PLAY IT AGAIN: Jungle Book (top) and Mahabharat are being rerun on TV because of their popularity

Debasis Manna likes to google. And one of his favourite pastimes is looking for videos of television shows that he loved as a child. Growing up during the years when Doordarshan was the only source of television entertainment in the country, Manna was hooked on to such serials as Malgudi Days and Jungle Book and even sitcoms such as Shrimaan Shrimati and Dekh Bhai Dekh.

“When I think of the characters in Jungle Book and Shrimaan Shrimati they bring a smile to my face even today. I can watch these shows a thousand times and never tire of them,” says Manna, a knowledge process outsourcing professional in Calcutta.

Unmisha Mishra, a Class V student of South Point High School, is too young to be swayed by nostalgia when she watches the re-run of Jungle Book on Pogo. But she is no less enchanted by the series and can even mimic Shere Khan.

Whether it is children like Unmisha or adults like Manna, the re-run of old favourites on television is attracting a host of viewers. TV channels have realised that it is a good idea to serve up popular serials of yore, and if initial signs are anything to go by, they may have hit upon the right idea.

“Jungle Book registered a number one rating in the very first week among the kids’ channels. I can’t think of a kids’ programme that garnered such ratings in its first week,” says Krishna Desai, director, programming, South Asia, Turner International India Pvt Ltd that owns POGO on which the show is telecast.

The trend started last year, when TV channels rediscovered the power of Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan and B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharat and started remaking serials. These days the old serials are just being aired all over again.

Several other Doordarshan oldtimers are back on the idiot box. Shrimaan Shrimati is running on SAB TV and Fox History channel is airing Chopra’s Mahabharat on weekends.

Sources in SAB TV say that the reason behind going back to Shrimaan Shrimati was the clamour for the show from various quarters. “Ever since we decided to make SAB TV a comedy channel catering to families, there was a growing demand for Shrimaan Shrimati,” says Anooj Kapoor, business head, SAB TV.

Though it competes against established prime time television serials such as Chhoti Bahu on Zee, Shrimaan Shrimati’s television rating points have been a fair .2, reveals TAM, the television rating company.

Shrimaan Shrimati’s director Rajan Waghdhare is not surprised that the show elicits such devotion from fans. “It was the serial that seriously revived Indian sitcom in the mid-nineties. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if the re-run attains as much success as it did when it first aired on Doordarshan,” he says.

Waghdhare directed many sitcoms and films after Shrimaan Shrimati, but he admits that he could never recapture the same magic. In fact, Waghdhare even directed a sequel, Aaj ke Shriman Shrimati, a few years ago with a new set of actors, but it “simply fell flat”, he says.

A nostalgic Archana Puran Singh, who played Prema Shalini, a small time actress, in the serial, calls Shrimaan Shrimati the Sholay of sitcoms. “And like Sholay, no matter how many times it is shown on TV, you would still watch it. I am glad that they have brought it back. It is far better than the drivel that is being dished out in the name of comedy,” she says.

SAB TV is already thinking of returning with some more old classics after obtaining the rights from their producers. “We are evaluating the performance of the show, and we might run a few more classics based on the overall feedback,” says Kapoor.

Sources at Fox History Channel also say that the rerun of Mahabharat is registering a decent audience, although the ratings for the show have not been released.

However, most agree that not all serials that were a hit on Doordarshan will top the charts again. “I did Kabhi Idhar, Kabhi Udhar with Shekar Suman in the lead. It was a hit at that time, but I don’t think it can succeed today. There is a certain X factor that makes some shows eternal,” says Waghdhare. Even Malgudi Days might not work with everybody, except for a section of the audience, says Waghdhare.

Desai says even though POGO is a kids’ channel, it wants to tap into the nostalgia factor of older viewers when it re-runs a classic. Indeed, such is the nostalgia for these old Doordarshan classics that there is a lot of online demand for them as well. TV channels and production houses are selling the telecast rights of some of these serials to video entertainment portals like myPOPKORN.com.

“The demand for classics outstrips that for modern serials and sitcoms. Much of the demand comes from Indians who grew up watching Doordarshan and are now settled abroad,” says Ishwar Jha, CEO, Digital Media Convergence Limited, which owns myPOPKORN.com. For people like Manna, it’s all a welcome trip down memory lane.