Sight & Sound
Scorching images
Amita Malik

Most viewers have had their fill of tragedies down the years: air and train crashes, floods, murders, rape and worse. But nothing can be so poignant as the death of a child. And what happened in Kumbakonam is beyond words. To see the charred bodies of little children and their inconsolable parents was bad enough. One father put chocolates in his dead son’s hand before burying him. Another weeping mother said: "What is the point of cremating my little daughter? She is already burnt, so let me bury her remains." Only TV could have brought these images and sentiments into the intimacy of our homes. We all felt these were our families and our children.

At the other extreme there was the diversion of cricket matches in Sri Lanka. For sports lovers this was in natural succession to tennis at Wimbledon. Some felt sorry that Balaji had lost his endearingly wild look by trimming and actually combing his hair, but were happy that Irfan Pathan retains his simplicity and dazzling smile although the media is trying its best to make him a star although the more modest advertisement in which he figures lets him retain those qualities.

I fail to understand why Shekhar Suman should figure in the list of anchors for the Hindi commentary which ESPN has introduced in its coverage of cricket. I am sure he can do excellent imitations of the cricketers, but that is hardly the function of a sports commentator. Still, he is preferable to Mandira Bedi by sports lovers. I must say that Shaz and Waz keep up a credible avuncular act when talking to the girls who compete for a cricket shirt in their show.

It is always a pleasure for a media commentator to see the evolution of a good anchor. I have watched with interest for some time now NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan, who has taken the place of some of NDTV’s star anchors who have left for other shores. Nidhi does her homework, is articulate, never interrupts unnecessarily, avoids leading questions, and is never awed by difficult or arrogant politicians. All signs of a mature and confident anchor. Nidhi, keep it up.

I was also happy to see that while NDTV remains unchallenged in the field of news in English, it is now at a creditable number two in Hindi as well. The Hindi news has a very complete and competent team, headed by Dibang and Pankaj Pachauri, and deserves to be where it is. Hopefully it can compete for first place.

The coverage of the Birla-Lodha will controversy has touched new heights in TV coverage. In Kolkata, the Bengali channels are going to town on it with plenty of visual coverage as well as spicy speculation. Not that the Hindi channels have been left behind, and the English channels are trying to be more diplomatic. All the more remarkable because all the interviews are mostly with third parties. The occasional lawyer makes things a little more exciting by making confusing and contradictory statements, while some, claiming to be close to the families like erstwhile Kolkatan Suhel Seth, add to the gossip.

Seth is fast rivalling Javed Akhtar and Mahesh Bhatt as a man for all seasons and reasons on television. I would like to remind them of what E. Alkazi said to me once when I said to him he was more effective on TV because we rarely saw him. He said: "One should know when to say No." Nothing is as boring as the TV bore who bobs up every minute in every programme day after day. Producers seem to be very lazy in the matter of finding the many other articulate and interesting commentators lurking around.

Jeena Isi ka Naam Hai has consistently kept up good standards since the return of Farooque Sheikh. One of the best was with model/actor Dino Morea, who turned out to be articulate and natural, with no false airs. And Faroque, who is always relaxed and puts even the most shy person at ease, got the best out of all those who spoke up for Morea. And I like the interaction between channels since this is a production for Zee by NDTV’s Radhika Roy.