The Gods have descended on earth!

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A still from Jai Maa Durga

Saas-bahus on TV are now having some tough competition from Ram, Ravan and the Maa Durga! Yes, the Gods in different avatars have descended and some are on their way. Of course through mythologicals shows on TV! Clearly mythologicals are back with a bang. They were big at one point.... remember the frenzy when Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan started in the late 80's or sometime later when B R Chopra's Mahabharat had viewers glued to their TV sets on Sundays.

However, then came a lull and family dramas started dominating the scene followed by reality shows more recently. There were some mythologicals made in between that had their loyal fan following, but they were just a handful.

Now mythologicals are back again on the small screen in a big way. It started with the successful launch of the Sagars' new Ramayan on NDTV Imagine. Shailja Kejriwal, EVP-Content, says theirs being a new channel they decided to have something different. "All channels had family soaps in their prime time slots, so we decided to have Ramayan which is something different, yet in the same family emotion space. The audience's response has been phenomenal," says Shailja.

Ramayan has prompted channels to rethink their programming strategy. Now they are all looking for shows on similar lines. King of Mythology Dheeraj Kumar, whose production house has entered the Limca Book of World Records for having made 700 hours of mythological programming, has been approached by channels to come up with new shows. Dheeraj and wife Zuby Kochhar's new mega show will be on TV soon.

"God is omnipresent. Since time immemorial God, in various forms, has existed on earth and in the future too God will be there in many forms. Hence mythology is never old. It's evergreen," says Dheeraj. Adds Zuby, "Mythology will never be out. There was a lull maybe, but that's temporary. India is basically a spiritual nation. In every Indian God resides in one form or the other. They are all various manifestations of the same cosmic energy."

Queen of soaps Ekta Kapoor too has jumped on to the bandwagon and is busy with her mega project Mahabharat. Incidentally, producer Chandraprakash Dwivedi is also making Mahabharat for another channel.

Currently on TV, there's Jai Maa Durga and Saibaba apart from Ravan, Jai Ganesh, Jai Jai Jai Tridev and Maa . Re-runs of Sanjay Khan's Jay Hanuman too may soon be on TV.

If for channels it's all about TRPs, for the audiences it's about variety. "We can't keep watching family dramas and reality shows all the time. A mythological show is a welcome change," says Pranati Talsania, a housewife. "It's different from the regular rona-dhona on TV. They are quite loud and dramatic," laughs collegian Vicky Mirani admitting he has been watching some of these of late.

Mythologicals are never easy to make. A huge starcast, massive sets and a lot of money is involved, but it's worth it, say production houses. However, with everyone jumping on to the bandwagon, there's worry of an overdose. "And an overdose of anything is not good," warns Kejriwal, explaining why her channel is not planning another mythological atleast in the near future.