Amanat: Homespun tale revolving around a father and his daughters becomes instant TV hit

It might be one of satellite television's biggest success stories. Perhaps the biggest yet. It's calledAmanat.Success has never come cloaked in such a simple garb. A homespun tale revolving around a father and his seven daughters, it has become an instant hit.The proof of the serial's popularity lies in its amazing market support. For the Thursday 8.30 p.m. slot, it recently cornered an unprecedented ad booking: 54 advertisements adding up to 33 minutes. As the episode itself was of 24 minutes duration, Zee had to do away with 10 minutes of advertising to maintain the commercials to programme ratio.Amanat falls in the channel's platinum category which means a 10-second ad spot would go for as much as Rs 90,000. According to market sources, it's raking in about Rs 1 crore a week while the budget is estimated to be Rs 4 lakh per episode.Now in its 40th episode, Amanat is the top-ranking programme across cable and satellite (C&S) homes in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Kanpur with a rating of 15.44 (INTAM, week ending May 10), which translates into 17 lakh C&S viewers in these cities alone. Zee estimates that this is still only a tenth of the total viewership.Its nearest rivals are Aahat on Sony with a rating of 12.95, Dastaan (9.88) and Hasratein (8.38). The highest rating it has grossed is 19. According to IMRB, Amanat is also the most successful serial in Delhi, with a rating of 15.7 (week ending May 9). Here too it is followed by Aahat (14.1) and Dastaan (7.8).A homespun tale of a father and seven daughters is refreshingly free from the blight of violenceDespite the blitzkrieg of programmes,Amanatcreated ripples from the very first episode."There's so much of choice now and yet it is being followed religiously," says an elated Bharat Kumar Raut, Zee's spokesperson. What is it about Amanat that clicks? "It's every family's story," says Raut simply. Unlike soaps of the cable era, Amanat hitched its bandwagon to aside as an outsider."Far removed from the world of blood and gore, Amanat is about heartfelt emotions. Cynicism does not cast its blight on it nor is there a dark side to any character. "There are no heroes or villains, only circumstances and situations to contend with,"says Bhattacharya. "It's a goodness we want to preserve. We are fast losing it in this materialistic world," says Sudhir Pandey who plays the patriarch.The serial defies conventional notions that films are for men, soaps for women. "It's full of women but is definitely not a Shanti," says Anita Nair, media director, Ammiratti Puris Lintas. It's as much about the father as it is about the daughters. "He is the head of the family who is firm in his values. But there is a softness in him as well," says Pandey..preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}The serial has proved a windfall for its director. Dubbed a "college serial maker" earlier, he is now exploring new frontiers. He'll soon be directing Char Bangla, a light comedy. As for Amanat, it will move on from the first daughter's life to that of the second. Then to the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh Let's see how long the spell lasts.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Jun 8, 1998--- ENDS ---

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Amanat: Homespun tale revolving around a father and his daughters becomes instant TV hit

It might be one of satellite television's biggest success stories. Perhaps the biggest yet. It's called Amanat.

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