 |
|
| ARTS TRIBUNE | Friday, March 22, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
Amita Malik It is hardly a secret that most TV channels, except those in totalitarian countries, run on advertisements. It is the same in India and advertisements are among the most controversial aspects of TV in India. Ugly rival wars take place. Sometimes on a very low level, all sorts of allegations are made about rigging of ratings and there is the eternal discussion about their content and how they promote the wrong kind of consumerism in a developing country like India where the majority of people live below the poverty line. |
|
|
The spring
of dance, music
After a long winter stupor, music lovers of Chandigarh have begun to hear tidings of the coming events in the world of music and dance, tidings of some cheer after a long and dreary spell. Every year, the doors of the mansion of the muse open with the All-India Bhaskar Rao Nritya and Sangeet Sammelan, marking the culmination of the year-long cultural activity of the Pracheen Kala Kendra. For days, melodies keep ringing in the atmosphere, lingering much longer in the hearts of the listeners. One cannot hope for a better ambience for the creation and listening of music than found in these concerts over which the spirit of the great savant of music seems to preside. Musicians from across the country come to pay homage to the man who made music what it is today — a sign of culture and refinement. An atmosphere of piety and reverence pervades these concerts. One cannot account for it, but there is something in the Bhaskar Rao Nritya and Sangeet Sammelan and the atmosphere of devotion and righteousness it is able to provide which induces artistes to give their best. No wonder then if on occasions some musicians of the top bracket have actually expressed the desire to perform in the institution’s functions. For, nothing delights an artiste more than performing in congenial surroundings and before a responsive and appreciative set of discriminating listeners. No monetary recompense equals this unique satisfaction. Has not William Shakespeare said, "To be acknowledged is to be overpaid?" The most memorable recitals in City Beautiful were all held under the auspices of the Pracheen Kala Kendra which included recitals by stalwarts like Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Pt Jasraj, Begum Parveen Sultana, Kishori Amonkar, Sulochana Brahaspati to name a few. This year, the stage is all set for young upcoming artistes who will display their talent and share the limelight along with veterans. The opening day’s programme on March 21 will feature the Kuchipudi dance recital by Payal Ramchandani. A disciple of Padma Bhushan Raja-Radha Reddy, Payal is all set to go far with her dedication, patience and thirst for the dance form. She will be followed on stage by Pt Rajan and Sajan Misra who are only too well known for making the listeners spellbound by the rendition of familiar raagas and compositions. On March 22, Kaushalya Reddy, known for her innovation and "intelligent interpretation of tradition" will mesmerise the audience by her sterling performance of Kuchipudi dance. National award winner for his song rendition in the movie "Godmother", Sanjeev Abhyankar in his maiden visit to Chandigarh, with the quality of his heart, nuanced voice, and unwavering tunefulness will hatch too sweet a conspiracy to be resisted. On March 23, another vocal recital by Sugandha Mishra, a younger generation artiste, is aimed at providing a forum to the new performer. Young Kathak dancer Prachee Shah is a visually-arresting performer. Her dazzling presence, articulated posture and dramatic freezes make her a promising dancer. A familiar face on television, apart from a brilliant dancer, her claim to fame are serials like "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi", "Kundali", "Koshish Ek Asha" and "Kahin Diya Jale Kahin Jiya". Two young musicians — Madhusudan and Gopal Barman — players of tabla and sreekhol, respectively, are all set to enthral the audience with their jugalbandi on the same day. For Grammy Award winner Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt it can well be said that "he keeps the tradition of the Bhatt lineage going" possessing the melody of the traditional veena, coupled with vibrant strumming and resonance, Mohan Veena, the masterpiece he created, is truly a dream instrument for a concert. No wonder his unique genius earned him the title of Guitar Man from well-known American music critic Errol Nazreth. He is set to reverberate through the air the mellow sound and resonance of Mohan Veena on the concluding day on March 24. The penultimate item will be the dance of renowned dancer Sonal Mansingh. A veteran in the field, who has performed in more than 80 countries, this concert will be yet another feather in her cap. The sammelan will be inaugurated on March 21 by Mr Ashok Kumar, Transport Minister, Haryana, while Mrs Lalit Joshi, Mayor, Chandigarh, will be the guest of honour. On March 22, the programme will be presided over by Padma Vibhushan sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Member of Parliament, will preside over on March 23 and Mr Ashwini Luthra, Commissioner of Income Tax will be the guest of honour. The concluding function will be
presided over by the Governor of Haryana, Babu Parmanand. |
 |
SIGHT
& SOUND It is hardly a secret that most TV channels, except those in totalitarian countries, run on advertisements. It is the same in India and advertisements are among the most controversial aspects of TV in India. Ugly rival wars take place. Sometimes on a very low level, all sorts of allegations are made about rigging of ratings and there is the eternal discussion about their content and how they promote the wrong kind of consumerism in a developing country like India where the majority of people live below the poverty line. I remember a horrifying news story on TV about five years ago. It showed a village woman standing near a well. Standing beside her was a washing machine. When interviewed, she said she was a washerwoman and had saved up for over a year to buy the machine because she felt it would save a lot of hard work and time. When asked how she meant to run it, she said she would lower her bucket into the well, fill up the machine with water, press a switch and all the clothes would come out beautifully washed. When asked how she could run it without electricity, which had not yet reached her village, she looked quite blank, because no one had told her that the machine was dependent on electricity. This alone proved that those who watch channels like Fashion TV to keep people’s morals under check would be better employed watching out for the greater dangers involved in unchecked advertising. And this seriously concerns Indian society as a whole. Take, for instance, the increasing lack of ethics in surrogate advertising. Going totally unchecked are ads which are clearly for hard liquor, mostly whisky, forbidden during certain hours and, on DD, forbidden altogether. We see a brown liquid poured into a glass under a well-known brand name, and we are told the man is drinking apple juice. The girl who is avidly watching him immediately rewards him with a kiss. In the same sort of way, water, soda and other harmless liquors stand in for hard liquor and beat the ban. Far more dangerous is the way the mandatory warnings about certain products are either omitted altogether or shown so briefly, and sometimes not even in full, that even the fastest reader cannot read them let alone understand the warning. The greatest offenders in this line are advertisements for paan masala. Next in line are the advertisements which involve stunts. The mandatory warning that they are being performed by professionals and should not be attempted by amateurs are more observed in the breach and sometimes just the first three words are rushed through at breakneck speed and the vital warning not shown at all. I also wonder how many drivers can come to grief emulating the feat of the driver who gives a girl a lift through a river lined with boulders because he is encouraged to "make his own road". Another car ad encourages a driver of an overladen wagon driving recklessly on the wrong side of the road, overtaking at high speed and breaking several traffic rules to help a girl to catch a bus. Then there are advertisements which can hurt people. I know some elderly people who object to showing an old man’s false teeth rattling in a bowl according to the opening and closing of the door of a refrigerator. Then the rudeness of a schoolboy who tells off a shopkeeper about what pen he wants. A change has also come over the advertising ploy of granny knows best, except for the charming granny who pushes ayurvedic products. All the other grannies are out of date and foolish while their clever daughter-in-law tells them which masala or detergent to use. It never pays to make one generation score cruelly at the expense of another. Also questionable are insect repellents, well-known for their bad effects on humans, being advertised as herbal or ayurvedic, the two most fashionable labels at the moment. I am often asked if there is a proper censor body for TV, as there is for the cinema. Certainly no one including the I and B Ministry seems to watch false claims or doubtful slants to ads. with as much keenness as they do so-called obscenity. As a TV watcher I agree some advertisements are works of art, with a charm of their own and give one a lot of aesthetic pleasure. They are too many to name, my favourite ones being those for suitings, those for life insurance, done in good taste, while some good ones are marred by poor acting. I am surprised, for instance, that Rajat Kapoor, who did such a good job in "Monsoon Wedding" as the child abuser and in other advertisements, gives such a poor performance in two otherwise clever ads. One is for Temptation chocolate. Caught by his wife as also consuming chocolates on the sly, he turns away his head coyly like a bahu in a saas-bahu serial instead of giving a hearty laugh and a hug to his wife, as most modern husbands would. He does the same copy, and in this case expressionless act when he finds the woman who has had a sex change is standing right beside him, when he should at least have given a start, like the good actor he is. Lastly, I would urge channels not to
give priority to ads and revenue at the expense of viewers and the
programmes they want to view without too many interruptions. The worst
offenders are Aaj Tak in the field of news and Doordarshan in the field
of sports, where tennis, cricket and other games are arbitrarily ruined
for the viewer by mindless ads cutting into the game, into vital
commentaries and even presentation ceremonies, as happened when Zimbabwe
won in Delhi with the horrible suspicion that this was bias, since India
had not won. This was an international event and DD should have acted
internationally. |
