Special Report
Cashing in on piety
Commercial break en route to nirvana?
It may sound a mite odd, but for religious channels, which are picking up advertising slowly but steadily in the country, it is the sure route to fiscal salvation. Aparna Joshi gets the spiritual lowdown on it all. Aastha and Sanskar, the two channels that are running neck to neck in a race to get the devout eyeballs, have been attracting ads steadily for a few months now. While the bigger media planners are yet to sit up and notice these niche channels, viewership figures have been silently on the rise. Blame it on the global recession and the consequent surge in interest in matters philosophical, but spirituality on the tube is increasing in its appeal.
For one, the target group itself is shifting. “We are no longer perceived as the channel for the 40 plus,” says Aastha COO Mathew Scaria. “With the introduction of yoga shows and programmes based on the Art of Living courses, our audience profile is now that of the C&S 4+ category,” he says. The lengthy discourses, which Aastha started off with nearly 18 months ago, have given way to more locally relevant content, Scaria says.
Sudhanshu Maharaj – benefiting from TV spiritualism |
Advertisers, sensing the change in viewer mood, have moved in for the kill. Brands like MDH spices, Kayam Churna, Videocon and varied jewelry stores appear regularly on the channel, which claims to have a reach of 18 million households in India.
Sanskar, the other spiritual channel that debuted two years ago in the country with a dedicated 24 hour programming, is more realistic when it comes to commercial survival. “We believe in operating on commercial principles, and giving advertisers value for money,” says marketing director Dinesh Kabra. While Kabra is cagey about revealing viewership figures (while maintaining that 95 per cent of Mumbai is covered), he says his channel offers more viewer loyalty. “Our viewer is patient. You won’t find him surfing channels even during the ad break,” he says.
The channel is currently inundated with brands like Smyle, Videocon, Emami, Lux and Khaitan, lured by a low tariff of Rs 850 per 10 seconds. “Though we are not a highly packaged channel, we are slowly changing our profile to suit viewer tastes,” he avers. The musical format of its shows makes it more palatable than heavy discourses, Kabra believes, leading to increased advertiser interest.
The trend of using TV to air spiritual discourses however, was started by pubcaster Doordarshan in the mid 1990s to fill up its vacant early morning slots. Private channels, who saw a TRP potential in the show, followed suit. Zee started with an hour of discourses in the morning, followed by Sony, etc, Sahara, ETV and Lashkara who all realised a winner in spiritual programming. Aastha and Sanskar entered the fray soon after. Each 30-minute programme has 18 (10 seconds each) FCT ad spots, with devotee sponsors lining up even to pay Rs 375,000 per month as fixed time booking. Celebrity speakers like Sudhanshu Maharaj command a reported viewership of nearly one billion, receiving fan mail from all corners of the globe. Advertisers are sure to smell a popular programme when they see one.
Initiative Media associate V-P Partha Ghosh however begs to differ. An Aastha or a Sanskar cannot match the reach a Zee or a Sony can offer, he believes. Apart from the opportunity of frequency that an advertiser looks for, the channel’s image and content are major factors that decide advertiser interest. Advertising on niche spiritual channels is feasible only if it is part of a bouquet of channels, believes Ghosh. Sanskar is a stand alone channel and is not part of any bouquet. Aastha is marketed with sister music channel CMM and is able to cash in on the fact. Zee, which had contemplated starting its own spiritual channel Chakra in mid 2001, scrapped the concept midway.
Kabra rues the fact that Sanskar does not have a platform to enable it to market itself in a big way. Ghosh endorses the view. “To survive in the long run, these channels will need to tie up with a platform,” he says.
Some of these channels have been trying other survival tactics as well.
Advertisers realise the potential of spiritual channels |
Maharishi Veda Vision, which debuted in 1998, is beamed down from a network of eight satellites that service India and 26 other countries. MVV does not need to seek ads as it is backed by a huge network of organisations, products and services like ayurvedic products, arts and crafts, a housing finance corporation, publications and software. Aastha tries a similar track on a smaller scale, with an Aastha Trust having a paid membership.
Ghosh however, feels that spiritual channels have a target group of 22 to 45-year-olds, and although they may do well at certain times at certain places, they are unlikely to attract the larger brands. “They will definitely blip, but once in a while,” he says. Kabra on the other hand is keen to ensure that the channel starts delivering returns by the fourth of fifth year of operations. Novel programming like recaps of all ads shown on Sanskar on 31 December 2001 has drawn enthusiastic response from viewers and advertisers alike, he says.
Aastha, which runs ads on a ROS (run-of-schedule) basis, also believes that acceptability levels are increasing among varied classes of viewers. A minimum of eight hours of original programming daily, interspersed with live telecasts of devotional events and a 60,000 hour strong software library are all being used to lure the viewer into watching more.
All set to join the plethora of religion-driven channels is Golden Age Television launching 14 April. The channel is promoted by a Chennai based religious group Human Upliftment Organisation (HUO). The channel claims to be the only completely non-denominational channel on air today. While Zee’s ambitious plans to launch Chakra, a spiritual channel, were aborted in 2001, the Syro Malabar Church promoted Jeevan TV, another channel dedicated to ‘protecting morality in society’, has also made its appearance recently.
On Indian television, the crusades are just beginning.
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.
