Special Report
CMS Media Lab Analysis China’s Hu remains Who for Indian TV News Channels
Contrary to expectations, president Hu Jintao visit last fortnight to India, the first by a Chinese president in a decade, did not evoke much interest in Indian TV News bulletins. It was covered far less than President Bush’s visit earlier this year but got more coverage than Japanese PM Koizumi’s visit last year and French president Chirac’s visit early this year.
Surprisingly, president Jintao’s visit was covered less than last year’s Chinese PM’s visit, despite Jintao is not only the president of the country but also the chief of the ruling Communist Party of China.
During president Jintao’s four days stay in India (i.e. 20 to 23 November), news channels continued their preference towards cricket. Six news channels devoted 301 minutes of coverage time on Indian cricket team’s tour to South Africa in comparison to 215 minutes for President Jintao’s visit. Even Brian Lara’s 34th century against Pakistan got 118 minutes of coverage time, during the same period in the news bulletins.
Similarly, the news of Rahul Mahajan’s alleged beating of his wife, got 214 minutes coverage time. On the day of President Jintao’s visit (i.e. 20 November), Rahul Mahajan’s episode got 10 times more coverage time than the visit, i.e. 175 minutes to Rahul Mahajan and only 18 minutes to Jintao’s visit in four news channels NDTV India, Zee News, Star News and Aaj Tak together.
The six news channels covered are DD News, NDTV India, Zee News, Sahara Samay, Star News and Aaj Tak. Their prime time (7-11 pm) news bulletins were content analysed. Together these channels are expected to reflect the news media’s priority and the process of national agenda making.
Except for DD News and Sahara Samay, the other four channels devoted more time on Rahul Mahajan’s episode than for president Jintao’s visit. DD News and Sahara Samay devoted 73 and 83 minutes respectively on the coverage of the visit.
Whereas, Zee News gave only five minutes coverage to President Jintao’s entire visit. But devoted 57 minutes on Rahul Mahajan’s episode and gave 53 minutes to gossip on Amitabh Bachchan’s possible return to politics.
President Jintao’s visit got lesser coverage time, than last year’s Chinese PM’s five days visit, which got 315 minutes of coverage time. Despite the controversy over Arunachal Pradesh resurfacing just a week before the visit and increased commerce and political relationship since.
But president Jintao more coverage than Japanese PM’s three days visit in 2005 and French president’s three days visit in the beginning of 2006. In comparison to president Jintao’s 215 minutes, PM Koizumi and president Chirac got only 79 and 95 minutes coverage respectively, during their visit.
President Bush’s visit spanning three days got whopping 1392 minutes coverage time in the news bulletins, much higher than the total coverage of visits of all the four head of states to India.C
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TV news channels had gone overboard and covered President Bush’s arrival and joint press briefing with PM Manmohan Singh live, but President Jintao’s arrival was not covered live. Even his joint press briefing with Indian PM did not get the priority.
(The views expressed here are those of the author and Indiantelevision.com need not necessarily subscribe to the same.)
MUMBAI: Some friendships are made in heaven; others are coded in Mumbai. Hamara Vinayak, the first-ever digital original from Siddharth Kumar Tewary’s Swastik Stories, turns the divine into the delightful, serving up a story that’s equal parts start-up hustle and spiritual hustle.
Some tech start-ups chase unicorns. This one already has a god on board. Hamara Vinayak takes the leap from temple bells to notification pings and it does so with heart, humour and a healthy dose of the divine.
At its core, the show asks a simple but audacious question: what if God wasn’t up there, but right beside you, maybe even debugging your life over a cup of chai?
The show’s tagline, “God isn’t distant… He’s your closest friend” perfectly captures its quirky soul. Across its first two episodes, screened exclusively for media in Mumbai, the series proves that enlightenment can come with a good punchline.
The series follows a group of ambitious young entrepreneurs running a Mumbai-based tech start-up that lets people around the world book exclusive virtual poojas at India’s most revered shrines. But as their app grows, so do their ethical grey zones. Into this chaos walks Vinayak, played with soulful serenity and sly wit by the charming Namit Das, a young man whose calm smile hides something celestial.
He’s got the peaceful look of a saint but the wit of someone who could out-think your favourite stand-up comic. Around him spins a crew of dream-driven youngsters – Luv Vispute, Arnav Bhasin, Vaidehi Nair and Saloni Daini who run a Mumbai-based tech start-up offering devotees across the world the chance to book “exclusive” poojas at India’s most sacred shrines. It’s a business plan that blends belief and broadband – and, as the story unfolds, also tests the moral compass of its ambitious founders.
“The first time I read the script, I found the character very pretty,” Namit joked at the post-screening interaction. “It’s a beautiful thought that God isn’t distant, he’s your closest friend. And playing Vinayak, you feel that calm but also his cleverness. He’s the friend who makes you think.”
The reactions to the series ranged from smiles to sighs of wonder. Viewers were charmed by the show’s sincerity and sparkle, a quality that stems from its creator’s belief that faith can be funny without being frivolous.
Among the cast, Luv Vispute shines brightest, his comic timing adding sparkle to the show’s more reflective beats. But what keeps Hamara Vinayak engaging is the easy rhythm of its writing – one moment touching, the next teasing, always gently reminding us that spirituality doesn’t have to be solemn.
Luv spoke fondly of his long association with Swastik. “Since my first show was with Swastik, this feels like home,” he said. “Every project with them is positive, feel-good, and this one just had such a different vibe. I truly feel blessed.”
Saloni Daini, who brings infectious warmth to her role, added that she signed up the moment she heard the show was about “Bappa.”
“We shot during the Ganpati festival,” she recalled. “The energy on set was incredible festive, faithful, and full of laughter. It’s such a relatable story for our generation: chaos, friendship, love, kindness, and faith all mixed together.”
Vaidehi Nair and Arnav Bhasin complete the ensemble, each representing different shades of ambition and morality in the start-up’s journey. Their camaraderie is easy and believable, a testament to how much the cast connected off-screen as well.
This clever fusion of mythology and modernity plays to India’s two enduring loves, entertainment and faith. Mythology has long been the comfort zone of Indian storytellers, from the televised epics of the 1980s to the glossy remakes that still command prime-time TRPs. For decades, gods have been our most bankable heroes. But Hamara Vinayak tweaks the formula not by preaching, but by laughing with its characters, and sometimes, at their confusion about where divinity ends and data begins.
Creator Siddharth Kumar Tewary, long hailed as Indian television’s myth-maker for shows like Mahabharat, Radha Krishn and Porus, explained the show’s intent with characteristic clarity, “This is our first story where we are talking directly to the audience, not through a platform,” he said. “We wanted to connect young people with our culture to say that God isn’t someone you only worship; He’s your friend, walking beside you, even when you take the wrong path. The story may be simple, but the thought is big.”
That blend of philosophy and playfulness runs through the show. “We had to keep asking ourselves why we’re doing this,” Tewary added. “It’s tricky to make something positive and spiritual for the OTT audience, they’ve changed, they want nuance, not sermons. But when the purpose is clear, everything else aligns.”
For the creator of some of Indian TV’s most lavish spectacles, Hamara Vinayak marks a refreshing tonal shift. Here, Tewary trades celestial kingdoms for co-working spaces and cosmic battles for office banter. Yet his signature remains: an eye for allegory, a love for faith-infused storytelling, and an understanding that belief is most powerful when it feels personal.
Hamara Vinayak, after all, feels less like a sermon and more like a conversation over chai about what success means, what faith costs, and why even the gods might be rooting for a start-up’s Series A round.
As Namit Das reflected during the Q&A, “Life gives us many magical, divine moments we just forget to notice them. Sometimes even through a phone screen, you see something that redirects you. That’s a Vinayak moment.”
The series also mirrors a larger cultural pivot. As audiences migrate from television to OTT, myth-inspired tales are finding new form and flexibility online. The digital screen lets creators like Tewary reinvent the genre, giving ancient ideas a modern interface, without losing the emotional charge that’s made mythology India’s storytelling backbone for decades.
In a country where faith trends faster than any hashtag, Hamara Vinayak feels both familiar and refreshingly new, a comedy that’s blessed with heart, humour and just enough philosophy to keep the binge holy.
For a country where mythology remains the oldest streaming service, Tewary’s move from TV to OTT feels both natural and necessary. Indian storytellers have always turned to gods for drama, guidance and TRPs from Ramayan and Mahabharat on Doordarshan to glossy mytho-dramas on prime time. But digital platforms allow creators to remix reverence with realism, and in Hamara Vinayak, faith gets an interface upgrade.
The result is a show that feels like a warm chat with destiny, part comedy, part contemplation. And in an age of cynicism, that’s no small miracle.
As Tewary put it, smiling at his cast, “The message had to be positive. We just wanted to remind people that even in chaos, God hasn’t unfriended you.”
With 5 episodes planned, Hamara Vinayak promises to keep walking that fine line between laughter and light. It’s mythology with memes, devotion with dialogue, and a digital-age reminder that even the cloud has a silver lining or perhaps, a divine one.
If the first two episodes are any sign, the show doesn’t just bridge heaven and earth, it gives both a Wi-Fi connection.
