian dramas the.

    Everybody knew that both India and China are among the greatest ancient civilizations. However, compared to what they know about the countries from the West or other Asian countries such as Japan, what many Chinese know about India is still limited to the simple introductions in textbooks, Qing said and hoped that there would be a huge import of Indian films and dramas in the future.

  • Disney Channel gets talking with ‘Captain Tiao’

    Disney Channel gets talking with ‘Captain Tiao’

    MUMBAI: Back in 1989, Hollywood flick Look Who’s Talking made ‘baby talk’ fashionable. Two-and-a-half decades later, Disney UTV’s tent-pole channel, Disney, which is known for its differentiated content is taking it a step ahead.

     

    Starting 2 March, the channel will premiere a one-of-its-kind talk show called Captain Tiao to be aired every Sunday at 10:00 am.

     

    Nine-year-old Sadhil Kapoor, who won hearts with his turn in Devon Ke Dev Mahadev, will host the show as ‘Captain Tiao’. He will interact with celebrities from all walks of life, cornering them with funny, intriguing questions about their childhood fears, guilty secrets, favourite snacks et al. The Q&A will be followed by ‘Captain Tiao’ challenging the guests to perform entertaining tasks, beating him at the game.

     

    Discussions are still underway but some of the celebrities who have confirmed their appearance on the show are Mahesh Bhupathi, Jaaved Jaffrey, Kapil Sharma and Navjot Singh Sidhu. Apparently, such celebrities have been selected who inspire children and whom, they can look up to, whether in sports, entertainment or politics.

     

    Explaining the rationale behind the new show, Disney UTV Media networks content head Indrajit Ray says: “Disney Channel is always exploring different formats and content that kids as well as their families can enjoy together. It is important to keep a conversation going and surprise them with new shows that bring alive the Disney Channel promise of Express Yourself, Believe in Yourself and Follow your Dreams.” 

     

    On roping in Kapoor as ‘Captain Tiao’, he says: “What we also love about Sadhil is the fact that he is a natural – curious, energetic and uninhibited… a personification of what a child at that age should be. We sincerely believe that a child’s curiosity should not be curbed in any way and it is that environment that will eventually allow him/her to blossom and follow his/her dreams. Sadhil possesses these qualities and hence we thought it best to give him a platform to do just that.”

     

    According to Ray, brands have responded well to the show. “Our partners, having worked with us, recognise this strength that Disney brings to the table and have collaborated with us in creating many successful partnerships,” he says.

     

    Asked about the Sunday slot, he says: “At Disney Channel, we believe in creating shows that appeal to both kids and their families. We have historically seen Sunday mornings as a band where the entire family can come to enjoy shows on TV together as a unit.”

     

    This isn’t the first time Disney has tried its hand at differentiated content; earlier too, it has aired shows such as Best of Luck Nikki, The Suite Life of Karan and Kabir, and Disney Q.

     

    However, ‘Captain Tiao’ is not only being seen as continuing the tradition but also as an experiment in short-format shows in live action.

  • Life OK’s mythological saga ‘Devon Ke Dev Mahadev’ launches on DVD

    Life OK’s mythological saga ‘Devon Ke Dev Mahadev’ launches on DVD

    MUMBAI: In order to expand its reach and brand beyond television, Star India has released its Life OK’s mythological saga ‘Devon Ke Dev… Mahadev’ on DVD.

    The company has tied up with Ultra for this purpose.

    Star India CEO Uday Shankar said, “A nation and its people derive their collective identity and pride from stories passed on to it from earlier generations. It is our job not only to keep those stories alive but to tell them well in order to inspire a future generation. Like OK had its task cut out from the very first day and it has lived up to that challenge remarkably well by weaving gripping and inspirational stories with new approaches in production and technology.”

     

    While 300 episodes was a big achievement for show, it is just the beginning of the story for the mythological saga and for Life OK. “30 years ago you had Ramayana and Mahabharata which were fantastic. They fostered creativity. However later on, mythological shows were done the same way. They became old fashioned in look. That is why they did not have much success. When we started on ‘Devon Ke Dev Mahadev’, we knew that the way in which the story was told would have to change. We wanted to take the show beyond the Amar Chita Katha level. We have created new parameter of creativity. At the same time we did not compromise on the quality of entertainment,” Shankar said.

    Life OK, which completed one year in December 2012, is among the top five channels, Shankar added. “The aim is to make it a top three player.”

    Life OK GM Ajit Thakur said that the success of Life OK went beyond ratings. “While we have done well in terms of ratings, we have also dwelt on issues including crime, domestic violence, terror and religion. We have done things both on the air and on the ground. We want to be the home of big. new stories. While our show has finished 300 episodes, we still have lots of stories to tell within that show. We made an earnest attempt to make it as contemporary as possible by highliting Lord Shiva’s views on pertinent issues such as pollution and gender equality. This distinction has been pivotal to the resounding success of the show. At the same time while mythology is a platform that will be showcased on Life OK, it is not the only thing”.

    Life OK is doing a social awareness campaign to clean up the Ganga. “We did 15 days of activity last month. In this manner Life OK has gone beyond just being a TV brand,” Thakur said.

    Ultra Group CMD Sushilkumar Agrawal said that his company aims to bring content that blends entertainment with cultural and educational values. “This philosophy drew us to join hands with Life OK and launch ‘Devon Ke Dev Mahadev’ on DVD. This show is not just an epic but an amalgamation of Indian culture, tradition and values that will continue to be passed on to forthcoming generations.”