BHUBANESWAR: If Lord Jagannath comes on the small screen, can the Oriya audience stay behind? Realising the potential, television channel OTV has embarked upon an ambitious tele-serial on the saga of the Lord that will be telecast by September. And wisely enough, the channel has roped in Orissa's movie moghul Basant Nayak of Brajraj Movies as its producer.

"Lord Jagannath is widely revered by people of Oriya. This has prompted us to embark upon the expensive project that aims at enhancing the Oriya pride," said OTV general manager Chitta Ranjan Nayak.

"Starting September, the mega serial will be telecast on Sundays for the next two years," Mr. Nayak said, and hoped the project would provide a major boost to the entertainment industry in general and OTV's popularity in particular.

Channel director B.P. Rath said: "Though there is still a great demand among Oriya viewers for Oriya mythological content, there is severe lack of such programmes in our television schedules. This serial will bridge that gap to a large extent. The proposed mega serial will deal with all the aspects of Lord Jagannath and present it in a holistic manner. It will start with the pulsating episode of Lord Krishna being shot by hunter Jara Sabar after the Mahabharat war and how Lord Krishna's half-burnt body becomes the origin of Lord Jagannath. "I am proud to be associated with the prestigious project. We will form a panel of scholars and devotees to write the script and provide us guidance," said Mr. Nayak, the recipient of the State's highest honour for cinema - the Jayadev award.

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