Category: World Service
Date: 01.09.2006
Printable version
Jasoos Vijay, the 91Èȱ¬ World Service Trust's long-running TV detective serial raising HIV/AIDS awareness, has made it into the top ten of India's audience ratings.
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The latest episode of the series had a weekly audience reach of almost 16 million viewers, according to the industry-wide TAM audience figures.
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"I'm ecstatic," commented the Creative Director of the series, Devika Bahl.
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"This is a fantastic tribute to the cast and the production team. It shows that a drama series with social messaging can deliver both huge audiences and have a big impact on health awareness."
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Andrew Whitehead, the Trust's Director in India, says: "Jasoos Vijay is probably the most successful and widely-watched TV drama series anywhere with health messaging as its purpose.
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"We put a lot of research effort into getting the messaging right, and a lot of production effort into making the series a gripping watch. And that combination has really delivered."
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More than 150 episodes of Jasoos Vijay (it translates as Detective Vijay) have been broadcast since it went on air in 2002.
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The series is filmed entirely on location. It is made in Hindi and dubbed into seven other languages and broadcast at peak viewing time on Sunday evening on India's most-watched TV channel, Doordarshan National.
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The Indian Government's National AIDS Control Organisation is also a partner in the project, which is financed by the British Government's Department for International Development.
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The current year-long series of Jasoos Vijay ends in September.
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Although the series has from the start achieved large audiences, and has helped transform attitudes towards HIV and encouraged behaviour change, this is the first time it has won a slot in the India-wide TV top ten.
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Audiences for the latest cliff-hanging detective mystery have been boosted by: concern that the hero, Vijay (who is portrayed as HIV-positive) is critically ill; a romance between two other key characters, Jeet and Parvati, which is at an important stage; and a specially-commissioned dance sequence filmed in the grounds of Delhi's Old Fort.
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Note to Editors
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The 91Èȱ¬ World Service Trust is an independent international charity of the 91Èȱ¬. It works with people in developing and transitional countries to improve the quality of their lives through the innovative use of media.
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91Èȱ¬ World Service Trust
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