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The show will be broadcast on Aastha Channel soon.
Since the past two days' media, is abuzz with the news of Baba Ramdev beating Olympic silver medallist Andrey Stadnik in a promotional gig for Patanjali Powervita Pro Wrestling League (PWL). But away from the limelight, in the temple town of Haridwar, Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved pulled off another unique feat in the world of devotional/religious programming.
Here's what Baba Ramdev has to say about it...
The format
The curtain-raiser for Bhajan Ratna was held last year at Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh. With 'Maa Ganga' as the theme, the event was linked to Clean Ganga Drive. Similarly, the show will also promote Sardar Patel United Clean India Drive and every week it will have a different theme based on various gods such as Hanuman, Krishna, Ram Chandra, and more.
Bhajan Ratna will be judged by Anup Jalota, Kavita Paudwal and Trupti Shakya. Guest judges will include names such as Pandit Birju Maharaj, Sadhana Sargam, Vipin Sachdeva, Malini Awasthi and more. Male and female gurus will also be present. The show will be anchored by actor Sourabh Raaj Jain, best known for portraying Lord Krishna in Mahabharat (Star Plus, 2013), and singer and musician Deepali Sathe.
Bhajan Ratna will also provide a platform to lyricists who will pen down new bhajans for every episode.
Promotions
Bhajan Ratna will be directed by Apoova Bajaj (co-founder - Ath Entertainment). Patanjali is the title sponsor of the show and the sole advertiser as well, but according to sources close to the channel, brands sharing Patanjali's philosophy might come on board as advertisers later.
So far, the plan is to air Bhajan Ratna during prime-time on Friday and Saturday, with a repeat telecast on Sunday.
Bhajan Ratna is estimated to reach over 100 million viewers in eight countries through Aastha TV. Aastha TV is one of the television channels of Vedic Broadcasting Limited in which Baba Ramdev's aide and the MD of Patanjali Ayurved, Acharya Balkrisha holds 99.9 per cent stake.
Will it take off on the right note?
One of the main objectives of this show is to make devotional music popular among the youth, and the makers of Bhajan Ratna believe that presenting bhajans in an interesting reality-show format will help in achieving it.
We spoke to Vikram Mehra (managing director, Saregama India) and Siddhartha Roy (CEO, Hungama.com and COO, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment) to find out who are the consumers of devotional music in India, which formats work, and what the consumption patterns look like. Interestingly, both Mehra and Roy tell us that devotional music/content finds many takers among the youth. The key is to curate it well and make it easily available.
While Saregama has a full-fledged app called Saregama Shakti for devotional content, Hungama treats it as a separate category and not just a genre. This is testimony to their assertion that devotional music is consumed all over the country across age groups..
Sharing another interesting trivia, Mehra tells us that while film music forms a bulk of consumption for the youth, it is largely a group phenomenon. Devotional starts playing a very important role in personal consumption. "And therefore, we have positioned our app as something that can be used when you need inner strength. We don't tell the youth to download it for their parents or grandparents, but for themselves," he adds.
Hungama's Roy shares that devotional content is consumed in three main formats: content around gods, film-based songs/bhajans, and discourses by renowned saints and scholars. With the youth, the challenge is to package it right and make it discoverable. For instance, did we know about this unique form of Muslim devotional music called 'Maplah' which is popular in Kerala? Hungama Music makes it available to its listeners.
"Film music is a very big in India, but majority of the non-film music is driven by devotional as a category. Earlier we used to hear devotional music in temples and religious gatherings, then came CDs, and later devotional channels. Mainstream television also played devotional content during specific time bands in the day. But today, thanks to data proliferation, music of all kinds is being consumed upwards across the country and that too on the go," he states.