It had to come to this: Amitabh Bachchan stared us in the eye,and spoke of H1N1 with all the authority of an expert or someone who had just recovered from swine flu. For a moment you mistook this for another public service commercial featuring AB (remember polio drops?). But no,the item continued for longer than 60 seconds. It was the evening news with Amitji in Hindi (Star News),in English (Times Now) and Bachchan,a black bandhgala nipping his neck,heavy spectacles deepening his eyes,his expression graver than the news,spoke with the same surety he delivers film dialogues.
Its not the first time an actor has doubled as newsreader to promote a forthcoming film Bachchans news debut came to you Courtesy Rann,the news battle but it was certainly the most assured performance. When he said,H1N1 had spread across the globe like a computer virus and India had responded with commonsense (not Norton anti-virus),we believed him. We didnt find it absurd for Bollywoods badshah of badshahs to be reading us the news; on the contrary,the role suited him better than his jacket. That he could consider a post retirement profession as a newsreader and be thoroughly successful at it says something about our faith in him and everything about TV news. Newsreader Bachchan sealed a mergers and acquisition deal in the making for several years on December 30,2009 as news and entertainment became truly one.
2010,a Bollywood story,continued with Sonys latest and lamest excuse for film stars on the tube as if they needed any. Lift Kara De had the mutual admiration society of Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan flirting with a serious subject. Deprivation. Realising it was too cerebral,they reverted to their favorite pastime: cracking up at each others jokes. The show is supposed to select a film stars sabse bada fan who wins an audition with his or her icon. It chooses (God knows on what basis) three top fans to compete with each other and,in the process,help an unfortunate soul. What must they do? Act like SRK? Sing? Dance? Answer Slumdog Millionaire questions from KBCs my name is Khan? Nah. In the first episode,they played juice vendor! Sadly,these fans were incidental,they made cameo appearances while Karan and Khan sat about chatting up each other. Nothing could have been more pointless or confused: didnt know what was happening for the first 20 minutes. This may be a Yash Raj production but it didnt hit the right spots. Karan Johar should stick to his Koffee and Shah Rukh to his roles.
Seven,also new on Sony,was far superior,perhaps because it was a television show and not a backhanded Bollywood compliment. Seven is an undisguised version of Heroes; it paid tribute to the original by being beautifully shot with excellent special effects. The seven individuals endowed with extraordinary powers will come together to save the planet (from the dire predictions of Nostradamus?). The first episode introduced the seven wonders of the world in a quiet,understated way which made them believable in spite of their unusual abilities. A classy,absorbing act,without Bollywood stars. It is possible,you know.
shailaja.bajpai@expressindia.com
