The most expensive Indian TV show cost Rs 650 crore to make, more than any Indian film, big or small
Television shows in India started at the smallest scale possible. But Indian TV has come a long way since then. While most reality shows’ budgets are skewed due to the hosts’ high salaries, fiction shows are a different ball game. Historical TV shows have taken the lead in terms of scale in Hindi entertainment and the biggest of them all dwarfs even films when it comes to budget. The most expensive Indian TV show even dwarfs the biggest Indian film with its mammoth budget
1. India’ most expensive TV show is…
)
In 2019, Siddharth Kumar Tewary conceptualised a mythological show based on Ramayana titled Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush. The show was mounted on a massive scale, with reports claiming that each episode had a budget of Rs 4 crore when it went on the floors
2. Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush’s massive budget
)
Mid-Day reported that the total production cost of Ra Siya Ke Luv Kush was a whopping Rs 650 crore, higher than any Indian show or film before or since
3. How Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush beat Indian films and shows
)
Several big Indian films – RRR (Rs 500 crore), Brahmastra (Rs 400 crore), and Jawan (Rs 300 crore) had budgets way less than this TV series. Porus, a TV show with a reported budget of Rs 500 crore was its closest competitor for years
4. Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush compared to Adipurush, Kalki 2898 AD
)
In 2023, a film that was also based on Ramayana – Adipurush – became the most expensive Indian film with a reported budget of Rs 550 crore. It was still less than the total cost of Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush. Pan-India film Kalki 2898 AD took the mantle from Adipurush with a budget of Rs 600 crore but Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush’s mark remains untouched
5. Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush’s ban
)
The show saw controversy during its initial airing when the Valmiki community in Punjab sought a ban on it or representing a disfigured fact on the Sage Valmiki. The protests grew violent and a man was shot dead in September 2019. Following this, Punjab CM banned the show in the state. After the makers went to court and offered to delete the offensive sections, the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside the ban in October
6. All about Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush
)
Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush was based on Uttar Ramayana. It starred Himanshu Soni as Lord Rama and Shivya Pathania as Sita, along with Krish Chauhan and Harshit Kabra as Luv and Kush respectively. The show aired for 141 episodes from August 2019 to its conclusion in February 2020
