DC: History and Fantasy strike gold

Admittedly we are a spiritually-inclined nation and religion is an integral part of every Indian's daily life. But when it comes to TV entertainment, people don't seem too keen on watching religion and mythology on the small screen and prefer family dramas, talent hunts and star-powered reality shows. Till three years ago, most of the mythological shows that were aired on satellite channels were repeats of old DD shows. Even some of the original mythos like Sai Baba and Hanuman on Star and Zee were weekend fare.

But things changed a bit when Imagine launched Ramayan in a daily format three years ago. Its success at prime time encouraged Colors to launch a daily show on Krishna's childhood, titled Shri Krishna. More shows followed with Kahani Mahabharat Ki and Jai Durga Maa, but a year later the season of mythology ended. Now once again mythological shows have started resurfacing. Apart from mythology, historical and period dramas are also popping up on the small screen.

Apart from Shri Shingapur Kathayen and Chandragupta Maurya, Imagine is currently retelecasting an edited version of Ramayan. From July 4, Imagine will launch Dwarkadheesh — Bhagwan Shri Krishna which will deal with lesser known aspects of Lord Krishna's vibrant personality. Jai Jai Bajrangbali is a new prime time weekday show on Sahara One which is also airing fantasy costume drama Chandrakanta. After wrapping up the successful historical Jhansi Ki Rani, Zee has started yet another female warrior story Shobha Somnath Ki at 8 pm from this week.

Are channels turning to mythology and history because fiction shows are showing signs of fatigue? "History and mythology shows have always existed, but today makers have become more innovative in storytelling. But yes, there is a bit of fatigue in regular fiction programming, as there is an overdose of similar content," admits Saurabh Tewari, programming head, Imagine. Elaborating on Imagine's preference for mythology and historical shows, Saurabh says they have always maintained a balance between regular fiction shows and mythos. "Ramayan gave us a brilliant start and after that, Mahima Shanidev Ki and Chandragupta Maurya have worked. So, we believe the audience expects a little more from us when it comes to mythos," he adds.

Saurabh believes that if the current shows work, then everyone will follow the trend. However, Sony's marketing head Danish Khan doubts that the trend will gain momentum. "Mythology is unlikely to come back in a big way because most of the big mythological names have already been dealt with," he points out. But he doesn't rule out period dramas and historical shows. "Every year, channels keep revisiting history, depending upon the historical personality and market they want to cater to," he adds.
Star Plus and Zee don't have a mythological show in the pipeline. But thanks to the success of Jhansi Ki Rani which gave tough competition to Balika Vadhu, the channel is quite excited about doing shows on female warriors. "History is a big market for us. Having created a slot for shows based on female warriors, we would like to capitalise on the first mover advantage. Our new show Shobha Somnath Ki is going to be another big content differentiator for us," says Zee's marketing head Akash Chawla. He doesn't rule out the possibility of Zee going in for a mythological in future.