A question of answers

There are interviews and interviews and then again, interviews. And there are guests who employ them in very different ways.

There are interviews and interviews and then again, interviews. And there are guests who employ them in very different ways. There are people who use the interview to reveal themselves, to charm us, to defend themselves, to promote themselves. Finally, there are people who use the interview to hide more than they care to show.

A while ago, Waheeda Rehman revealed herself on Walk the Talk. Recently Sonia Gandhi and Laloo Prasad charmed us One to One, Ram Jethmalani defended and promoted himself simultaneously on every news channel and Aishwarya Rai hid behind her good looks Rendezvous with Simi Garewal.

Now Simiji has a talent for purring and getting her claws into her guests without letting them feel her nails. However, she had bargained without Aishwarya8217;s set in cement tenacity. Repeatedly, in every way that she could phrase the question, Simi tried; but nothing could crack the Rai8217;s equanimity as she stonewalled all attempts to describe her relationship with Bachchan Jnr. Rai answered each question, but gave no replies 8212; whether it was about her work, her looks, her family or her Umrao Jaan co-star8230;Throughout the talk, she remained a still life, with only the occasional smile to indicate that she was not frozen in time.

Mrs. Gandhi and Mr. Yadav, on the other hand, readily replied to tricky questions with what seemed refreshing frankness. So when Mrs.Gandhi said Mr. Manmohan Singh was always her choice for PM and Mr.Yadav admitted that he would love to be PM, you believed both of them. They were a study in similarities and obvious contrasts: Mrs. Gandhi perfectly pinned together in appearance, all smiles, rapid blinks, considered responses; Mr. Yadav in starched kurta pyjama with spontaneous replies in surprisingly fluent English. Whatever their mannerisms, they managed to convey sincerity even when you suspected them of well, not precisely lying but not telling the entire truth either.

Which brings us to Mr. Showman himself, Ram Jethmalani. He8217;s been in this business long enough, and we don8217;t mean the legal profession. He has this uncanny ability to discover opportunity where none exists. Remember the daily questions for Rajiv Gandhi during the height of the Bofors issue? Last week, when the announcement of his decision to plead Manu Sharma8217;s case caused outrage, he turned adversity into self advertisement, giving interviews to every one , or then didn8217;t, declaring it his right to do whatever he wanted, defend whoever he wished.

Recall Waheeda? She was at ease with herself, looking younger than her years but behaving with the maturity of them. She spoke openly about Bollywood, Meena Kumari and what she had made of life instead of letting life make of her. It was a candid performance and refreshing because it looked unrehearsed 8212; either she is the most accomplished actress ever, or she was just herself.

The question is: which interview was the most enjoyable from our point of view? In a curious way, each one. All those interviewed revealed something of themselves. That is why we sit through them, to watch the facial and body language, match it to the words being spoken and judge how far they match up or belie each other.