The Knight of God

LIKE all Sikhs, he has long hair, has always grown his beard and is a warrior who always carries his sword. Meet Hari Singh the Nihang.

Hari Singh features in a fascinating series of the National Geographic Channel which celebrates One Week in India starting February 8 at 10 p.m. every night.

The series also features programmes like Gift of the Monsoon, Journey of a Fakir, Day of the Elephant and The Last Life of Nirmala. Hari Singh features in The Knight of God on February 9, at 10 p.m.

In the past, the Nihang sect was formed to defend the values of Sikh religion against the Mughal invaders. Today, Hari Singh and his Nihang fellows use their swords for the benefit of the poor, whatever their religion may be.

The Nihangs are accomplished riders and in their modern-day avtaar, sometimes travel from village to village alleviating the miseries of the downtrodden. A not-to-be-missed programme on a brave set of people who uphold the high values of Sikhism.

Fame for a song

The MTV Video Ga Ga Contest gave young people across India an exciting opportunity to fulfil their wildest dreams, of making and starring in their own music video. The two lucky winners are Pratyusha Thakur (a zoology graduate from Calcutta) and Anupam Amod (an architect from Delhi).

The contest attracted participants from different parts of India. The MTV office was flooded with entries from cities like Guwahati, Bhopal, Cochin, Allahabad, Ludhiana, Calcutta, Delhi and many more. The winners were chosen on the basis of voice modulation and star potential. They got a once in a lifetime opportunity to make their very own music video and star in it, thus fulfilling a dream.

Pratyusha and Anupam sang a re-mixed version of Jai Jai Shiv Shankar — the all time favourite Hindi film masti song. It’s a peppy, hip swinging, danceable track that will definitely rock the club circuit. The video stars MTV VJ Maria Goretti whose hipshaking steps are sure to mesmerise the audience.

So watch out for Jai Jai Shiv Shankar which is already on high rotation on MTV.

Dumb-struck!

The serial makes no secret of the fact that it has been inspired by the all-time hit American serial Three’s Company. And what an ‘inspiration’ Baat Ban Jaye is.

With such a strong western show to back it up it’s not surprising that the serial is a huge hit. But more than that is the new girl in the serial — Kashmira Shah who has replaced Niki Aneja who is creating the waves.

Kashmira who’s cameos in films like Yes Boss and Pyar To Hona Hi Tha made her a popular star now has a big role in the Amitabh starrer Hindustan Ki Kasam. And she says she’s enjoying her new stint on the small screen.

"In Baat Ban Jaye I play the role of a dumb girl who simply has no brains. It’s so alien that I had to really practice hard for the role. But it’s great fun and I suppose that fun gets translated to the small screen". Indeed it does, which explains why the programme is such a hit with viewers of all age groups".

Ilyasi fights back

The series is proving to be more than what television shows normally aspire to be. In fact, since June 1998 India’s Most Wanted has resulted in ruining the flourishing criminal careers of 10 people ranging from gangsters to tricksters, goons to abductors and embezzlers to murderers.

"Crime and criminals have bothered me from a very young age," says presenter, producer and director, Suhaib llyasi. A postgraduate in Mass Communication from Delhi’s Jamia Milia University, llyasi got his inspiration from BBC’s famous serial The Crime Stoppers while he was working with Channel TV Asia in London. When Zee okayed his proposal for India’s Most Wanted he quit his job and came to India.

Today IMW enjoys a TRP rating of 10-12 which is among the highest on TV for crime-based shows. On Zee TV it is the second most watched show after Amanat. Initially llyasi was commissioned 52 episodes, but with the show’s spiralling popularity he has been given an extension of another 52 episodes.

Now llyasi is all set to produce another show on the lines of IMW which will also be titled Crime Stoppers for Doordarshan. "The idea is to fight crime. Whenever a criminal is nailed because of our show, we get very motivated and feel we are on the right track".

Into the hall of fame

Question: What do a sculptor, a Nobel prize-winning economist, a classical music conductor, an actress-cum-cookery expert and a New Age guru all have in common?

Answer: They are all Indians and they have all made their mark in their diverse fields on the international stage.

BBC’s Out of India profiles 13 of the most renowned Indians with indepth interviews and on-location shooting around the world to bring viewers intimate portraits of, among others, Zubin Mehta, Madhur Jaffrey, Deepak Chopra, Amartya Sen and Anish Kapoor. Don’t miss this rivetting series starting early this month. Out of India may yet be the best profiles you have seen on the people who’ve made India proud.

— Mukesh Khosla