Aamir Khan does it again. And this time over, he would be remembered for long!
His TV Show, Satyamev jayate has caught people’s imagination, and it is for the first time that someone has successfully integrated preaching with so much interaction and made it lively.
Airing it simultaneously on 8 channels, in 6 different languages, breaks all the barriers. This is a coup only Aamir could have managed.
Cost per episode – Rs 4 crore; money spent on marketing – Rs 6 crore; advertising sponsorship deals – anywhere between Rs 6-12 crore; show telecast – over eight languages on STAR TV Network channels and Doordarshan. Evidently, Satyamev Jayate on Star Plus is not just a debut experiment of Amir Khan’s ‘long-awaited’ television career. Neither is it the channel’s noble effort to offer something fresh to the much-bored Sunday television audience. Satyamev Jayate is just too huge a gamble, not just in terms of investments but also because it attempts to wake up the much-dead 11 am slot on lazy Sundays. (Source : Afaqs )
I still remember those Sunday mornings, when I was a kid, when the entire family would sit around the TV, watching the Mahabharatha. The 11 AM slot was killed with the advent of commercial TV, and now Aamir Khan has brought it back to life with this show.
The marketing bit, you don’t need to talk about it, if Aamir khan is involved. As you see the stats above, 4 crores to make the show, and 6 crores to market it! Aamir truly understands the power of marketing.
The reach through TV is what is visible to most; the show producers have taken a step ahead and attempted to reach even the ones not connected.
The special screening was organised by Star Plus on community TV sets in villages like Bhingara and Kahupatta in Maharashtra; Chepa in Gujarat; Jhunkar in Madhya Pradesh; Tikeri, Lalpur, Sarauta and Maaniram in Uttar Pradesh. Most of these villages have a population of less than 5,000.
The initiative was taken to ensure that the show reaches all over the country as the show caters to the issues of common man. For instance, the first episode talked about female foeticide and its consequences. (Source: DNA )
Along with the Rural population, to tap the internet generation, the show is also present completely on the internet.
http://satyamevjayate.in/ has the videos of the complete show. Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SatyamevJayate) page already has 674K likes, and on twitter.
With this omnipresence on every form of media, Aamir has ensured he reaches every touch point, to all Indians.
About the Show
With this show, Aamir attempts to make people aware of the problems plaguing the country, and sensitizing them of the plaguing problems with them.
The first episodes, aptly titled, Daughters are precious, dealt with the issue of Female foeticide in India.
The show began with some shocking stories of mothers who struggled to give birth to their girl child. It included the Story of a Woman, who was forced by her husband and in-laws to abort her female unborn child six times in a span of eight years, another story of a woman whose husband disfiguring her face by biting it, when she insisted on giving birth to a female child against his wishes.
It was also ensured that people do not brandish this as a rural phenomena, by showing facts which suggest that this occurred more in urban than in rural, along with a story of a doctor who was asked by her orthopaedic surgeon husband and in-laws to abort her girl twins just after 20 weeks of conceiving.
Laden with facts, from the latest census, it managed to add authenticity to all its claims.
The very next day of the show being aired, the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot urged the public representatives and other non-governmental organisations to take actions to stop illegal practice of female foeticide. An official reported that Gehlot also reviewed existing efforts taken by government against the issue. He also directed the officials to prepare a plan for a special campaign against female foeticide.( Source :Daily Bhaskar )
Aamir Khan, as promised on the show, met Ashok Gehlot over the issue of female foeticide.
The show has taken off well, and Female foeticide, which was an unknown topic to most Indians till last week, is now suddenly buzzing. People are aware! Will it result into anything positive? Will have to wait and watch.
Has the show done its bit? Yes!
After watching the first episode, am looking forward to the 12 more episodes lined up ahead for this season, and more importantly the issues that the show would touch upon.
What, according to you, should be the next topic Aamir should be touching upon?