Buddha goes international

A still from Zee TV’s Buddha

By Priyanka Bhadani

While the mythological show, Buddha, that is being aired on Zee TV will telecast its last episode on September 21, the producer B.K. Modi and creative producer Ridhwana are now looking to tap the world market. Interestingly, the rights of the show have already been sold in six countries including Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Ridhwana is touring Korea with the aim to broker a deal with the television industry there. “The messages of Buddha are universal. It has always attracted everybody. We have seen people from across the world being attracted to the teachings of Buddha and since we have made the show on a large scale, it was only right to take it to the world audience,” she says, without divulging the economic aspects of the deal. However, she informs that Japan is one of the biggest market in terms of expenditure.
“We have given limited rights to the buyers. The show can only be telecast once,” says Ridhwana, adding that they have just given the basic version and the respective buyers will dub the show in their own languages. In the next six to eight months, Ridhwana will be travelling to all the television and film markets at trade shows including MIP TV, MIP COM, Cannes, among others