MUMBAI: Media software production powerhouse Balaji Telefilms has finally reached India's most literate shores, the southern state of Kerala. Attempting to woo the Malayalam-speaking audience, Balaji is launching a serial titled Kavyanjali today.

The Monday-Friday show will air on Surya TV at 8:30 pm.

Talking about their entry into the Malayalam regional language space, Balaji COO Rajesh Pavitran told Indiantelevision.com that the success of the show would decide their future projects in in the southern state. Pavitran said they waited six months before finally coming up with a subject targeted at the Kerala audience because they wanted to make sure that the content appealed to the people there.

"Kerala is highly literate and the audience more mature. They look for the reality element in serials and films. The same parameters we apply in other sectors won't work in Kerala. So we wanted to be absolutely sure about the project we are coming up with," pointed out Pavitran.

"The Kerala market is in an evolving one. We wanted to prepare a perfect strategy for the Kerala market regarding our concept," He added.

When queried about the choice of leading Malayalam film stars to play title roles in the serial, Pavitran admitted that it was part of Balaji's strategy to cast popular Malayalam film stars in the serial to cash in on their popularity.

"Priya Raman and Vijayaraghavan are very popular in Kerala. Since this is our maiden project in Malayalam, we wanted to present well known faces to attract the audience," said Pavitran.

Pavitran said though the concept they have worked out now is something that would appeal anywhere in India, they were very particular about adding the local flavour and regional elements in it to convince the viewer.

On choosing Surya TV to telecast the serial, Pavitran said they had been working with the Sun network in other states and Surya TV for Malayalam was a natural choice.

Surya TV general manager, programming, FJ Clement revealed Surya TV would be aggresively launching new shows to get Keralite audience glued to the channel constantly and at the same time to bring them programmes with a difference.

"Last week we launched the horror serial Aayilyam Kaavu. This week we are launching Kavyanjali, a family serial. In the coming weeks also you can expect more from Surya," said Clement.