Saturday September 25, 2004

Random walks

Aishwarya Rai struck a seemingly professional note in her recent episode of Walk the Talk on NDTV. Shekhar Gupta is a respected journalist and an informed interviewer, but the walking during the talking, which is meant to a convey an air of informality, appears artificial and needlessly contrived. I recall a show with Manmohan Singh (before he was Prime Minister) - Shekhar dragged him all over the Delhi School of Economics campus, before ending up walking and talking in the library, no doubt distracting everyone else around. Shekhar, if you read this, working the outdoor locations is a good idea, but don't overdo the walking part. Especially not with 90-year old politicians. I liked the episode with Ratan Tata, though, where you drove through the Tata motors campus in their new car, as also the interview with Vishy Anand.

The worst example of a TV show trying to live up to its silly name has got to be the BBC's Business Bites. Ronnie Screwvala invites 2 businessmen each week for a chat over a meal, but the invitees are inevitably - and understandably - reluctant to eat. I mean, who seriously wants to be seen eating a meal on TV ? It's a bad idea. Give it up.

In contrast to these trendy settings, a plain black studio background adorns Prabhu Chawla, one of the best interviewers on Indian TV. He never misses a hard question, but unlike the stern Tim Sebastian, smiles genially even as he dissects his victim.

All in all, though, I like this set of interviewers better than American talk show hosts, even the classy Terry Gross.

(2004-09-25 23:48:35.0) Permalink