SIGHT & SOUND
...And the best actress award goes to Nikki Aneja
Amita Malik

THERE has been a virtual shower of annual awards in the last few weeks. So much so that I mixed up one or two of them and one very serious website award-giver quite rightly told me very politely and sadly on the phone from Mumbai that I had blamed him for giving an award which had been given by someone else. I apologised immediately and humbly and hope I was forgiven. But it set me wondering why this column could not also join the party and give its own annual awards. Of course there won’t be any filmi geet and dances on the stage nor Shatrughan Sinha and other greats will give them away. But at least we are professionals with no vested interests and one is happy to report that one gets quite a few thank-you telephone calls from young people who have been noticed for the first time and encouraged, just as one gets growls and howls of "bias" from established performers with big egos.

Sight and Sound declares Nikki Aneja, featuring in Astitva, the best small-screen actress

I must also remind readers and viewers that one person can only watch so many programmes, especially serials and soaps, which come on at the same time, and one can only watch a few of them at length. One also has other things to do in life and sometimes has to miss a programme while on a journey. Besides, opinions are necessarily subjective, and try to help guide audiences and also reflect audience preferences too. So with all these provisos, I shall list my favourite programmes, admired for their professional quality, their contribution to both information and entertainment and, of course, their social purpose. So here goes:

Best programme on cars and other vehicles: Wheels on the BBC completed five years last week and remains the best. Its racy presentation, with Niret Alva’s charm equalling his expertise, its recognised team, its confident style and its outstanding camerawork remain unequalled.

Best talk show: Shekhar Gupta’s Walk The Talk on NDTV, for its always surprising choice of interviews, its clever locales (Rani Mukherji in Khandala), its friendly, casual style which conceals serious in-depth research.

Best light talk show: Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai on Zee, with Farooque Sheikh as anchor.

Best interview of the year: Prannoy Roy’s interview on NDTV with President Musharraf, where the general said India was afraid to play cricket with Pakistan and Prannoy gently reminded him that we had beaten them in the World Cup.

Best serial: Astitva, Ek Prem Kahani, on Zee, for its adult, credible and contemporary theme, its excellent casting (barring actress change in midstream) and outstanding dialogue and direction.

Best light serial: But, of course, Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin on Sony, for being bold, different and with an outstanding actress who dares to be ugly and gauche but scores with her brains.

Best actress: Nikki Aneja in Astitva, who combines to perfection the role of the professional Dr Simran with that of the traditional wife and daughter-in-law.

Best actor: Harsh Chhaya as Manas in Astitva. He puts completely in the shade Varun Badola, the so-called main actor with his sensitivity and variety.

Best satirical programme: Public Hai Sab Janti Hai on Sab TV. Sushmita Mukherji, Mishra and supporting cast tear politicians to bits with wit and shrewdness. The politicians are naturally not amused.

Best short satirical programme: Double Take on NDTV in both English and Hindi, where our top politicians with masks are mercilessly taken apart.

Best patriotic programme: Jai Jawan on NDTV with Aamir Khan at home with our jawans in Ladakh. A touching, spontaneous interchange, with deep respect and warmth on both sides — an unforgettable encounter.

Best crime thriller: CID. It has maintained a steady professional quality.

Best investigative programme: Zee’s Inside Story has taken a hard look at many social evils, including the racket of fake medicines.

Best scoop: There have been so many, but since Sahara Samay is a comparatively new and young channel, I’d like to give them a pat on the back for first airing the Judeo tape.

Best foreign affairs programme: Well, there’s only The World This Week but I feel it still has to catch up in scope, persistence and foreign interviews with Saeed Naqvi’s classic coverage over the years. His continuous coverage of UN operations by Indian troops is only now being paid some attention by others. And his long interviews with the world’s top leaders of the rank of Castro to Gorbachev in their home territory will possibly never be equalled.

Expendable programmes: On crime. Since these items figure in new bulletins, lumping them together only sensationalises and glorifies crime. Page 3 style night out programmes are particularly unbearable to non-Page 3 viewers when champagne is seen being drunk by the gallon as the captions running below report more deaths from the cold wave and more hunger deaths.

I am not going to rank newscasters, anchors, chat shows beyond the ones mentioned. There are too many stars who are so opinionated and self-centred that they live in a world of their own. I must also make it clear that I have only covered the English and Hindi channels so hesitate to call these national awards. The regional channels have some formidable news, current affairs and entertainment programmes which are sab se tez but are completely ignored by Mumbai’s several award givers. It is time they were included.