Zee TV attempts to build weekend slot with its latest launch, Keshav Pandit

The new show is based on popular Hindi writer, Ved Prakash Sharma's novel

After SAB TV tasted success with the TV show, Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chasma, which is an adaptation of a popular Gujarati novel by the same name; another general entertainment channel has taken the same route. Zee TV finds itself inspired by a Hindi novel, which it has adapted into a serial.

Titled Keshav Pandit, the serial is based on popular Hindi writer, Ved Prakash Sharma's novel by the same name. The book is a comment on the law and order situation in the country, and an individual's fight against the system for justice.

The show, therefore, focuses on various issues and rights of Indian citizens; and narrates stories detailing a particular right, and how it should be used to achieve justice, by appealing to the concerned authorities.

The show made its debut on Zee TV on May 15. It's a weekend offering, airing every Saturday at 8:30 pm. So far, Zee TV, like other GECs including Colors and STAR Plus, had been airing repeats or special episodes of its regular weekday fiction shows in the 8:30 pm slot.

Keshav Pandit, thus, is Zee TV's attempt to attract audiences by offering them fresh content. The show promises to entertain viewers with stories that are high on intrigue and entertainment.

Talking to afaqs!, Akash Chawla, marketing head, Zee TV, says, "The one-hour power-packed show has what it takes to attract a larger number of male and kids as audience, in addition to our women viewers. The concept of the show is a perfect fit with the audience profile on weekends. It is scheduled ahead of our reality show. Dance India Dance; so it will benefit with family viewing."

Chawla's optimism also stems from the fact that the show has been mounted by Balaji Telefilms, which, in the recent past, has given one of Zee TV's top ranking shows - Pavitra Rishta. As per TAM's report for Week 18, C&S, 4+ (HSM), Pavitra Rishta, along with another Zee TV show, Dance India Dance Little Masters, is the No.1 show in the GEC space, garnering a TVR of 5.8.

Keshav Pandit is the second show that Balaji Telefilms has produced for Zee TV. The show has been shot across North India, featuring various rural and urban locations in places such as Lucknow, Allahabad and Varanasi. The channel is hopeful that given the popularity that the author, Sharma enjoys in North India; the show will command a big fan following from this part of the country.

The marketing campaign for the new launch has used 8-10 different messages related to RTI (Right to Information), and special legal provisions, such as those related to the arrest of women by the police.

To promote the show, Zee TV has placed law-and-order-related messages in local trains, buses, traffic police booths, on-air television promos and newspaper stalls. About 100 buses and 225 train coaches in Mumbai, and 20 metro trains in Delhi have been used for this purpose. Nearly 1,000 book outlets across the country are also being employed to inform people about the show.

Commenting on the promotional campaign for the show, Chawla adds, "The show has its share of hoardings and other publicity material. But the larger focus is on connecting with people on-ground. The protagonist of the show, Keshav Pandit, along with NGOs such as Satark Nagarik Sangathan and Sneha, is visiting people in chawls and residential colonies. He educates them about their special rights and the show."