Niche content firm thrives on spiritual revival

EXPERTS SAY RELIGIOUS RESURGENCE HAS GRIPPED MIDDLE AND UPPER CLASSES IN INDIA

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iddharth Kumar Tewary, founder of Swastik Productions, has just returned to Mumbai after a tiring shooting schedule for his upcoming serial 'Veer Hanuman' for Sony SAB TV. Tewary, also the creative head at Swastik, has scaled his 17-year-old production company riding on mythology shows such as 'Shrimad Ramayan' and 'Shiv Shakti', currently being aired on Sony and Colors respectively. Earlier, the house produced epic shows such as 'Mahabharat', 'Mata ki Chowki', 'Baal Krishna', 'Mahakali' and 'Karamphal Daata Shani' for different TV channels.

The slew of shows from one production house proves that peak viewership of mythology on television did not end with Ramanand Sagar's 'Ramayan' and B R Chopra's 'Mahabharat' in the '80s. "Shiv Shakti" became the number one show on Colors within two weeks of its launch. Also, 'Mahabharat' on Star Plus got more viewership during the Covid-19 pandemic in repeat telecast than it did when it was first produced," says Tewary. He is committed to epics and mythology for the small-screen driven by passion. "The stories become relevant from the way they are reinterpreted. Besides, the next generation needs to know these stories as they have a core message," he says.