MUMBAI: New content, different styles of story-telling, mythology-based programmes and old wine in new bottle -- have all done reasonably well on the Indian television from time to time. Now, Peninsula Pictures, the makers of Vishkanya, is bringing 'Shree Krishna', albeit with a twist in the original tale, and Dev Anand, a detective series.
Peninsula co-founders Nissar Parvez and Alind Srivastava told Indiantelevision.com that their year-long 'Paramavtar Shree Krishna', a mythological show, will be aired on &TV from 19 June, and the 26-episodic 'Dev Anand' will be aired on Colors in July. "We are working on another show with Star Plus (reportedly a period drama of a king and its three daughters), shooting for which will start soon," Parvez and Srivastava said.
“We have treated the legendary character of Kans with a fresh perspective. Kans has always been portrayed as a 'cruel character' from the maternal side of Lord Krishna, but we are presenting him as an entertaining character," Parvez and Srivastava said.
“Dev Anand is an interesting show -- the past story of his life will be revealed as we go ahead episode after episode. In every episode, he handles a new case. There is also an inbuilt story there which reveals as to how he became a detective -- so, there are a lot of twists and turns in the show," Parvez and Srivastava informed.
The Peninsula Pictures' duo said: “Shree Krishna’s story revolves around the life of Krishna. It focuses on Radha differently. But, we are primarily focusing on the journey of Krishna -- the reason behind his birth, what was going on the earth that warranted a new avatar to come, and how this incarnation is different from other avatars."
Whether mythology and fantasy concepts work in India, the duo replied in the affirmative. “They work in India, especially since we have improveed a lot in terms of VFX and other technology. The visuals now are real and believable. So, it works and also excites the youth."
Parvez, who once worked with Four Lions Productions and Gul Khan, later founded Peninsula with Srivastava, to explore things on his own. Vishkanya, Peninsula's first show to hit the screens, that had different kind of graphics and visual effects, was a story of a female protagonist who was drawn into revenge in the midst of a blossoming love story. The show, which was launched on Zee TV on 28 March in 6.30pm band from Monday-Friday, failed to garner positive ratings. According to BARC data, in week 18, the show garnered 2029 Impressions’ 000s whereas, in week 19, the channel witnessed a slight hike, but, in week 20 and 21, ratings nosedived with 1648 Impressions ‘000s and 1347 Impressions ‘000s, respectively.
“It was an experiment -- It didn’t work. Although it ran for five to six months, we think the time slot was too early for this kind of a story. If it would have been telecast in prime time, probably there could have been a different outcome. Some things work, some don’t, but it’s always good to learn and not repeat."
