With renewed interest from the audience, DD National has found itself back in the limelight during the lockdown. Bringing back classic programmes like Ramayana, Mahabharat and Shaktimaan to keep people entertained has catapulted Doordarshan to be the highest watched channel in India at present.
Buoyed by this scenario, Prasar Bharati has now announced a new channel – DD Retro—which will be specifically dedicated to old classics. “To relive the nostalgia of your favourite memorable serials of Doordarshan, watch DD Retro," the channel tweeted on Sunday.
As of now, DD Retro will air the same shows that DD National has brought back, Live Mint reported. Besides the mythological favourites like Ramayana and Mahabharat, the channel had also brought back favourites like Shaktimaan, Shah Rukh starrer- Circus, Jungle Book and the crime series Byomkesh Bakshi. Shows like Chanakya, Upanishad Ganga and Shriman Shrimati have also been renewed.
If you have missed the opportunity to watch Mahabharat, watch it on DD Retro at 8 PM from Monday to Friday. pic.twitter.com/ImXTkkZ3oH
— DD RETRO (@RetroDD) April 12, 2020
The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) attributed the telecast of Ramayana and Mahabharat for DD's emergence to the top, while the other programmes also helped improve its position in select time slots. The national broadcaster could achieve the feat, which involves a nearly 40,000 per cent jump in viewership in the evening and morning bands, despite a surge reported by the private broadcasters who are also experiencing higher viewership, BARC said.
These shows were brought back on public demand, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar had said earlier in March. Directed by Ramanand Sagar, Ramayana featured Arun Govil as Ram, Deepika Chikhalia as Sita and Sunil Lahri as Lakshman. The show also featured Late Dara Singh as Hanuman and Arvind Trivedi as Ravana. The show was originally telecast from 25 January 1987 to 31 July 1988.
Directed by B.R. Chopra, Mahabharat featured Gajendra Chauhan, Praveen Kumar, Arjun, Sameer Chitre and Sanjeev Chitre as the Pandavas, Roopa Ganguly as Draupadi, Nitish Bharadwaj as Krishna, Mukesh Khanna as Bhishma Pitamah and Punit Issar as Duryodhan.
-with PTI inputs
