How a niche content firm is riding on spiritual revival

Siddharth Kumar Tewary of Swastik Productions returns to Mumbai post-shooting for 'Veer Hanuman', focusing on mythology amid rising viewer interest in spirituality.

Siddharth Kumar Tewary, founder of Swastik Productions, has just returned to Mumbai after a tiring shooting schedule for his upcoming serial ‘Veer Hanuman’ for Sony SAB TV. Tewary, also the creative head at Swastik, has scaled his 17-year-old production company riding on mythology shows such as ‘Shrimad Ramayan’ and ‘Shiv Shakti’, currently being aired on Sony and Colors respectively. Earlier, the house produced epic shows such as ‘Mahabharat’, ‘Mata ki Chowki’, ‘Baal Krishna’, ‘Mahakali’ and ‘Karamphal Daata Shani’ for different TV channels.

How a niche content firm is riding on spiritual revival

The slew of shows from one production house proves that peak viewership of mythology on television did not end with Ramanand Sagar’s ‘Ramayan’ and B R Chopra’s ‘Mahabharat’ in the ’80s.

“‘Shiv Shakti’ became the number one show on Colors within two weeks of its launch. Also, ‘Mahabharat’ on Star Plus got more viewership during the Covid-19 pandemic in repeat telecast than it did when it was first produced,” says Tewary. He is committed to epics and mythology for the small-screen driven by passion. “The stories become relevant from the way they are reinterpreted. Besides, the next generation needs to know these stories as they have a core message,” he says.

To mount the sagas, Tewary has invested nearly ₹150 crore in building a massive studio facility at Umargam, Gujarat, where the original ‘Ramayan’ and ‘Mahabharat’ were shot. Though Swastik has dabbled in historicals like ‘Chandragupta Maurya’ and ‘Porus’, as well as social dramas like ‘Amber Dhara’ and ‘Vanshaj’, mythology has remained its mainstay.

Content firms like Swastik remain in business, given the religious, spiritual and cultural renaissance across the country. “I do a lot of research for my series. I have seen first-hand the big shift in consumer behaviour and thinking where Indians, including the youth, are becoming more conscious about spirituality and culture. Though we were in this business before the spiritual renaissance, it benefits content creators like us,” Tewary acknowledges.

Angel investor and marketing expert Lloyd Mathias says platform owners must monetize content, be it mythology shows or live streaming of religious events like Maha Shivaratri celebrations on JioHotstar. “Content owners tap the latent need for the spiritual which has got a cool, new image thanks to social media,” he says. It also completes their bouquet comprising entertainment and sports.

Mathias attributes the upsurge in spirituality to, first, the pandemic, when life paused, and people saw death all around; and second, to the Ram Mandir movement which peaked with the consecration of the temple in Ayodhya in January last year. “The middle and upper middle classes suddenly became slightly more religious. Another surge came with the Maha Kumbh which saw unprecedented participation from Indians – across socio-economic classes and age groups. The young spirituals also became media savvy via Instagram reels and posts,” Mathias says.

Tewary agrees that post-Covid-19, people felt the need to connect with their roots. A 2021 MTV study noted youngsters’ growing proclivity towards spirituality, a genre that Swastik is tapping to expand its business.

With an eye on the new, emerging viewer spending more time online, Swastik launched its own YouTube channel where it hosts the 1,000 hours of its own programming. More recently, it has experimented with branded content on the channel and hopes to release a few originals. “The YouTube channel is a testing ground for reaching out to the consumers directly. Tech is evolving. TV is a passive medium and consumers want interactive content,” he says, without divulging his plans.

Swastik also launched a syndication business under One Life Studios where it markets its own IPs and other people’s content all over the world. Besides, it is monetising its music IP from its serials as well as from creating original tracks in the religious\ spiritual niche it occupies. Recently it launched Chalo Kumbh, a techno-fusion track for Maha Kumbh. “We want to get into original music and are building a team. We have tied up with an Italian firm for digital distribution of our music,” Tewary says.

In whatever it does, its niche remains spiritual and cultural. Going forward, its content will be aimed at the eight to18-year-olds. “That’s our core target. It is cool. And Gods will never go out of fashion,” he says.