PUNJABI ANTENNA
Time for channels to perk up
Randeep Wadehra

TODAY, ‘infotainment’ is an umbrella for disseminating a wide range of information and informed opinion. We have animated debates on national and international issues. Within moments of an event occurring anywhere in the country news reporters, with camera crew in tow, reach the spot for live coverage. Instant news and instantaneous analysis is in vogue. Unfortunately, this is not true of Punjabi television channels, which do not give adequate importance to information. Alpha and DD Punjabi do have a slot or two for news, but ETC, Balle Balle etc have ignored it altogether.

However, Punjab Today is one news channel that holds promise. It is Punjab centric and, apart from sports and political activities, it covers cultural activities too. Nonetheless, like the DD of yore, the newsreader reads in a monotonous drone, while visuals play out on the screen. There’s hardly any on-the-spot reporting. DD Punjabi, still and all, does have a slot for informed news analysis. In the morning a senior journalist is invited to give his views on developments related to politics, law and order, sports etc. However, with elections imminent, it is time for the channels to smarten up their act.

In this era of globalization, one should be prepared for anything. Even for spiritualism being imported into India from, of all the places, the US. One espied an American woman pontificating in saaddi boli on DD Punjabi. A few minutes of watching revealed that the congregation too was American – a Black and White conglomeration. The discourse was dubbed. One did not notice any telltale signs and symbols of any particular creed but obviously it was about morality and religion. The audience looked absolutely bored. So was this reviewer. Yawn.

Then, of course, we have music straddling the spectrum of Punjabi television. Whatever the genre, ghazal, qawwali, nazm or folksong, there ought to be lots of hullabaloo, out-of-step dancing and off-key hoi hois. High decibel drumbeats and spirited hurrrrrs keep the noise pollution at ear-splitting levels, with same faces flitting across the small screen warbling familiar numbers against familiar backdrops. Yawnnnn.

Zonk! Suddenly, I was wide awake. Harleen Mann (Lashkara) was interacting with college students. Now, I am not overly enamoured with televised nukkad shows like Xcuse Me Please, Punjab Mail and Dama Dam Mast. But this episode of DDM was captivatingly ingenuous. The youngsters displayed their talents – both individually and as part of teams. While girls and boys seemed at par in individual performances, the boys flopped as a team. That too in an event that’s essentially Punjabi – bhangra. The girls charmed with their tappas, boliyan, sitthhanian and giddha. As a team, their coordination was flawless.