The homecoming - Part II

So, my new year's eve, as I said earlier, was nothing special. I ended up channel surfing and watching a bit of each of those horrific New year specials. I was actually playing a game with myself, trying to adjudge the worst one. Expectantly, it was a tough competition, with no clear winner. It seemed like each of those channels were trying to outdo each other in mediocrity. What really bugged me was, do these program editors and directors think their audiences are fools??? Remember those days when programs like award shows, stage shows etc. were actually beamed live into your living rooms by the good ol' Doordarshan? Though the production value those days may not be have been as appealing as nowadays, and can be even considered tacky and sub-standard, it was still entertaining. And more importantly, truly LIVE. Nowadays, with all that jhintak light and sound effects, the shows may look better, but the feeling of watching a live show doesn't sink in. And they are not live. The whole thing just seems a facade, specifically done up for television. A couple of shots of the celebs in the audience are projected intermittently throughout the show. It's like Do they really think the people watching at home are dumb? They expect us to buy that the likes of Aishwarya rai, Amitabh Bachchan and other people in the audience sit throughout the 3-4 hours of the show in the same pose, with the same facial expression and laugh in exactly the same manner at each and every joke and/or performance? I mean, come on!!! But I guess it's just a part of the whole "The audiences are stupid, they'll lap up whatever we throw at them" attitude adopted by the entire television industry nowadays, whether its soaps, entertainment or news.

Amidst all this Great Indian T.V. tamasha craziness, the only constant is the good ol' Doordarashan. You can count on it, to always remain the same, and never change!!!! Star plus aired an event which was hitting the news since weeks before it was televised on the 31st, (cuz of the spicy encounter between ash n vivek), and to think, at the end, the anchors were trying so hard to make people believe that the are watching a live event, and it actually is 12 am on the 1st jan 2010, and wishing a happy new year, with fireworks n all the other drama!!! While our DD national, had those good ol' staged shows, with famous singers lip-syncing to their popular tracks, and with no intentions of making it look even remotely believable. They were dancing away to the tracks like they'd in a disco, while actually pretending to sing the songs live!! :-D The lighting, the stage and set design, the costumes, all were an instant flashback to the 80's and early 90's, the era where DD seems to be stuck in forever. In fact, travel shows which aired when I was in primary school are still airing!! And no, not new episodes! those same old episodes shot way back then!!!! Really Doordarshan does bring back a lot of fond memories of childhood.....and I'm sure not just for me...! But we'll talk about that some time later.........