No Superlatives For The Telly This Week

SANTOSH DESAI

WHAT A WEEK ON television. With Parliament going the way of ‘Bigg Boss,’ it was fun and games all around. Much has already been said about this, so let me focus on a couple of things that go beyond the outrage-shame-what-we-have-come-to stuff that we all know.

For one, this was actually a debate with some notable speeches. While the methods surrounding the trust vote were what they were, the issue at hand was a substantive one, and was dealt with a measure of seriousness, at least by some. Secondly, the channels were curiously out-gunned by the reality unfolding on our screens. No superlatives could re-frame or add to what we were seeing ourselves. It was thus not surprising that NDTV, with its focus on providing a commentary to what was being seen, made for the most compelling viewing.

CNN IBN’s decision not to telecast the tapes was never properly explained and too little attention has been focused on that. Why would a channel willingly forego that kind of an advantage? Even if the sting was inconclusive, why not share it with viewers with that caveat? It might well have been an act of responsibility, something that is so rare today, but some more information on this would have been helpful.

The Hindustan Times has a new layout for its edit page which is, well, new. While it boasts a very readable panel of writers (Vir Sanghvi, Barkha Dutt, the extremely talented Kushalrani Gulab to name but a few), its attempts at satire are consistently and unerringly unfunny. Features like Quote-Unquote and The Dialogue are embarrassingly bad.

NDTV India has a food show hosted by Vinod Dua and while he is portly enough to suggest a fondness for food, he is far too pedantic for a show like this. He conducts himself with all the back-slapping cheerfulness of a pathologist, conducting an autopsy on the things he puts in his mouth while giving us a running commentary of his own actions (“This is a ‘raj bhog’ which I am now putting in my mouth…”). On the other hand, Highway on My Plate on NDTV Good Times is an amazingly good show that exudes an effortless air of breezy gluttony. The two anchors Mayur and Rocky are relaxed, spontaneous and make endearingly bad jokes while stuffing themselves with prodigious quantities of food. Unlike other Indian food shows which either feature five-star chefs who convert the kitchen into an operation theatre or upper class ‘foodies’ behaving in an awkwardly patronising way with street food, this is a show that rings true every single time. Above all, it almost always makes you hungry. Always a good sign.

Desai is the MD and CEO of Futurebrands.
santosh365@gmail.com