Nitish Kumar’s speech turned the cameras away from Narendra Modi,if only momentarily
The media has a fickle heart. One day they lavish you with attention; the next day,they turn their back on you for someone else. Narendra Modi has been the exception: hes their heartthrob and will continue to be so until and unless the BJP declares that he is not their candidate for prime minister. No one can or dares,we suspect upstage him. No one,that is,but Nitish Kumar,who has gatecrashed the Modi bash with a little Modi-bashing (excuse the irresistible pun).
It was a good media plan: he set the agenda for the week ahead with the BJP reacting to his remarks. Thus,even as the Boston Marathon and a devastating earthquake took over the breaking news space during the day on Tuesday,by the evening we were back to Kumar and his remarks on who should be held responsible for the Godhra riots except on some Hindi news channels,which preferred to predict that doomsday was near as the earth would end with a bang following a calamitous earthquake.
Although Kumar stole his thunder briefly,Modi will be back in the medias main focus because everyone reacts to him. Ironic,when theres a UPA government at the Centre that should be dictating the media agenda with just months to go for the next general elections.
One of the reasons we are utterly fascinated and bemused by the Modi drama is that entertainment TV offers such poor competition lets not get us started on Hindi soaps. Prime time on English entertainment is bereft of gripping shows other than Mad Men and Modern Family (Star World). Theres a tearful Packed to the Rafters,there are different versions of CSI and a host of re-runs: please welcome back X Files alongside JAG and One Tree Hill.
Even more disappointing are the film channels: last week,on a particular evening (think it was Tuesday),the line up had X-Men (Star Movies),Lethal Weapon 3 (HBO),The Karate Kid II (Zee Studio),Star Wars (Movies Now),Primeval (Fox) and It Runs In The Family (MGM),the only one without violent outbursts every two seconds. Dont ask how often youve already watched them and how often you will be forced to do so in the future. This lack of variety in genres is alarming. What is it about the Indian audience that it likes to watch films with so much blood during dinner?
That there is no space for diversity forces many of us to seek refuge in news channels or IPL. What a sad commentary on all three.
By the way,speaking of IPL,theres this Micromax ad running during the commercial breaks. It has a group of gentlemen who line up to face a firing squad,the firing squad fires (well,thats why its there,right?) and the men collapse,pretending to be dead. Has the death sentence become a pop culture icon?
shailaja.bajpai@expressindia.com
