Media: watchdogs versus lapdogs

Has the mainstream media lost relevance and credibility? Do today’s readers even know of the titans of Indian journalism like Frank Moraes, Durga Das, Khasa Subba Rau and M Chalapathi Rau who were fearless and impartial? Has Indian journalism regressed from being the citizen’s watchdog to the status of lapdog of the rich and the powerful? If it has, how does it affect the common man and the Indian nation at large? This video seeks answers to these questions.

Until the dawn of 1980s, Indian journalism provided a more or less genteel fare. Even the most hardboiled critic of politicians shunned the use of invective. Journalists were aware of their responsibilities. Their thought-provoking articles and reports kept the government on its toes and the democracy vibrant.

Arun Shourie’s arrival on the scene Indian journalism changed for better or worse. His combative style, investigative acumen and abrasive attacks on Dhirubhai Ambani’s Reliance Industries came to the fore in articles written in conjunction with the Sangh Parivar loyalist S. Gurumurthy. The campaign targeted Indira Gandhi’s regime and the tycoon.

When Doordarshan made its presence felt, it was a state monopoly and the only television channel in India. Most news and documentaries were pro-establishment. However, Syed Naqvi stood out. His interviews of national and international personalities on different issues were informative and a delight to watch.

With the arrival of private news channels, the NDTV’s Big Fight launched Rajdeep Sardesai as the new combative kid on the block who revelled in anchoring contentious debates with high decibel sparring amongst the invited participants. But he was soon eclipsed by Times Now’s Arnab Goswami whose flag-waving ultra-nationalism pandered to the lowest common denominator among viewers. Hurling insults at invited panellists, hectoring those who differed with him and intimidating the gentler ones were the salient features of his talk shows. However, one witnessed his timid side when he interviewed Narendra Modi.

When Goswami shifted to the Republic TV, his behaviour became worse. As de facto boss of the media-house he enjoyed full backing of the ruling establishment. His ranting style of journalism fetched his channel the much needed TRP ratings at the cost of professional ethics.

Prannoy Roy’s NDTV stuck to the ethics and decorum expected of a responsible news outlet. But most other channels preferred to take a few leaves from Goswami’s book. Times Now’s Navika Kumar, though not in the same league as Goswami, loves to troll dissenting panellists. Anand Narasimhan of CNN News 18 frequently cuts short those panellists whose views are unpleasant to him. 

Penetrating questions in a polite tone can send even the President of the most powerful nation on earth hopping mad as shown by CNN journalists during Donald Trump’s press briefings. Indian viewers are deprived of such pleasure because PM Modi avoids press conferences in India. Anyway, most media houses find saashtaang pranam more beneficial than investigating those in power.

Ravish Kumar focuses on unglamorous issues like health and education with searching questions in his ‘Prime Time’ show. In fact, the entire NDTV team is way above the rest when it comes to quality journalism. Between NDTV’s polite firmness and Republic TV’s abrasive pro-establishment propaganda, a section of journalists finds it safe to sit on the fence.

M Chalapathi Rau remarked in his article of 2016, “At press conferences… (during) the free-for-all exchanges, … some press correspondents did not fail to insult him (Nehru)… To him, journalism was a part of action, political action, social action.”  Clearly, the thought of gagging the press never crossed Nehru’s mind.

Free flow of authentic information is essential for effective governance. Otherwise, rumours poison people’s minds which can prove dangerous to the nation’s stability and security.

Are media seths and politicians listening?

YOUTUBE

Politics, drama and love

Kaun Banega Rashtrapati? This question was more or less answered on June 15 when Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature was formally announced by the Congress. However, the announcement was preceded by a lot of drama on TV. We watched the Mamata-Mulayam combine proposing the names of Manmohan Singh, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Somnath Chatterjee. The Presidential question suddenly assumed more importance than it normally should. There was confusion among the invitees to various talk shows — most of them were candid enough to confess that Didi’s defiance has added great uncertainty to the Presidential elections outcome. Generally, it has been a given that the ruling party’s nominee would get elected — although V. V. Giri had upstaged Neelam Sanjiva Reddy in 1969, courtesy Indira Gandhi. However, it is unlikely that such a betrayal would happen to Mukherjee, given his stature as a parliamentarian. In the fast-changing political scenario, Mulayam displayed dexterity  while distancing himself from Mamata and announcing support for Mukherjee.

Interestingly, even as Gadkari was telling TV reporters that the BJP and the NDA have yet to take a decision, Headlines Today and Times Now speculated whether there would be a cooperation of sorts among the two national parties – with the BJP supporting Mukherjee for the President’s office and Congress endorsing a BJP nominee for the Vice-President’s post. Jaswant Singh’s name was mentioned by a couple of experts. Should that happen, the nation would not only benefit from their combined experience as ministers and parliamentarians but also see the two offices regaining their former exalted stature.

The formal announcement of Pranab Mukherjee’s candidature for the President’s post was preceded by high drama

Another drama that unfolded on the small screen involved some of our most accomplished sportspersons. Even as P. Kashayap and Saina Nehwal marched into the badminton semi-finals of the Indonesia Open, the breach between the tennis stars Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes became stark when Bhupathi told NDTV that he was disappointed with the decision to pair them for the forthcoming Olympics. When asked by NDTV whether he would rather miss the chance to play for India than team up with Paes, Bhupathi said categorically, "I have already told them" (the selectors). He attributed the predicament to "politics". Well sports and politics don’t exactly mix. Or, do they?

The June 10 episode of Satyamev Jayate on Star Plus focussed on a marginalised stratum of the society, viz., the physically challenged. Certain pertinent points were made, viz., the country’s disabled population waits endlessly for enabling gestures from the government. India has pegged the disabled population at 2 per cent of the total while the USA and the UK have 5 per cent to 9 per cent. The gods have, apparently, been particularly kind towards us, Indians. One point was not made: neither town planning nor building architecture, is disabled-friendly. As for employers, the less said the better. However, the show lauded one Captain Brar, who considers his disabled employees as an asset, and not beneficiaries of his meharbaanee.

Following Venus’ transit across the sun, various talk shows had their own takes on love and relationships. Satyamev Jayate took on Haryana’s formidable khaaps while discussing love-marriage-related issues. The invited khaap elders expressed their abhorrence for love-marriages because these are driven by "vaasna(passion or lust)", and mumbled something about parampara. One really wishes the show shouldn’t have not confined itself to merely debunking the old system but had focussed on suggesting a viable alternative instead. Aamir Khan’s smart one-liners and light-hearted rejoinders seem to have nixed an opportunity for serious deliberations on such matters.

Woes of love have been dogging a veteran politician for quite some time now. The N. D. Tiwari case was hanging between the sleazy and the seriocomic when the Supreme Court’s orders nudged it into a saner direction. But, the case has unleashed mirth-fest on TV. On The Week That Wasn’t (CNN-IBN) there were a whole lot of persons whose DNA tests "proved" that they had a common father.

What would a child know of love and marriage? However, quoting from the Shariat laws of 1937 and 1939 vintage, the Delhi High Court recently upheld a 15-year-old girl’s marriage as valid. Some of the panellists on The Buck Stops Here (NDTV) wondered whether such laws ought not be amended and brought in tune with the changing times as well as the country’s Constitution. Then followed the news of young girls’ travails in Haryana’s Apna Ghar; the perpetrators should be reminded of these words from W. H. Auden’s A Certain World, "All sin tends to be addictive, and the terminal point of addiction is what is called damnation

Tribune

When spoofs make no sense

SEQUELS have to be better than their precursors; otherwise they turn into a big yawn, which is precisely what Movers & Shakers (SAB) has become. In its previous avatar on Sony, it was immensely popular because of its novelty factor. Now, it somehow lacks both in zing and sting. Its jokes fall flat and satires turn tepid. Shekhar Suman’s jibe "Why do snakes bite human beings? Because human beings are aasteen kay saanp (this Hindi colloquialism’s English equivalent is snakes in the grass)" couldn’t be rescued even by the canned laughter. Suman’s resort to stereotypical characters and situations betrays desperation to re-ignite the old magic. Akbar-Anarkali spoofs had lost their attraction long ago; the one on Saroj Khan was poorly enacted. Sidhuisms are pass`E9.

The recent rise in petrol price elicited familiarly Pavlovian response: Outrage, disbelief and all things negative. Television channels reported the common man’s reactions in various cities; amid the usual protest-verbiage, there was an interesting one on Headlines Today wherein a northerner taxi driver espied in the price increase a conspiracy to throw out non-Marathis from Mumbai. Predictably, another round of debates lit up the small screen; spokespersons from opposition parties painted a grim future for the Indian economy, while assorted ruling party spokesmen were dismissive of such pessimism. Then followed the rollback rumours`85D`E9j`E0 vu.

Shekhar Suman with Pakistani actress Veena Malik on the sequel of Movers and Shakers

However, soon stories regarding the Arushi murder case, the Jaganmohan Reddy disproportionate assets case and the "Kashmir Report" began to compete for eyeballs. But, it was the BJP power-tussle that kept viewers enraptured. Experts saw enhancement in Narendra Modi’s stature (Aaj Tak) after Nitin Gadkari’s acolyte Sanjay Joshi resigned from the BJP Executive. But, Modi’s real b`EAte noir Gadkari’s grin was telling a different story. He got the party’s constitution amended in order to obtain a second term as BJP’s president. Interestingly, fireworks were provided by Gen V. K. Singh’s parting salvos on NDTV & Times Now, which shall resound in the bureaucratic-political corridors of power for quite a while.

By casting aspersions on the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Team Anna has fallen from grace. The Prime Minister does not indulge in polemics, let alone invective, even when gravely provoked. While watching his dignified response on NDTV, one found him too mild in his reaction. Prashant Bhushan & co. wouldn’t have been as judgmental about their own actions if they had been in power - presently an improbability; the indulgence factor would have operated — we have seen this happening ever so often in Indian politics, reminding one of Shakespeare’s following lines from The Life & Death of King John: "Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail/ And say there is no sin but to be rich;/ And being rich, my virtue then shall be /To say there is no vice but beggary."

On May 29, most news channels telecast live the massive celebration of KKR’s maiden IPL title victory. Ever so lovingly, the cameras lingered on Didi, SRK and others doing a victory jig of sorts. Then, promptly in the evening, the clever media asked, oh so self-righteously, whether Didi had gone overboard — after all it was only a club and not the state that had won.

Guns, sex and centurions

AGNI-5’S test-firing triggered an unprecedented round of waffling on the idiot box. Various experts proclaimed that now India could hit any target in China. Rudimentary calculation would have enabled anyone to reach the same conclusion. We all know that still more time and efforts are needed to make Agni-5 a credible deterrent. So, why single out China and do a George Fernandez?

By an interesting coincidence, mainstream television featured two centurions. The nomination of Sachin Tendulkar to the Rajya Sabha elicited mixed reactions laced with doubts whether the scorer of a 100 centuries was elderly enough for the House of Elders. Then, there was Zohra Sehgal on CNN-IBN and Headlines Today, sprightly enough on her 100th birthday to look at the funnier side of life.

Another legend, Jagjit Singh, was featured on Colors TV wherein who’s who of the subcontinent’s music and film worlds paid tributes to the late ghazal singer.

The Dirty Picture failed to sizzle on Sony TV

But, not all was celebratory. The Dirty Picture failed to sizzle on Sony TV. Instead, 3 Idiots was telecast. The touted reason was: the movie shouldn’t be beamed into our sacrosanct drawing rooms at prime time. This, after 59 cuts were undertaken to obtain the UA Certificate; and Vidya Balan was conferred with the National Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Dirty Picture, thus acknowledging the artistic quality of her histrionics.

However, sex is not such a dirty word for our media pundits although they had turned up their supercilious noses at the Bhanwari Devi scandal. But when it came to the Singhvi sex CD tittle-tattle, they promptly organised talk shows, not to discuss ways and means for restoring probity among our political classes but to berate the "menace" that internet, especially social media, posed to individuals’ reputations. 

Even the issue of judicial appointments becoming amenable to political influence was ignored. Justice Katju went from channel to channel (CNN-IBN, Times Now, Headlines Today, NDTV etc) reiterating his pet theme of regulating the social media. When pointed out that there is no technology available for the purpose, Justice Katju remarked that all this could be done "in the future".

But how? In reply, he held forth on the virtues of scientific research. Obviously, we cannot ban or regulate social media in India. Besides, various TV talk show ws have been exaggerating the social media’s power for creating mischief like communal riots in the country.

The cyber world has been doing more good than harm. When the mainstream media become complicit in odious activities in high places, the internet invariably comes in handy for revealing the truth as has happened in the Bofors case. A website, www.thehoot.org, has come up with revelations that are going to impact the public perception of the way crime in high places is investigated in our country. Moreover, it has redeemed Amitabh Bachchan’s reputation who was, now we learn, unfairly targeted both by the mainstream media and various investigating agencies.

Also, let us not forget the Wikileaks’s salutary impact on international diplomacy. Regulating the internet is technologically and administratively unfeasible and banning it goes against our democratic-liberal grain.

Tribune

Does truth really triumph?

CHANNEL SURFER

Children today are inheriting contradictory values from popular media

India has well and truly entered the ‘Age of Tinsel Values’ wherein form is more important than content. Glitzier the form, the more voluble the public response, as demonstrated by our ‘thinking’ people, who hang on to every word dripping down an actor’s glamorous lips. Genuine social reformers have been pushed into a corner. Be that as it may, Satyamev Jayate, "Truth alone triumphs", is today’s reality; a TV show that brings societal pathos into our drawing rooms while keeping the reality’s tactile stink at bay.

But Satyamev Jayate is also a Sanskrit aphorism, which is taken with fistfuls of salt and dollops of cynicism today. After a long battle of attrition, truth’s triumph over falsehood invariably turns out to be symbolic and pyrrhic.

Witness the three women in Satyamev Jayate’s inaugural episode of May 6: Amisha Yagnik, Parveen Khan and Mitu Khurana. The three women had suffered at the hands of their husbands or in-laws. But the show’s major infirmity is the absence of counterpoints from their respective husbands/kin-in-law.

Then, there were clips of a sting operation on female foeticide. This, however, did not move Rajasthan’s Chief Minister to take action against the killer medicos.

The second episode on May 13 focused on child abuse. Among other things, Aamir Khan’s interaction with children in the episode left one wondering. The children were from the upper middle class stratum where vulnerability to sexual abuse is less when compared to, say, lower socio-economic strata; the plight of street children is pathetic. All advice given by him would have gone over the heads of children from the poorer classes - assuming that they were able to see the show.

On the same day at 8 pm, Sony premiered the Kareena Kapoor-Imran Khan-starrer Ekk Main Aur Ekk Tu. Without any warning from the censor bosses or the TV channel, we watched, in a party scene at the film’s beginning, a matronly lady touch Imran’s derriere in the most improper manner, while winking lewdly.

Surfing channels, one found Zee TV's reality show, Dance India Dance, featuring child artistes. A five-year-old girl shakes her hips, spreads her arms to do belly dance while shaking something that was absent in the anatomy of a child of her age, and winks suggestively. In reply to the judges’ query, she innocently gives full credit to her mother.

To what purpose Aamir's pontifications when the common child is inheriting contrary values from the popular media? He advised the children in his show on what comprised inappropriate touching; that they should report to the adult they trusted if anybody resorted to such indecent behavior. Well, one wonders whether the children participating in Zee TV’s DID, or watching Sony TV’s Kareena-Imran starrer, wouldn’t look upon Aamir as someone who has gone spectacularly off his rocker.

The show’s May 20 episode focused on dowry. Aamir interviewed the girls who had suffered brutalities on this count. But there was also the spunky Rani who had exposed her would-be in-laws to the media.

Moreover, in Bhivandi, community elders have banned all ostentatious weddings. Women from the North-East asserted that dowry system doesn’t exist there. Interestingly, a Bihari boy narrated how he was abducted and forcibly married to his present wife; sans dowry. Committing crime to fight an illegal tradition?

 The Tribune

Television: The yawn factor

The moment Barkha Dutt thanked Nana Patekar (NDTV 24X7) the yawn factor began to operate instantaneously. Before I explain this strangely familiar phenomenon let us go down the familiar path when ‘infotainment’ was a hep slang of our chattering elite; an innovatively seductive term used for the fare dished out by our electronic media. The ‘info’ conjures up images of whiz-kids and eggheads sharing wisdom with those not fortunate enough to be, what the current buzzword describes as, ‘up to (the) speed’. In our Jurassic times, it used to be ‘up to date’ or some such phrase now considered passé or clichéd. The ‘tainment’ part is supposed to come from the fiction serials, the so-called reality shows and the shows retailing dollops of gossip involving Bollywood’s beautiful people. However, things haven’t worked out as per the script.

Before reverting to the Barkha Dutt-Nana Patekar tête-à-tête, let us have a look at the entertainment scene which is strewn with mythological retellings, apart from Hindi adaptations of western, mostly American, TV shows, and the most yawnsome saas-bahu shows, which we shall skip. Among the mythological retellings, perhaps, Suryaputra Karn (Sony) catches our attention immediately. Here the Mahabharata’s super-anti-hero Karn is the protagonist who fights for the rights of oppressed castes – the Sootas who are carpenters-cum-chariot drivers. His confrontations with the Kshatriyas lead to situations that remind one of our present times. No, he does not agitate for reservation quotas for his clan but demands equality – a term with which the hierarchical system could not have been familiar with in those times. Anyhow, in this serial, not only is Karn shown as a superhero but also the one who is aligned with the Pandava princes against Duryodhana and his ninety-nine brothers – a situation that the wily Shakuni intends to change. The yawn factor comes in when we see Karn single-handedly manufacture and fly a Pushpak Vimaan! If you have read of this in any of our scriptures do enlighten me.

In the name of mystery and spy thrillers there are several inane productions that are poor rehashes of Perry Mason, Poirot, Remington Steele, Sherlock Holmes et al. About comedies, the less said the better. The benchmark set by Sarabhai Versus Sarabhai appears to be beyond the reach of the current crop, despite the valiant efforts of Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain (&TV) and now Sumit Sambhaal Lega (Star). The latter two are good but predictably Bhabiji… has already fallen into the set-piece trap. How long will Sumit… (a licensed adaptation of Everybody Loves Raymond) continue to be different, is a moot point.

Among other shows, children have been the saving grace. Be it the recently concluded Indian Idol Junior (Sony) or the &TV’s Gangaa, they have showcased their natural ability to perform and hold their own vis-à-vis their more professional adult counterparts. The rest, after showing great promise, get mired in predictable plots.

So, hungering for some quality stuff, one turns to our news channels. We have Laluji mimicking Modiji in front of invited audience (India Today) and Modiji satirizing all and sundry (all channels). When NAMO speaks, the national channels stop all other programs and make their airwaves available to him. That Modi has a mesmerizing effect on his audiences is evident on the small screen, but even his repertoire is proving to be finite. How long can one speak the language of an opposition leader even while heading the nation’s government? Some of his jibes and promises have begun to pall. It is time for him to reinvent himself as The Great Deliverer rather than play the role of a Great Dream Merchant.

Then there are talk shows. We have had an overdose of Pak-bashing on News X, Times Now, India Today etc. Then came the greatest TRP generator of them all – the Sheena Story. Nothing but nothing could divert our intrepid anchors from chasing this story to death – current and ex-husbands, progeny, friends and employees, not to mention cops and sundry experts, offered plenty of fuel to shoot TRPs into the stratosphere. The channels forgot that there were other issues besieging the common folks, till they started jumping off the roof tops of the national capital’s buildings. Suddenly dengue became the buzzword. Our media inspected the national capital’s hospitals and gave unanimous verdict: ill equipped and callous; solely responsible for the mounting death toll. This happens every year, you want to shout. But, will anyone listen?

There have been other suicides too - far more numerous and in equally tragic circumstances. But they were not in the national capital. Simulated outrage over them will not generate TRPs, since they are merely poor farmers of Marathwada, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and other parts of the vast, forsaken, hinterland. When you have readymade TRP generators at hand, with the Page 3 types ready to boost the glam quotient, who wants to trudge to those distant, smelly villages and put up with the laments and wails of the unfortunate? They would have remained largely unheard, except for ten-second shots in quick round-ups (becoming quite common on news channels) had not Nana Patekar lent his considerable whack while highlighting their plight. The Bollywood star on NDTV was lethal, sans histrionics, in his castigation of the general apathy – especially on the part of the media. He gave an account of the magnitude of tragedy in the countryside and what he and his associates are doing to mitigate its effects. One listened with rapt attention. So when an almost apologetic Barkha Dutt thanked Nana Patekar for bringing all this to the notice of media one couldn’t help asking: Isn’t it the media that is supposed to bring all the systemic flaws and their consequences to the nation’s notice?

When will our news TV channels grow out of their infatuation with Delhi and the metros?

The mad race for ratings: Randeep Wadehra

Sunday, October 23, 2005

CAN you name the presiding deity of the small screen? It may also be called the God of Mindless Soaps, but is better known as the TRP (acronym for Target Audience Gross Rating Points). Yes, TRP decides the fate of all television shows, and no television channel or producer dare defy it.

Priyamvada Vir Pratap Singh (Sarrkkar, Zee TV, 8.30 pm, Monday to Friday) is the Chief Minister of Vishal Pradesh. She has been temporarily unseated as she’s to clear herself of the charges of murdering her husband. That’s not the only problem. Her sister-in-law Bharati, the stand-in CM, conspires against her to usurp power. Then there’s Bhagwat, the diabolical opposition leader, who’s stranger to morality and decency, and a natural ally of Bharati. Naturally one expects a high-voltage political drama with intense ideological clashes. What unfolds on the small screen is just another variant of family melodrama.

The very word politics makes one think of intrigue. There are, among other types, family politics, office politics and political politics—wherein horse trading, backstabbing and wheeling-dealing are the norm. Of course, there’s a hubby too, a moron who just can’t understand what’s happening around him; as a variation he might be a philanderer with the other woman tucked away in another part of the town. The other woman wants to replace the wife, and adds to the confusion already confounded by the script-writer.

No matter what the subject and the setting of a serial it ends up following a predictable pattern. Sarrkkar is no different. It’s supposed to be a political drama, but presently looks more like a family soap, with politics merely providing a backdrop to the petty games that have become staple ‘entertainment’.

 

There’s Urvashi, Priyamvada’s elder bahu getting drunk and drenched in tears because her hubby, Kunal, was once in love with Yana. The ambitious younger bahu Shweta’s scheming mother ensures Urvashi’s fall from grace. Yana, the journalist and Kunal’s old flame, wants to replace Urvashi, and sets about inveigling Priyamvada. Bhagwat, in cahoots with Bharati, plays dirty games to rub Priyamvada’s nose in the mud. Her quick-tempered younger son Karan believes in resolving all problems through violence while her rebellious daughter Kritika falls to Bhagwat’s machinations and opposes her own mother in the elections. Competent acting is the only saving grace of Sarrkkar with Divya Shah nee Seth dominating the show.

Hackneyed dialogues, humdrum scenarios and hamming have become salient features of most of the stuff being churned out. Why something different can’t be presented? Politics also stands for governance, management of a political party and participating in the legislative proceedings where there’s enough scope for drama. But we hardly get to see such cerebral stuff. At least we can have a middle-brow problem that would polarise various dramatis personae.

For example, the CM of Vishal Pradesh ought to be facing her political rivals both in the legislature and the hustings on issues confronting the state—something that’s barely mentioned in the narrative. A problem involving social-moral dilemma could confront the protagonists leading to a crisis situation in the state legislature or, at least, the cabinet; presently the crisis looms thanks to attempts at horse-trading.

Votaries of free market economy may please note, free interaction between demand and supply does not always promote quality. If the contents on our small screen are any indication, quite the reverse is equally possible. All private channels come up with slick serials – production values wise – but the contents are all fluff and waffle. But this is the stuff that our middleclasses lap up day after day, serial after moronic serial. So, why should producers complain? It’s easy money for script writers, actors, directors et al.

Call of cash

THE hold that TRPs have on the content of a production becomes evident on Kaun Banega Crorepati. Bollywood rules supreme, with Amitabh Bachchan leading the procession. Other stars who’ve featured in the quiz show so far, to serve some charitable cause, are Saif Ali Khan, Priety Zinta, Kajol and Ajay Devgan. They have won sackloads of the moolah to be used for a good cause. At least, now we know that, despite relatively easy format for them, our film stars are not really a collection of dumb dolls and half-witted hunks. For ordinary participants too the questions are generally easy in the beginning – ensuring that no participant returns empty handed. Rs. 20, 000/- is the minimum that even a perfunctorily informed person can make on this show. Big B is more outgoing in the KBC2 than in its earlier version. He cracks jokes, teases the participants and generally horses around to the delight of all. Since he is a superstar Big B gets better of the exchanges. But one teenager had him stumped when she said that if he proposed she’d say yes, although she knows fully well that ‘Jayaji’ is his wife. During the entire show one saw the loquacious chchora from the banks of Ganga verry verry careful with his words and gestures while interacting with the teeny-bopper. Good for TRPs, no?

The Tribune