The re=telecast
of Ramayana on Doordarshan during the lockdown has seen record viewership. Reports
indicate 78 million views making it break many records. Doordarshan which had
become just another channel for many years has re-emerged as a Star. The
increasing popularity of Doordarshan has demonstrated an interesting example of
what one was a ‘Dog’ in BCG parlance getting converted into a ‘Star’. The
context and position does result in changes. This at some level suggests the static
BCG matrix analysis of product portfolio simply flies in the air given the
dynamic nature of business, social, cultural and economic topography. Aside
of the BCG matrix, there are interesting pointers from the angle of economics
of such a viewership. What makes an old televised portrayal of the epic
Ramayana click some 35 years after it was first telecast?
It is obvious
that the lockdown meant most people were at home and the idiot box was the best
way to pass time. Doordarshan capitalized on the same and decided to telecast
many of the old serials. Ramayana and Mahabharata were the obvious leading
candidates. Given the free time available, people would have preferred to watch
many of these serials. Yet Ramayana seemed to have scored big over even
Mahabharata. In terms of suspense and intrigue and plot, Mahabharata scores
well above Ramayana. Given these are normally key in viewership, it would be
worth examining why Ramayana scored over Mahabharata. Aside of Ramayana, many
other old shows of the 1980s and 1990s have really not taken off. Serials like
Buniyaad have not attracted significant viewership. Historical like Chanakya
too while attracting good viewership doesn’t come anywhere near the records
being broken by Ramayana.
Interestingly,
Uttar Ramayana which has attracted greater viewership did not command such
popularity when it was telecast 1st in '88-89. In those days, it used to be
telecast on Friday at 9.00 PM. In those
days, Mahabharata topped charts over Uttara Ramayana throughout. It is more interesting
to note, those were the days when the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign was picking up. It
was in November 1989, that the Shilanyas was laid at Ayodhya for the
construction of the temple. Despite this apparent building of the climax, it
did not attract popularity relative to Mahabharata. However, the momentum for
Ram temple was definitely laid by the telecast of Ramayana on Doordarshan. This
is a story to be reserved for some other day.
Aside of the
free time, there is obvious element of nostalgia. Those who saw Ramayana in
1986-88 would now be at least in the middle age and is an opportunity to tell
the same to their children, nephews, nieces, grandkids and others. It was the
first time, the epic had been serialized. Ram Lilas were common in the north,
so were movies in the very early stage of Indian movies. It was the period when
TV was getting diffused across the length and breadth of the country and
without doubt Ramayana was timed well thus contributing to its popularity.
In the late
1980s and early 1990s, ORG-MARG used to run TRPs for DD shows (it was the only
channel then). Across geographies barring Madras and Trivandrum, Ramayana and
later Mahabharata topped the charts. In Trivandrum they were generally ranked
in the top 5 while in Madras, their popularity was lower. The nostalgia for old
times has added to the popularity of this serialised version of the epic dating
back at least back to the Bronze Age. As the economy opens up and people get on
with their lives, the serial’s popularity will perhaps fade but memories might
remain.
As one compares
the two epics, Ramayana is more spiritual while Mahabharata more reflects real
life. During times of boom, people engage in their own ‘Mahabharat’ leaving
little time for spiritual discourse of Ramayana. Even Bhagvad Gita, the key
component of the great epic is a spiritual justification of realpolitik. It was
a tool to motivate Arjun to do his duty as a Kshatriya- one of fighting a war.
Yet in times of distress, people resort to religion. Hanuman fits the bill
perfectly. In India he is known as Sankat Mochan- someone who quells the
crisis. Given the public health emergency, the desire of the people towards
spirituality needs no reiteration. Prayers would be common. It is this context
that the televised epic Ramayana found a resonance in a large section of Indian
society. It was not their response to the war or post war but to the spiritual
solace they were seeking. They were not responding the TV serial but to the
spiritual order and consolation that manifested through a serial. The televised
serial was merely a manifestation, a form but the inner voice, the inner
desire, was seeking solace in the spirituality embedded in the epic.
Therefore in
relation to Mahabharata people will tend to respond to Ramayana more. However
it is possible that the episodes of Mahabharata dealing with the discourse of
the Gita along with the Vishwa Roop Darshan might attract huge viewership. Again
it would be in alignment with the societal state of mind. The mind in distress
feels a need for consolation, feels a need for comfort. The comfort lies often
in the spiritual in the absence of any control over the epidemic. The spiritual
needs are being fulfilled by televised versions of Ramayana and the Gita episodes
of the Mahabharata. This explains the popularity rather than anything else. Serials
come and go, episodes come and go, and it is the profound impact of the epics
on the human mankind in the Indian civilization that continues to be perpetual.
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