Patriotic movies act as TRP grabbers on I-Day

As far as Independence Day traditions go, the only one that’s really entertaining is watching patriotic movies on television and getting goosebumps during the deshbhakti songs.
Even for those who love to list out everything that’s wrong with India throughout the year, it’s hard to change the channel when Sunny Deol tells Amrish Puri ‘Humara Hindustan zindabad tha, zindabad hai aur zindabad rahega’ in Gadar – Ek Prem Katha.
Movies like Lagaan, Upkar, Karma and Roja have been a staple affair on television on I-Day. And while some big budget blockbusters, even if they’re not patriotic, have elbowed their way into the I-Day TV schedule now, there’s still a dedicated section of the die-hard patriotic cinema-lovers.
And the channels maintain that patriotic films work with viewers when they’re telecast at a particular time slot. For the rest of the day, generic blockbusters are more popular. Ruchir Tiwari, cluster programming head (Hindi Movie Channels), ZEEL, says, “Good patriotic films are few in Indian cinema. But even then, some of them are quite popular. Whether it is Gadar or Karma, they have a special space in the minds of the people. This year, we are telecasting Gadar in the morning and other films for the rest of the day. So, there is a good mix of movies for the viewers.”
Says Neeraj Vyas, senior EVP and business head, Max, “It’s a good day to hold the viewer’s attention. We have a mix of patriotic as well as other popular films. This year, we are showing only Chak De! India. It is a Shah Rukh Khan film and has a very contemporary and patriotic feel. In the last few years, we have screened Kranti, Chak De! India, Lagaan and Manoj Kumar’s Upkaar. Lagaan has always worked for us.”