TV REVIEW
Channel surfer
By
Randeep
Wadehra
Expectedly, there was a lot of color on the small screen
last week. Glitterati from fashion, TV and cinema worlds, neta log and
the hoi polloi got into the Holi mode, with TV cameras capturing the moments
for whatever they were worth. Entertainment & news channels marked the
occasion with special shows. The Colors channel featured a dance and song show,
as did Sony and Star TV. Some Hindi news channels strung together old video clips
of the stand-up comedian Raju Srivastava, while others just telecast whatever
was happening on the streets of the national capital. NDTV came up with an
unusual, but riveting, documentary on the history and etymology of Kesariya
(saffron) color in Rajasthan. At one level, it is a color of self-sacrifice,
patriotism and martial spirit, and on the other, it has social as well as
religious significance. The saffron also acts as a base for concocting other
hues in combination with various flower and plant pigments. Rangoli (DD
National) set the mood with some enchanting songs of yore – climaxing with a
sad one featuring Sunil Dutt, ‘Mayray dil mein holi jal rahee hai’ (the
Holi is burning in my heart).
Later in the week, viewers watched the errant but happy go
lucky Munna Bhai a.k.a. Sanjay Dutt break down after the Supreme Court verdict
– with his sister by his side consoling him. Justice Katju, Jaya Prada and
several Bollywood and political and social biggies rustled up a “Save Sanjay
Dutt” campaign – with CNN-IBN’s efforts to highlight the seventy-year-old Zebunnisa
Kazi’s plight going in vain. Talk shows discussed the issue with a passion more
appropriate for such substantive topics as the ongoing drought in Maharashtra
and the multibillion Rupee water fraud. Actually, the latter issue got
attention when news channels focused on Asaram Bapu’s Holi binge while NDTV’s Truth
& Hype discussed the drought and the scam. But, these were no match to the
Khalnayak’s glam quotient.
Now, our talk shows, especially Times Now’s News Hour
is game for any debate on any issue – minor, major or even a non-issue like a
couple of American politicos “endorsing” Narendra Modi, although some Congress netas
dismissed them as “Paid panegyrists”. A lot of hot air swished around various
news studios and beyond. The BJP wallas pointed out how the US of A is
following the UK and the EU in wooing Modi because he concentrates on the job
at hand, viz., taking Gujarat to the next level of development, while the
critics alluded to the snub that Modi had received, courtesy Wharton. But, as
often happens on the News Hour, everybody started talking
simultaneously, creating an atmosphere akin to a classroom of unruly school
kids in the teacher’s absence. Pointless? Not when you consider the fact that
the hotter the air the higher the channels’ TRPs.
Several other politicians too indulged in their special
brand of hot air letting. Like, Jayalalitha decided to declare Chennai as a “no
Sri Lanka cricketers zone” on the eve of IPL season – an exercise in one-upmanship
vis-à-vis DMK; the latter hit back by alluding to the AIADMK Supremo’s
“hypocrisy”. But none offered, or even hinted at a definite roadmap to
ameliorating the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils and restoring their rights as
human beings and citizens of Sri Lanka.
Talking of hypocrisy, things reached the nadir in
Maharashtra where a bruised and battered duty conscious traffic cop, lying in a
hospital, has been suspended from his job while his assailants, the MLAs, who
had been booked for a traffic offence by the stricken cop, have not only been
given bail but also the benefit of doubt! Apparently, the State Assembly’s twenty-odd
CCTV cameras’ footage was too fuzzy to identify the culprits. Dhritrashtra
redux? Touché!
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