Punjabi Antenna
Anchors decide the flavour
Randeep Wadehra

With change of anchors, a show’s flavour undergoes a transformation of sorts even when its format remains the same. During its previous anchor’s tenure, Excuse Me Please was more of an open-air talk show where people from different walks of life were asked mundane questions. Now, Ranbir Rana too does the same but he injects quite a bit of humour in the proceedings. Gone are the impromptu verse recitations, roadside games and cryptic comments. Now we have a sprinkling of giggles. After the break-up with Bhagwant Mann, Ranbir Rana has certainly come of age. Apart from working in movies, he has impressed as the anchor of EMP. His humour, not exactly urbane but amusingly rustic and small town, tickles children and adults alike. Recently, on his visit to Panchkula’s Sector 20 Gurukul School, he interacted with students, evoking laughter all around. It was certainly one of the more entertaining episodes of EMP.

Producing quality sitcoms, soap operas and telefilms is a costly business. It tests one’s creative mettle and is time-consuming to boot. For this reason, perhaps, Punjabi channels keep away from these. However, even as soap and drama have vanished from the Punjabi television, Channel Punjab has gone ahead with sitcoms and serious serials. Two of these have become quite popular in Europe.

One is Saude Dilan De, which is the story of two Sikh girls whose parents were killed during the Partition and their only brother had fled to India while they were left behind in Pakistan to be brought up by a Muslim family. Later, they were married into Muslim families. However, the two sisters try to meet their brother braving political and communal hurdles. Dr Ranjit plays the role of Ayub Khan, a rabid India hater. Other stars include Blossom Singh, Anita Shabdish and Tarsem Lal.

The other popular show on the channel is Khada Pita Barbad Kita, a comedy that revolves around a village sarpanch’s attempts to usurp an NRI’s property. It has Mehar Mittal, JS Gogi, Upasna Singh, Dr Ranjit and Jagtar Jaggi in stellar roles. Sadly, one can’t enjoy these absorbing entertainers in India as the channel doesn’t have the licence to telecast here, although it is beaming its programmes to 22 countries in Europe and elsewhere.

Remembering legends is a healthy social practice and media can do a lot in this respect. This thought came to mind while watching the late Surjit Bindrakhiya’s last televised talk in Caught On Camera. Why not produce shows to remember other legends like Parkash Kaur, Surinder Kaur, Amrita Pritam, Balraj Sahni, Shiv Batalvi, Asa Singh Mastana and several others?