I don't know about India, but the Discovery Channel et al seem to do a lot of specials on Could [X] Be Real? where X is variously myth and Other People's Holy Books. As well as the New Testament, of course.

Have you ever read As a Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg? The main plot is that of a Jewish rabbi (one of the rich ones, as opposed to a carpenter like R. Jeshua ben Joseph or a woodcutter like R. Akiba) trying to find himself in a post-Jesus, post-Temple Roman Judea. That in itself is interesting, but it's also a clear and interesting picture of said Judea.