They say the camera does not lie. A gross falsehood: listening to the experts or the coach of the Indian hockey team on TV, watching the swaggering confidence of the players’ gait, prior to the tournament, you believed Pillay and Co., were about to lift the Champions Trophy with their bootstraps. Or listen to short and stout with a pout Ashlesha (who said we watch actors to see them speak?): with limpid looks, she promises her incensed betrothed, Neeraj, she’ll do anything for him. Yet, when he asks her to do a teenie-meenie thing like love his family, she is unable to oblige (Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki).Lies, lies and damned lies.Still, the camera does not always lie. At last week’s No Confidence Motion in Parliament (thank-you Doordarshan), it was quite evident who should speak and who ought to be seen, not heard. Sushma Swaraj ought to speak (but briefly) while Vasundhara Raje Scindia should be seen. P.A.Sangma should be heard, not seen. Ditto Mani Shankar Aiyar and George Fernandes. The three might seek L K Advani’s dhobi services for their crumpled kurtas. The Deputy Prime Minister’s kurtas are as starched as his white moustache. He deserves to be heard, not for his kurtas, but simply because he is who he is. As for Mr Jaipal Reddy, you couldn’t help but hear from him due to his periodic volcanic eruptions.That leaves the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Mr Vajpayee should be seen on a good day, say, 15 August, when he is wide awake and pleased to be there. During most of Monday and Tuesday he looked like the Lok Sabha was the last place he wanted to be. When he rose to speak on Tuesday night, he appeared tired (who could blame him?) and deeply pained. It’s a trick he’s developed: he treats the very existence of the Opposition as a personal affront. That justifies his emotional indignation which makes for such eloquence.Mrs Sonia Gandhi has always been easy on the eye. It’s our ears she has offended. Her pasta English was difficult enough to swallow, but her Roman Hindi stuck in the gullet. Hers. Until now. When she spoke at the end of the debate, she made us sit up and listen — just when our minds were abed. Yes, she read from notes, but she also spoke extempore in a Hindi chaste enough to be the envy of Doordarshan newsreaders. She’s also learnt a little grand-standing from the PM: stop, glare and return pointedly to your speech. The Government had the numbers, but she had stolen the show.Should you watch Saraa Akash? (Star Plus) a romance in the skies, where most of the action occurs on the ground? Too early to say. The serial has the usual assortment of sad looking men and good-looking women. There’s some story about a spy stealing Air Force secrets but that’s purely incidental. Top Gun like shots of Sukhoi planes are nice though but equally incidental. A combination of Sanjivani and Kashmeer, the serial features actors whom the K shows could not elevate to stardom.Difficult looking at the stars of Manshaa (Zee). Nothing personal but it must have one of the most uncharismatic line up of actors in a serial. This is important when you consider that perhaps the only reason we can tolerate many improbable, melodramatic soaps is that the actors are attractive. Take away their looks, and what is left? Smriti Irani is pretty and sounded pretty good as Kyunki’s Tulsi. Until, she came to Delhi as a talk show host for Kuch Diil Se (Sab). Tackling delicate issues such as homosexuality, lesbian relationships, dowry demands, women’s reservation Bill, Irani seemed intimidated and took to hectoring her guests, constantly speaking out of turn and standing with arms folded like Lalitha Pawar. In other words, she took herself too seriously. Now, the show has moved to Mumbai, and what a pleasant difference. Irani sits, Irani listens, Irani lets her guests speak. With sufficient practise and she’s has the making of first class host. Just keep those arms off your chest.
