After a gap of nearly nine years when megastar Chiranjeevi returned to the big screen, his film Khaidi No. 150 became a huge success. However, when the actor made his debut on TV with the game show Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu, it turned out to be a flop. Chiranjeevi was anchoring the fourth season of the show, while the first three seasons were done by actor Nagarjuna.
Interestingly, the first three seasons were a huge success. “Nagarjuna was new to television and people felt he brought in something fresh,” says a source from the TV channel. On the other hand, Chiranjeevi couldn’t create anything new and hosted the show in the same pattern. “Viewers didn’t find anything interesting and were soon bored to see nothing new,” added the source.
This season of the show will air nearly 60 episodes out of which 16 have already been shot and aired so far. For each episode, the estimated budget is Rs 30 lakh that includes Chiru’s remuneration of Rs 15 lakh.
“The channel brings in the participants and the audience for the show and it takes two to three hours to shoot one episode, so they shoot for two episodes per day,” says the source.
With the success of the first three seasons anchored by Nagarjuna, the marketing team of the channel were able to get good business for the show.
“The season was supposed to start last year, but they began in February which is not a good time for shows. Everyone is busy with exams so the first two weeks’ viewership was quite low. Even in the coming weeks it might not go up as the IPL season will start from April 4,” says the source adding, “The show’s timing is also a setback because it airs at 9.30 pm. Earlier Nagarjuna’s show started at 9 pm and that too makes a difference.”
While the sponsors aren’t getting enough viewership for their money, it’s Chiranjeevi who stands to lose the most as he hasn’t been able to make his mark on the audience with this show. “If this slow show continues, the channel might not have another season of the show,” says a source from the channel.
