Opinion Selfies with the PM

And Modi looks different each time we see him.

Shailaja Bajpai

October 30, 2014 12:50 AM IST First published on: Oct 30, 2014 at 12:50 AM IST

He looks different each time we see him, whereas Singh was always a study in white and blue.

This week it’s time to talk of this and that because even as this is being written, the “black money bomb” (NDTV 24×7) is being handed over to the Supreme Court by the NDA government. It has already exploded on TV news channels, to say nothing of social media. On Monday and Tuesday, loud explosions were heard in the TV studios as anchors presented the issue in black and white terms (don’t they always do that?), while politicians from the BJP and the Congress saw in it shades of grey.

The verdict on Saturday’s media interaction with the prime minister was also clear-cut. There is no polite way to say this: the media went gaga. We watched journalists rush forward to greet the PM, shake his hand, take a selfie with him. Barkha Dutt (NDTV 24×7) and Navika Kumar (Times Now) fairly gushed about how Narendra Modi was trying to open a new chapter with the media. They noted the differences between Modi’s informality and his predecessor Manmohan Singh’s stiffness at press conferences. Another feather in the PM’s cap.

There’s another remarkable difference between the two: Singh appeared in the same combination of clothes throughout 10 long summers, whereas Modi changes clothes every 10 hours! Sometimes more often. He has quite a wardrobe — for the media interaction he wore pink, for the NDA MPs’ tea party he was in brown and beige. At Siachen, we saw him in top gear with natty goggles, jacket etc. This makes good visual sense because he looks different each time we see him, whereas Singh was always a study in white and blue.

For those of you who watch television for entertainment, other than the fun and games of TV news debates, the English entertainment channels offer a few options. As mentioned a few weeks ago, Homeland Season 4 (Star Premiere HD, Star World) is close to home in Afghanistan and Pakistan (but shot in South Africa). So far, it is difficult to feel any fellow feeling for lead character Carrie Mathison, especially minus lover boy Brody.

For more thrills and blood-spills, there’s the ongoing The Bridge (FX), based on the original Danish-Swedish series of the same name. Set on the American-Mexican border, it has a female police detective, Sonya, whose sangfroid would turn Carrie’s blood cold, paired with emotional Mexican police detective Marco in cases of homicide, drugs, kidnapping — you name it. It’s bleak and tough and with more villains than good guys for the hardened criminal viewer.

How to Get Away with Murder sees Viola Davis (The Help) star as a law professor at the top of her professional career but near the abyss personally. Along with her students, she’s taking a crack at solving crimes and being involved in a murder case. Watch it for the sheer presence of Davis, who fills any screen. It’s a striking contrast to The Good Wife (Zee Café), where Julianna Margulies plays an attorney almost in retreat from herself. For those who love legal dramas, both are good bedtime stories.

There’s also the riveting, bizarre House (Star World). It’s the kind of series that you watch in spite of yourself. Based in a hospital, it stars Dr Gregory House as an unconventional medical genius. He’s at odds with himself, lives on painkillers and off frequent clashes with the hospital administration and his own team. The diseases, medical conditions he discovers in his patients, defy anything the average viewer knows about medical science. You watch it in horrified fascination with one eye closed. But watch it you must.

There are new seasons of Downton Abbey, Modern Family (Star) — two worlds apart, and presenting such a contrast in the meaning of “family” down the centuries. The sentimental favourite is Castle, a romcom with blood on its hands. Castle is still to marry his NYPD sweetheart Beckett, but they are almost there. So for those of you who like weddings and particularly like the thought of Rick marrying Kate, watch on.

shailaja.bajpai@expressindia.com