PUNJABI ANTENNA
Art of anchoring
Randeep Wadhera

Jaspal Bhatti was star of the week on ETC Punjabi. His trip down the memory lane — the lucky breaks he got, first as cartoonist and then actor, producer director and writer — and his future plans were interesting. But what was he doing on the manji? Is it necessary for urbanite Punjabis to have rural props? Even as a guest, he was doing an anchor’s job, talking between Punjabi and Hindi songs.

Talking of anchors, very few impress. Take this girl on the MH1 channel who was presenting the other day, what else, but a musical programme. She talked non-stop in a shrill voice, flailed her hands and flapped her eyelashes for no reason at all, standing in attention, fauji style, all the while. The two kids on Kaka Nikki Time (ETC) do have the flair, but they’re being wasted in a show that’s basically for adults. However, quite a few anchors have carved a niche for themselves. The Mubarakan anchor is charming; unfortunately, I couldn’t get her name. Sidhu Damdami (Lashkara’s Kharian Kharian) is good. He relentlessly focuses on what the invited politician, technocrat or administrator has to offer to the public. Ritesh Lakhi (Alpha Punjabi’s Khabarsaar) gives a long rope to the guests, propelling them to hang themselves eventually. During the recent elections, both Damdami and Lakhi excelled themselves by repeatedly exposing the hidden facets of various political parties and their candidates.

Satinder Satti lights up our drawing rooms. Her homely folksy style makes you forget that you’re watching the idiot box. One becomes part of the proceedings. In the talk show Kujh Pal Tere Naa and the public interaction programme Excuse Me Please, she gradually unfolds the essence of the guests’ personae, sometimes leading to stunning results as happened with the EMP episode on eunuchs. The portrayal of their unrequited dreams, agonies and ecstasies was haunting. On KPTN, Satinder’s interviews with Hans Raj Hans and Harbhajan Mann were delightful. But one was mesmerised by the Wadali brothers. Their talent and innate simplicity was irresistible.

Eye-catcher

She’s the only singer in India to have won both the Hindi and Punjabi Sa Re Ga Ma singing competitions, organised by Zee TV and Alpha Punjabi in 1997 and 2000, respectively. An accomplished ghazal singer, Rinku is on NZCC Patiala’s ghazal panel. She has staged over 150 live shows of Punjabi and Hindi folk and pop songs all over the country and lent her voice to title songs of three Punjabi serials — Tere Bagair, Punjab Kaur and Simran. 

Her songs have also been included in several music albums. Rinku will be shortly cutting her Punjabi pop album too.

The Yadgar-e-Rafi Society in Chandigarh presented her the Rafi Award in 1994; and she was adjudged Panjab University’s best singer in 1995. She was also honoured twice by the Punjab Sangeet Natak Akademi.