MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television India's big hope for 2003 looks set to live up to the expectations that it has generated. SET's new blockbuster drama Jassi Jaisa Koi Nahin has had a more than respectable 3.6 average TVR for the first week of its launch.
The story of a plain Jane trying to come to terms with life in the the fashion world seems to have struck a chord that transcends the metro-non metro divide across the Hindi speaking belt in the country. The TAM data that was released on Saturday was for the five days 31 August (Sunday's preview episode) to 4 September (Thursday) for C&S homes 4+ in all the Hindi speaking markets.
Commenting on the results, a satisfied SET business head Sunil Lulla said the results brought out two points of note: the stickiness factor and the continuing growth in SET's core audience - the 25-34 age group, SEC A, B and C, both male and female.
Surprisingly, Jassi has done even better in Delhi than Mumbai with a peak TVR of 7.59 on Thursday. Delhi in fact saw the highest viewership for the the Indianised version of the hit Hispanic show Yo Soy Betty La Fea with an average TVR for the week at a more than healthy 5.8. Mumbai on the other hand had a peak viewership on Wednesday with a 5.79 TVR and an average score for the week at 4.6 TVRs.
Lulla also pointed out that the show had opened in the Top 50 on the TAM ratings chart and was already ahead of the channel's long running lead soap Kkusum. As far as the national average TVRs are concerned, at number 62 in the Top 100 list, Jassi is Sony's third ranked show behind old faithful C.I.D. and weekend supernatural thriller Kya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat .
Jassi has certainly got people talking. Even the celebrated Amul (butter) hoardings have featured the show. The tag line of the hoarding reads Jassi Kissi Ko Maska Nahin Lagati... except Agar Amul Ka Ho To! (Jassi does not butter up anybody unless it is Amul butter).
Though it is early days still, if the show builds on the initial it has got, Jassi may yet prove true to the much abused term, content is king. And as SET India CEO Kunal Dasgupta had earlier told indiantelevision.com, open new vistas as far as the kind of shows that the public might be ready to accept are concerned.
