Opinion Show,rather than tell
TV often trades in empty speculation rather than thought
By the time you read this,the minor or major cabinet reshuffle will no longer be TV news. Mercifully. Every single day of the last week has been spent in speculation. Its odd to discuss something that is still to occur rather like reacting to an incident before it takes place.
Finally,on Monday night,we were informed that the reshuffle would occur on Tuesday evening well in time for all the TV news discussions later. At 8 pm,Monday,NDTV 24×7 had a full-fledged discussion on the subject,and the guests included the BJPs Ravi Shankar Prasad. What,you thought,could he possibly tell us about the Congresss proposed reshuffle? Did he have insider information? Had he hacked,a la News of the World,the mobiles of Congress leaders who were being raised higher or laid low? Ditto the rest of the panel. We didnt learn much except that a new railway minister was required pronto after the two train accidents.
CNN-IBN did well to give us the statistics of how many accidents had taken place during Mamata Banerjees all-too-frequent and long absences from her seat in Rail Bhavan and at the UPAs cabinet meetings. (Far,far too many.) As for the coverage,one glance at the face of a child,left cheek a crimson pulp,was enough to turn you away. But this was one occasion when you wished TV news would show more of the train accidents victims. Not because we are Draculas,but because only such violence might move the authorities to corrective action.
On to an entirely different subject. Last Sunday,DD National repeated the telecast of an interview with the film director Mani Kaul who died last week. The interviewer was outside the frame a pity because it would have been good to see who it was and the whole focus was on Kaul and his replies. It was such an interesting interview: Kaul spoke on his films,on people who had inspired his work,like
Fyodor Dostoyevsky,and how he thought Ritwik Ghataks Komal Gandhar was the best film by an Indian. There was a fascinating explanation about his approach to acting as well he explained how he told actors not to act,but be the character. A waiter does not act like a waiter but is a waiter,so in a film,the actor must be the waiter not act like one. Lost? If you listened carefully it made a great deal of sense and required you to think. Not often does television make such demands of us.
For instance,Aap Ki Adalat (India TV) with actors Aamir and Imran Khan,did not require much intellectual effort. Anchor Rajat Sharma attacked Aamir for the foul and shitty language in his film Delhi Belly,and Aamir,repeatedly and in the same words,defended the film as an adult entertainer. The show had a happy ending when the judge pronounced her verdict: may A.K. continue to make good films. A no-brainer.
Come Dine with Me (BBC Entertainment) does little for the grey cells,but it did titillate the tastebuds. In this cookery reality show,contestants cook for each other and sample each others preparations,then vote for the best of the lot. The person with the highest score wins. The stars of the show are the contestants,as they sit at the dining table and react to each other. Watched it with great pleasure if not a great appetite.
And finally,saw the Dance God himself. Yes,there he was; but,alas,not dancing. Hrithik Roshan was being kind,instead,to those who were dancing: the contestants of Just Dance (Star Plus). He was so nice to them that you wanted him to turn nasty. Better still,why doesnt he show them a few fancy steps?
shailaja.bajpai@expressindia.com
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