AS they used to say in Roman gladiatorial circles,its all very well to be young and fresh and strong,but ultimately,what wins you the crowds applause is experience. While most of us learnt this in the Russell Crowe-starrer Gladiator,the old warhorse of Indian television,Doordarshan seems to have known it all along. DD Nationals reality show Idea Jalsa was recently rated as the top reality show in its slot across 400 TV channels. Thats no mean feat,considering that the Indian television industry is all about cut-throat competition. Were the only channel which provides the complete package, director general of Doordarshan,Aruna Sharma,says proudly,We divide our time differently from other TV channels. We know what viewers want to watch and we fill the gaps left by other channels. Jalsa,which was launched by the Indian Music Academy features concerts by renowned exponents of music Indian classical,semi classical,folk and spiritual. They feature classical masters like Pandit Jasraj,Pandit Shivkumar Sharma; popular singers like Shankar Mahadevan and Richa Sharma and young maestros like Rakesh Chaurasia and Niladri Kumar. Weve tried to create a unique space for Indian indigenous music. Its important to highlight this as no other channel is doing it and its a fact that viewers want to watch shows like this, says Sharma. Its a great platform for us because no channel has tried to address the definite demand that viewers have for classical music, says Chaurasia,Its just film music everywhere. Kumar believes that another reason for the programmes success is that it has a reach like no other programme on any other channel. Most TV channels crow about their popularity,but fact of the matter is that its DD thats truly national it covers urban centres as well as rural India. It cant be called the return of DD,he says. DD has always been around and been successful; its just that other channels have managed to create a lot more publicity. Its clear that the show is appreciated not just by viewers,but also by the musicians themselves. Earlier,DD programmes were criticised,if not for their content,then definitely for their staid,colourless and even tacky presentation. That seems to have changed as the sets of Jalsa reflect the times large sets with excellent lighting and none of the cardboard cut-outs which were the bane of the best of DD programming. The show has been so beautifully produced with an excellent sound quality,that even though I actually performed before a very small audience,when I watched myself on television,I got the impression that the audience and the stage were quite large, says ghazal singer Jaswinder Singh. Yet,it remains to be seen whether DD will continue to cash in on the unique space that it has created for itself. In an era of 24/7 programming,its about time there was something worth watching.
