Doordarshan plans blockbuster dhamaka revival

Beginning this festive season, viewers of Doordarshan will be treated with Bollywood blockbusters every weekend, as the national broadcaster manages to find new ways to revive its sagging economy.

The weekend in Diwali will see Doordarshan telecast one of the biggest blockbusters of last year, Salman Khan-starrer Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

Some of the other films that are lined up for telecast include Vidya Balan’s Dirty Picture, Anurag Kashyap’s revenge saga Gangs of Wasseypur, and other hits like Neerja, Dum Laga ke Haisha, Kill Dil and Krrish 3.

Sources stated that till 2011-12 the national broadcaster used to earn a revenue of almost Rs 100 crore each year through airing of these movies. However, the annual revenue from movies has now fallen to approximately Rs 65 crore each year.

Speaking to this newspaper, Doordarshan DG Supriya Sahu stated that by airing latest and popular Hindi movies every weekend, the attempt is to revive the national broadcaster’s sagging revenue and gain more viewers.

“We want to reclaim our lost ground to get viewers through airing good cinema. We want to be competitive and want to give tough time to our competitors,” Sahu added. These movies will be telecast on Friday, Saturday and Sundays of each week at the 9 p.m. prime time slot. Earlier Doordarshan used to telecast movies at 10 p.m. However, the timings have now been changed when research found that 9 p.m. was the time when the national broadcaster had the highest viewership, sources stated.

With Doordarshan claiming to have a reach of more than 90 per cent of the Indian population through a network of more than 1416 terrestrial transmitters the attempt is expected to set it again towards the path of increasing TRPs and revenues, sources stated. Several of the selected films for telecast have crossed Rs 100 crore in revenue earners like Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Krrish-3, Dhoom-2, Ram Leela and Holiday.

Interestingly, several of the films selected as part of the festive bonanza for DD viewers are rated adult, like the Dirty Picture and Gangs of Wasseypur 1 and 2. However, it is understood that films telecast on the channel comply with the “Universal” certification norms of the Censor Board and have been certified for appropriate television viewing. It is understood that Doordarshan in also in talks with top film production houses in the country, which include Yashraj Films, Dharma Productions and Eros, in an attempt to procure hit and commercially successful films for its viewers.