|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In
the good old Doordarshan days interviews used to be feel good, cosy
t`EAtes-`E0-t`EAtes wherein all sorts of nice things would be said of
the guest – ignoring blots and warts. A nice makeover job that would
not add much to the viewers’ knowledge but one while away the time.
But then came cable TV with a host of private channels competing for
public attention that have redefined TV interview. In the strictest
sense television interviews are anything but. Conventionally interviews
are exchange of views between two persons with a view to assess one’s
worth for a specific purpose. On a casual note it can also be described
as a means of getting to know each other. But what we see on television
today is much more substantial as it is conducted on a public platform
in order to reveal the interviewee’s thoughts and personality to
millions of viewers. To paraphrase Seneca – the Roman author of Epistles—
a TV interview has a kind of charm about it, an insinuating and
insidious something that elicits secrets from the interviewee just like
love or liquor. However, different interviewers have different ways of
eliciting secrets. Prabhu Chawla on Aaj Tak’s Seedhi Baat
hardly asks straight questions. He prefers to use syrupy adjectives and
a sweet smile to lower the guard of his quarry before slipping in the
innocuous sounding naughty question. Only seasoned, media savvy guests
escape the trap. Normally they spill the beans, while some lose their
shirt as did Vivek Oberoi on his romantic links with Aishwarya Rai. And
he isn’t the only one to lose his cool and much else because Chawla’s
baat is anything but seedhi. On NDTV’s One On One
Vir Sanghvi prefers to put straight posers. He doesn’t pull punches
whether he is interviewing India’s strongest woman politician Sonia
Gandhi or lesser mortals. Moreover, he has a propensity for sarcasm that
makes one feel sorry for his victims. One still remembers his interview
with the goody-goody Nafisa Ali on another channel years back wherein he
almost convinced the lady that she was a misfit for the rough and tumble
of the political world. Shekhar Walk The Talk Gupta on the other
and does not use any subterfuge or satire. He prefers to ask polite
questions that relate to his guest’s specific area of interest. So,
whether it is Shilpa Shetty or Sachin Tendulkar the conversation is
generally relaxed and cogent. But, surprisingly, guests do reveal their
true selves as did the Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackrey. Perhaps this is
because Gupta allows maximum speaking time to his guests and seldom
interrupts their train of thought. One of the beauties of his approach
is polite deference even when he disagrees with his guest’s
utterance. This is something you cannot say of Karan Devil’s
Advocate ‘Devil’s Advocate’ Thapar on CNN-IBN. He looks upon
his guests as guilty until or unless proved otherwise. He harries them
with uncomfortable questions, backs up his ‘charge sheet’ with
incontrovertible evidence, interrupts them when they digress or become
too loquacious, bludgeons them with verbal assaults into admitting
whatever he wants them to admit. No wonder you hear such chagrined
exclamations as "this is no way to conduct an interview!" from
Ram Jethmalani, the battle-scarred veteran of hot debates, when cornered
on the Jessica Lal case; or "when you have invited me at least
allow me to speak!" from a flustered, fiery Uma Bharti when
repeatedly interrupted on her digressions; or "what sort of
question is this?!" from a chary Andhra CM Rajasekhara Reddy when
queried about his benami property and his attempts to browbeat the
Press. The no-nonsense Thapar fixes them all with a steady stare and a
grimacing visage, which can be pretty unnerving for the hot-seat
incumbent. Frisson ebbs and flows as sweat beads do an excruciatingly
slow dance on frowning/sulking faces.
|
