It is true when they say that viewers are the ones responsible for making or breaking a show. And one thing is for sure, they love Siddharth Kumar Tewary’s magnum opus Porus. Right from the lavish sets, to the perfect casting and larger than life performances, the audience seems to have lapped it up. The show has been witnessing high ratings in comparison to other big shows on Sony Entertainment Television.
According to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data, the ratings (U+R) of the show are significantly higher than the ratings of the channel’s prime time daily soaps such as Rishta Likhenge Hum Naya and Vighnaharta Ganesh. While Porus airs at 8.30 pm, Vighnaharta Ganesh precedes it at 8 pm. Rishta Likhenge Hum Naya is shown at 9 pm on weekdays.
Porus’ launch week bagged it 3.6 million impressions in week 48 of 2017’s BARC data. The second week saw a drop of 0.6 million impressions. After 10 weeks of being on air, the latest ratings of week 5 for 2018 show Porus at a consistent 3.3 million impressions.
On the other hand, the week 48 of Vighnaharta Ganesh garnered 3.4 million impressions and Rishta Likhenge Hum Naya got 1.9 million impressions. There was no impact of Porus on Vighnaharta Ganesh’s ratings that was apparent in week 49, whereas Rishta Likhenge Hum Naya lost 0.1 million impressions from week 48.
Swastik Productions' founder Siddharth Kumar Tewary says, "Porus has been consistent in its ratings since its launch and this was our plan - to be consistent in the beginning and then grow slowly. We held on to our ratings from the beginning to now. The first episode was one hour long and now we are showing 22 minutes content.”
He says that comparing the current 3.3 million figure with the initial 3.6 million shows that the show has actually grown. “We have made Porus with a huge amount of conviction. People have really appreciated us for keeping the promise of giving them a unique concept and storytelling,” he adds.
Producer Rahul Kumar Tewary is ecstatic as his show is being telecast in Sri Lanka as well. Made under the banner of One Life Studios, the magnum opus has been winning hearts all over and has now started its run in Sri Lanka too. He says, “Porus has been a challenging show but everyone involved with it can surely say that it has been worth their while. Right from the actors, to the crew, technicians, creatives, everyone has not left any stone unturned to make the show the best that we have ever seen on the small screen. We have put in a lot of effort into perfecting every minor detail and I am glad that people have reciprocated with their love.”
The show has successfully travelled to Sri Lanka with a new name Digvijaya. The buyer for the 260-episode series is Maharaja Television (MTV) and the show has been dubbed in Sinhala. Earlier, Porus was acquired by Workpoint Entertainment of Thailand for exclusive TV and non-exclusive digital rights.
Laksh, who is playing the title role of Porus says, “The response has been phenomenal and I am overwhelmed with that. For Porus, I have got the maximum positive feedback amongst all my shows. Recently, I have won an award for best actor also. I have been getting messages from all over the world for my performance. Producer Siddharth Kumar Tewary always creates something magnificent.”
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