Jasoos Vijay: Mission Not impossible

[Guest guest]

Mission: Not impossible

Meet Jasoos Vijay, TV's first social detective, sponsored by BBC

Ritu Pandey

Mumbai, March 28: Karamchand was Indian television's best-loved detective. Since

then, apart from an odd Suraag or Raja Aur Rancho, the genre has languished on

the TV sidelines. Until Jasoos Vijay, that is.

This truly desi spook has an unusual and important mission—to fight crime but,

more importantly, to counter HIV/AIDS and in the process also educate people

about superstition, gender inequality, crimes against women.

According to National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) which funds India's first

interactive detective drama series, together with the BBC World Service Trust

and Prasar Bharati, the show has more than met expectations. ``Considering that

something like this has been tried in infotainment and is being watched

prime-time without viewers changing channels is positive,'' says NACO's Prathik

Kumar, adding, ``The fact that it receives an overwhelming response from

farflung places, on e-mail, letters, etc., and people ask for help, or share

problems, is good.''

Yes, Jasoos Vijay (DD, every Sunday 9.30 pm) is quite a story.

Sample this:

He received 38,000 letters and over 20,000 e-mails from across the country at

the end of the first season. Had a TAM rating of 7 (July 2002-August 2003)

His website jasoosvijay.com had a total of 36,000 hits at the end of the first

season. It wasn't surprising then, that when the show returned for its second

season in January it had an opening TRP of 8. This second innings opened soon

after Jasoos Vijay was voted Thriller of the Year 2003 at the Indian Telly

Awards.

Khandkar Adil Hussain, the young NSD graduate who plays the detective, is

extremely gratified. ``On outdoor shoots in remote areas, I'm mobbed by people

who know me only as Jasoos Vijay. They write to me from God knows where. And I'm

no Shah Rukh Khan,'' laughs the actor who has resolutely ignored the lure of

Bollywood.

But this is no one-man show. There's a creative team—a host of freelance

writers—and creative director Devika and producer Richa Yamini both of whom have

been associated with hardcore entertainment till now. Devika has done shows like

Kya Haadsa Kya Haqeeqat, while Yamini was part of Balaji Telefilms for a long

time.

``Had it been a daily soap it would have been much easier. But the show's

primarily aimed at promoting AIDS awareness among rural men. It had to be

something that would interest men. And Jasoos Vijay did catch their attention,''

says Devika.

Jasoos Vijay is now ranked 15 among the top 20 programmes in all non-cable

homes. Its website has received over 1,000 hits over the past two months. ``The

ad revenues are constantly going up and so are the number of advertisers. This

week, the ad-time was an all time high of 8.4 minutes with brands like Pepsodent

and Hero Honda,'' says Devika. The first series of Jasoos Vijay was dubbed in

Tamil, Telugu and Malyalam, and on popular demand it has now been extended to

Kannada and Bengali as well. Very soon, the show will also travel abroad as part

of an AIDS awareness campaign.

With English subtitles and dubbing in local languages the show will be telecast

in Cambodia and Thailand. It will start from May on TV5 channel in UK, according

to Colin , Director (India) of the BBC World Service Trust.

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