Mohit Raina AT 13~ DT's Nt pg 22/ 33/AD Nt pg 129 - Page 66

Popular perception: if it's a mythological or a historical show, then it would be relegated to a weekend morning band so that families could watch it together.

In the 80s, Ramayan and Mahabharat's epic success story made showmakers assume that Sunday mornings were tailormade for maximum viewership. But the picture's slowly changing now. After Dwarkadheesh: Bhagwan Shree Krishn, Chandragupta Maurya which opened to decent TRPs (after airing on weekdays), followed by the unexpected success of Devon Ke Dev Mahadev, (which has been airing in the 8 pm slot for over a year and has given strong competition to daily soaps like Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? and Balika Vadhu) big ticket period shows are now making a splash in the prime time band on weekdays.

General entertainment channels (GECs) are pulling out all stops to woo an audience used to their daily dose of melodrama and tearjerkers by getting big stars clad in elaborate costumes, flaunting jewellery worth lakhs in extravagant sets in mythological/historicals on a weekday band so that they can create enough buzz and bring in the eyeballs. For a mythological/historical to enter into a slugfest with a daily soap is no mean task, but it seems the channel heads and producers are open to taking a risk.

Says producer Nikhil Sinha says, "The story of Shiv's life gets a contemporary touch and is enabling youngsters to connect to our show. Proper casting, good production values and authentic story telling are important to make a good mythological show." While Bharat Ka Veer Putra Maharana Pratap has recently replaced a daily soap, two more mythological and historicals - Mahabharat and Jodha Akbar - are slated to air in the prime time slot on two leading GECs in the next few weeks. Neerusha, costume designer of Maharana Pratap, who has also been the costume designer for Devon..., Jhansi Ki Rani, Veer Shivaji, etc., says, "Maharana Pratap is a very sensitive subject and as it's meant for today's audience and is a daily show, everything has to be perfect." Producer Siddharth Kumar Tewary who's making Mahabharat, says, "In an era of channel wars it's no coincidence that a number of shows in this genre are being launched simultaneously at prime time bands."

So will the mythologicals/historicals rake in the desired eyeballs and be the game changers in the TRP race? That's a question that the report cards will eventually reveal.

Telly hotties in mytho mode

After pouring his heart out on television in Splitsvilla, dimpled dude Vishal Karwal became a household name overnight when he stepped in as Lord Krishna in Dwaarkadheesh - Bhagwan Shree Krishn. He eventually went on to play the lead in two daily soaps, made an appearance in Bigg Boss 6 and is currently readying for his big screen debut.

From doing cameos in his previous shows, to becoming the nation's favourite tellygod, Mohit Raina seems to have scaled a new high thanks to his current outing as Lord Shiva in Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev. His fab abs, groovy smile and acting chops seem to have made him an instant fave.

At 17, Rajat Tokas catapulted to small screen stardom as the child star in Bharat Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan in 2006. The show earned him a huge fanbase, a number of fan websites and a string of daily soaps. Now Rajat's landed himself the coveted role of Akbar in Ekta Kapoor's Jodha Akbar.

After playing a goodnatured college boy in the lighthearted daily soap, Navya, Shaheer Sheikh took a year's break (even refusing lucrative offers to do big daily soaps) simply to get set to play the challenging role of Arjun in the much talked about show, Mahabharat about to take off in a few weeks' time.