Didi no. 1 — say that in Kolkata, and you would think it was a reference to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, popularly called “Didi” by one and all, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
But Didi No. 1 is the name of a game show on a Bengali entertainment TV channel that has been running for 14 years now. It is so popular that it rivals Sourav Ganguly’s quiz show Dadagiri Unlimited, I am told.
No disrespect, but I never watched either.
Last Sunday, though, I tuned in at 8 pm to Zee Bangla to watch Didi No. 1. Why? Because promos on Bengali news channels that I do watch 24×7 kept reminding me that on 3 March Sunday, the guest of honour on the show was going to be the real Didi no. 1 — Mamata Banerjee.
A little after 8 pm that evening, the charming anchor of the show trooped out to the wings, and moments later, to a thunderous, standing ovation from guests in the studio, brought Banerjee centre stage.
It was a cute show. The CM narrated stories of her childhood, her first exposure to politics during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, her first salary as a school teacher – Rs 60, if I heard right — and so on. Then she shook a leg with tribal dancers on stage, rolled out a not-so-round chapatti in a snap, and finally, painted a bunch of red and gold flowers on a canvas placed on the stage.
Banerjee also gave a scoop, which the anchor missed. She revealed – I do believe for the first time – that her real date of birth was 5 October and not the official 5 January. She quoted her mama (mother’s brother) to reveal that she was born on that day in the middle of Durga Pujas and it was raining heavily at that time.
She also said that she was a “home delivery”.
The anchor wowed, clapped, and laughed. She was not a journalist, alas, I thought, and missed the import of the scoop the chief minister gave her. I would have definitely asked for the year of birth as well. But never mind, I told myself, you are not the anchor, so chill.
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Glitzy world to real politics
Now imagine my utter astonishment when that charming anchor trooped out this Sunday behind Banerjee on the dramatic ramp on Brigade Parade Ground that was the showpiece of Trinamool Congress’ Jonogorjon rally, and this was just after national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee started reading out the TMC’s list of candidates.
I had not even registered the anchor’s name during the Didi No. 1 episode — I was so occupied with what Banerjee said. Now, seven days later, there it was, flashing at me out of the giant screen at Brigade Parade Ground: TMC candidate for the Hooghly Lok Sabha seat, Rachana Banerjee!
You could have knocked me down with a feather!
Rachana Banerjee, I have since learnt, was born Jhumjhum on 2 October 1974. In the 1990s, she was crowned Miss Kolkata and participated in the Femina Miss India contest the year Madhur Sapre won the crown. She has a son by her second husband from whom she separated in 2016.
When cast for her first film, the director changed her name to Rachana. It worked. Today, she is known for roles in the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Sooryavansham, at least 36 Odia films, over 60 Bengali ones, and a sundry number in Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada.
With Rachana Banerjee as host, Didi No. 1 gained iconic status. But the celebrated anchor of the show will now have to juggle time for politics at the rural constituency of Hooghly, which includes Singur and is currently held by BJP’s Locket Chatterjee, a former actress herself who has said she knew Rachana as a colleague in the past.
A battle against all the baggage
Hooghly is a challenging seat, held six times by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) before Dr Ratna Dey Nag of TMC snatched it in 2009, riding on TMC’s movement against the Tata Nano factory there. It was a shock for the TMC when BJP’s Locket Chatterjee wrested it with 46 per cent voteshare in 2019.
Rachana will have to battle all that baggage to win. She can draw some comfort from the fact that in 2021, the TMC had swept all seven assembly segments in the Hooghly Lok Sabha seat. But in politics, while numbers do matter, the winning edge possibly comes from chemistry. Rachana has oodles of charm, but she has to make sure it cuts ice with her voters.
That neither Nusrat Jahan nor Mimi Chatterjee, TMC’s two glamourous filmstar MPs, have been re-nominated this time is proof of how discerning voters are; the lesson is not lost on Mamata Banerjee. For voters, the glamour quotient may work once, but not twice, and their loyalty is even more slippery than TRPs for a TV show.
Welcome to life outside glitzy TV studios, from Didi No. 1 to the hot and dusty world of the real Didi no. 1 of Bengal, where the only sport is more akin to gladiatorial contests of the past or contemporary game shows like Survivor, Alone, Naked and Afraid and – I jest not – Dude, You’re Screwed. Good luck.
The author is a senior journalist based in Kolkata. She tweets @Monideepa62. Views are personal.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)