Punjabi Antenna
Ever popular talk shows
Randeep Wadehra

Studio Bollywood on PTC Punjabi gives us glimpses of filmstars’ lives (for example, in its latest edition it focussed on Pankaj Kapoor) and informs us of the latest releases, among other things. The anchor, Satvinder Bharaj, does her job with aplomb. Not surprising, really, as she is in the profession for about a decade now and has worked her way up the ladder from being assistant director-cum-anchor for Channel Punjab and DD Urdu to becoming a much-in-demand television professional. Some of her notable achievements are Dilli Door Nahin for Channel Punjab (72 episodes as anchor/assistant director), Hum Aur Hamarey Masayil for DD Urdu (26 episodes as assistant director) etc, apart from doing episodes for Teleshoppe.

Her other notable shows are Spotlight, Direct Dil Se and My SMS, which are still on air on the PTC Punjabi channel.

Understandably, female foeticide remains a hot issue with various Punjabi channels. Things are not improving to the extent and in the manner perceived by the concerned agencies. Straight Talk on PTC News had two NRI experts telling us how the very nasl is in danger of disappearing if girls continue to be killed in the womb.

Politics on talk shows never goes out of fashion. Manpreet Badal has been on the small screen for quite some time now. His departure from SAD and subsequent “Jago Punjab” campaign on the one hand and Captain Amarinder Singh’s re-anointment as the Punjab Pradesh Congress boss on the other have sent the region’s analysts peering into the future. Experts on various talk shows have seen these developments as bad omen for the ruling Akali-BJP coalition. They point out that with their nemesis, Amarinder, back in the arena, and Manpreet Badal rendering a crippling blow to the Akali citadel, there is every chance of the present coalition losing the next assembly elections. Incidentally, Manpreet Badal was interviewed only on Day & Night Channel while others merely aired archival clippings pertaining to his political activities; in an episode of Tirchchi Nazar we had Harcharan Bains portraying Parkash Singh Badal as the victim and Manpreet Badal as the perpetrator! Shades of the Sukhbir effect?

Anchor Satvinder does her job with aplomb

On Masle SAD’s Valtoha and Congress’s Chatrath clashed over non-issues. Their respective arguments were as predictable as the dialogues of our TV soaps. Earlier Masle had taken up the issue of blame-allocation with regard to the present mess in Punjab’s economy. Since the panellists were from the not-so- mutually-hostile parties, the decibel levels remained tolerable. However, if the Akali representative wanted to shift the blame entirely on to the Centre’s head, the CPI panellist felt that the successive governments in the state have done a great damage to Punjab’s economic well-being. What was left unsaid was that visionary developmental planning had never been a part of the state’s politico-administrative culture.

Thanks to the Green Revolution, Punjab had generated enough wealth to build enduring performing assets that would have multiplied the state’s income several fold on a permanent basis. Alas, all the advantage was frittered away, thanks to the politics of grievance and competitive bigotry, rampant corruption, profligacy and self-aggrandisement.