‘DeepVeer’ wedding is juicier than the endless diatribes on Ayodhya and Sabarimala.
Drat that flying machine with two wings and a nose which has run into trouble. But for Rafale deal, we would have been at DeepVeer di sangeet, Wednesday morning. As it is, the news channels droned on and on about the aeroplane deal under scrutiny in the Supreme Court.
Viewers alone can explain why they haven’t yet packed their bags and rushed off to Lake Como, even if they don’t exactly know where it is, or that actor George Clooney married Amal there. There is so much energy in the voices of reporters like Shefali Amitav that it ought to propel all of us to Italy, instantly, in one mighty whoosh (NewsX). She was “screaming with excitement” as far away as Milan—enough to get anyone onto any jet plane to Italy, besides Rafale of course.
Why, actress Katrina Kaif felt the irresistible tug far away on the couch alongside Varun Dhawan, while sipping Koffee with Karan (Star World). She did admit she might not be at ‘The Wedding’ to KJo but was excited, nevertheless.
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What a lot of hot air was generated by the ‘#DeepVeerWedding’ (India Today) or when ‘Deepika P. weds Ranveer S.’ viewers were cordially invited to watch ‘exclusive’ footage of the venue on India Today. The senior editor, already stationed at Lake Como, could barely contain his bashful enthusiasm for ‘Bollywood’s Biggest Bash’— he boasted that he had actually-actually been at the sprawling mansion where the celebrations are taking place— a knockout, he concluded, rather like the bride and groom.
Thursday, when the second wedding ceremony takes place, other TV reporters will have arrived at Lake Como and the hysteria across news channels may see evening primetime discussions debate Deepika Padukone’s lehenga and Ranveer Singh’s moustache—NewsX already had a daytime panel ponder the impact of the wedding (Tuesday).
Can’t you just hear it: Rahul Shivshankar Upfront on Times Now demands to know if Deepika’s attire matches Anushka’s – she married Virat Kohli in Italy too, remember? Or, is Ranveer’s mooch as mobile as cricketer Shikhar Dhawan’s?
And, you know what — most of us will gladly watch and listen, agog. Far more interesting than the endless diatribes on Ayodhya, renaming names, or even Sabarimala.
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Far more satisfying than the National Approval Ratings (Republic), a creative new-fangled way to present opinion polls when opinion polls are forbidden.
Since elections in five states will extend over the next month – the first phase of polling in Chhattisgarh ended Monday – exit polls have been disallowed. So Republic and C-Voter came up with a ‘probability’ index based on a voter survey (what else?) with ‘possible’ voting patterns.
Meanwhile, Political Stock Exchange is trying its luck at poll sweepstakes (India Today), and ABP-CSDS gave us a poll prediction. The result? The Congress should be worried: In all probability, the BJP will possibly return to power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, but probably cede Rajasthan.
What do Amit Shah, Eric Trappier, Dharmendra Pradhan, Kanhaiya Kumar and Navjot Singh Sidhu have in common? They have no time to waste watching silly talk shows – they’re too busy appearing on them.
The BJP president spoke candidly to Times Now on Sabarimala, Tuesday, but refused to predict the outcome of the forthcoming state polls. Trappier, CEO Dassault, told ANI that he didn’t ‘lie’ and he certainly wasn’t fibbing about the Rafale-Reliance deal. Kumar (NDTV India), Pradhan (Times Now) and Sidhu (ABP, Aaj Tak) were Sunday evening specials but didn’t say anything very special.
Meanwhile, Amazon Prime and Netflix obviously think their shows are special enough to advertise outside their streaming channels: Saw promos for Amazon’s crime thriller, Mirzapur, and Netflix’s Sabrina and Narcos on entertainment and news channels.
Speaking of advertisements, what do you think of the Acko Insurance TV commercial where a decidedly indolent octopus enjoys a ‘paisa vasool’ foot massage?
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And CNN’s coverage of the midterm US polls? Did you notice how the anchors were tiptoeing carefully before calling a result, to the extent of refusing to call some until the morning after for fear of calling them wrongly? November 2016’s upset victory for Donald Trump still haunts the US media.
For a moment back there, it seemed as if Pakistan would upset the odds against India. At the Women’s T20 World Cup, a record 94-run partnership between two Pakistani batters and the Indian players’ butter-finger catching saw the game slipping away from India until Mithali Raj pulled it back (Star Sports).
Is T20 cricket losing its glamour appeal for the paying public? In the West Indies where the women’s World Cup is in progress and at the games between India and the West Indies played recently at home, spectators in the stands were few and far between.
The author is vice dean, Jindal School of Journalism and Communication.