PUNJABI ANTENNA
Work on voiceovers
Randeep Wadehra

REGIONAL channels have limited reach as well as resources. This is true of Zee Punjabi too. Therefore, its news bulletin Zee Khabran has to depend upon Zee News for reports as well as video clips, which are understandably in either English or Hindi. But, what stops the channel from having voiceovers in Punjabi and subtitles in Gurmukhi? While covering the recent earthquake disaster in J&K and Pakistan, Zee Khabran showed Pervez Musharraf addressing the media in English and there was no voiceover or subtitles, which, I’m sure, would have put off a big chunk of its viewers.

The serial Awaaz Punjab Di on MH1 has reached a crucial stage. Wannabe star singers from different parts of Punjab are competing on the small screen for a place in the sun. By the time this gets published the competition would have reached the halfway stage. Satinder Satti’s compering is thoroughly professional. The lady now anchors shows for DD Punjabi, Zee Punjabi and MH1, as well as stage shows in India and abroad. By the way, Satti’s crowning glory has regained its original hue. One discovered this while watching her in a t`EAte-`E0-t`EAte with director Manmohan Singh on the sets of Kujh Pal Tere Naam. The dark tresses certainly give her a better screen presence than the firang fuzz she had come to sport for a while.

If Sunny Deol starred in ETC Punjabi’s Caught on Camera & Dil Diyan Gallan last week, this week it was Juhi Babbar talking of her strict and conservative upbringing, which impels her to refuse roles demanding skin-exposure. However, it was her narration of how reluctant her entry into the film world was that sounded interesting. And, one thought the 21st century lasses were less self-deluding.

Kishan Lal in Dupatta is seriously ill and needs Rs 2 lakh urgently for the operation. His son walked out on the family in the earlier episodes. Oh, but you are yawning. Hindi tearjerkers have already ground this formula to dust. How one wishes for something different in Punjabi.