Ramanand Sagar (right) on the sets of Sai Baba

The master of mythology is back. Dr Ramanand Sagar, known for some of the most-watched mythological serials on the Indian small screen like Ramayan, Shri Krishna, Jai Ganga Maiya and Jai Mahalaxmi, is making another spiritual saga in the form of Sai Baba, to go on air from October 9 on STAR Plus.

Sai Baba tells the story of the humble fakir who became the revered saint of the small town in Maharashtra, Shirdi, and came to be known as Shirdi ka Sai Baba. While movies have been made in the past about him, no television series has yet captured the miracles of Sai Baba who ?used love and understanding to awaken people from inside?.

Shot in the specially recreated sets at the Sagar Studios in Vadodara, Sai Baba has been made after four years of painstaking research. Also, the lead actor Mukul Nag, who plays Sai Baba, was selected after a nationwide audition and screen-test. Even the dubbing artistes have been tested and voice modulated to match the characters.

What makes the weekly serial all the more authentic is the active involvement of the Sai Baba Sansthan of Shirdi, which has helped Sagar and his team spin an engaging tale around the legend of Sai Baba.

For STAR, which has in the recent past had only one religious show in the form of Yatra, where the host used to take the audiences through many religious spots in the country, Sai Baba is another attempt in grabbing eyeballs over the weekends.

Ajay Vidyasagar, director of marketing of STAR Network, tells Metro: ?We have had a phenomenal rise in weekend TRPs, thanks to Kaun Banega Crorepati. So, we are trying to load around that slot. While people would flock in front of their TV sets from 9 to watch KBC, we are hoping that they would come an hour earlier on Sundays to catch something religious and spiritual like Sai Baba.?