Originally posted by: .Vrish.
The whole country used to watch that one b'cos DD was the only channel on TV. There was no alternative - let alone hundreds of channels - for them to watch. Also, those used to fall on Sunday mornings, which was the best time to put on such religious shows.
But when you contrast that to putting a mytho show on a channel and having it compete w/ other shows, it's a different matter altogether. Only a low percentage of the population would watch mythos over other serials, be they saas-bahu shows, movies, sports, cooking shows (like masterchef) or whatever else that's there. That's quite a selection.
That's true. While I applaud RSR's success and appreciate it for it's wonderful storytelling, I am not that delusional to believe that the entirety of its success was because of Ramanand Sagar. No doubt he was the best mythological director till date, but one cannot compare the new and old mythos because the new mythos have far more competition than the old ones did. When the first Ramayan came out in 1986, television was still a big wonder in India. Not everyone had it, and television shows themselves were fascinating for people. Ramayan of course is a beloved epic, so when it became telecasted, the idea was so novel to everyone that everyone watched it because the idea of making a religious epic into a serial was never done before. While many must have watched it because they liked it, I am sure some also watched it for the sake of being able to view television, whether they actually liked the show or not.
I am not disputing RSR's popularity, but NO show today, mytho or fictional, can cause the country to come to standstill because times have changed. The entire country cannot watch one show, and moreover, there are 100s of shows today in comparison to the 80s that it's often difficult to keep a show running if it doesn't get good ratings. Another point is that people today do not prefer religious shows in comparison to the older generation, so it's even more difficult for directors to grab their attention. When all these are taken intoo consideration, the fact that Life Ok's Mahadev and Imagine's Ramayan have maintained TRPs that are higher than some popular fictional shows is really applaudable. They may have their faults, but it's much more difficult to make a mythological show popular today than it was in the 80s, and both these shows have achieved that.
Kumkum Bhagya
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