Amar Singh is on every channel, but we’ll miss the Left on TV Right: Will we see as much of Manmohan’s Singh’s Left foot as we have in the past four years now that the Samajwadi Party crashed the party, both feet first? Suddenly, Amar Singh is everywhere on the SP and the nuclear deal. Like an amoeba he divides himself equally between all news channels so that he was on each one of them on the same day, at the same time. Finally, he succumbed to Barkha Dutt’s charms last Sunday night for an NDTV 24x7 exclusive interview in which he said for the ‘first time’ that he’d been in the habit of committing his thoughts to paper and sending them to Sonia Gandhi, and she, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, would write right back. Those of us who have come to love Nilotpal Basu, in particular, will be sad if TV news distances itself from the Leftists as fast as they have distanced themselves from the government. Basu is the very antithesis of what is telegenic: bespectacled, untidily dressed in a shirt that belongs to his wardrobe of the sixties, distinctly overweight and so laid back with the weightiness of his arguments, you think he’ll topple over. For all that, he and other comrades have been part of our daily TV diet since the 2004 general elections and we’ve grown accustomed to their faces. But if Basu and company have not entirely endeared themselves to us, it is because they talk, they argue, they riddle us with words until we’re diddled. And if you’re wondering where the Prime Minister was while he was being lectured by his ‘supporters’ to his left, he was on Doordarshan, daily delivering his own sermons, as he did last week, on everything but the N word. The deal: it’s seriously unfunny how news TV has converted a crucial policy decision into a reality show: everyone gets to perform/say their bit and then the viewer is asked to SMS the winner. The only difference is that no one ever gets eliminated here. Meanwhile, the Arushi Talwar murder had become (a) a nightly talk show on some channels (Headlines Today for example), (b) a sansani chitra katha (India TV) (c) a soap opera (Kahani Ghar Ghar Kii, Star Plus). Last week, India TV presented alleged first pictures of Arushi after her murder (blood, teddy bear, bag) with the voyeuristic pleasure and excitement of tabloids printing exclusives of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed embracing on a yacht. Mid week, Aaj Tak had a Q&A on Bottle Bolegi — how a liquor bottle carried finger prints of the culprit — what did viewers think? On the weekend, Zee News, India TV, Headlines Today/AajTak broadcast in India TV’s words, Sabse bada sach — mama, papa ghar mein nahin the on the night of the murder, ‘Woh 12 kilometres door party kar rahe the’. We were told of Arushi’s screams as she was murdered which did not reach her parents (who was eavesdropping?) Headlines Today went beyond the Talwars partying till 5 am that tragic morning. It recreated Krishna’s narco-analysis to reveal what actually happened. Sabse bada sach again? All of this was attributed to CBI sources. Strange how CBI never says anything itself. What followed were enactments of four men drinking, one entering ‘Arushi’s’ room and slitting her throat. Aaj Tak told us ‘Talwar is sick - he cannot sleep — Unko neend se nafrat hai’. Cut to a sketch of Talwar looking like Abhishek Bachchan, resting in a prison, eyes wide open. Discussion follows with former CBI director Joginder Singh and psychiatrist Sandeep Vohra. On what? Don’t even ask. And Nupur Talwar objects to Kahani Ghar Ghar Kii fictionalising her daughter’s murder? KGGK’s version is much, milder. Here, Om has been accused of killing his granddaughter — he had fought with her, threatened her. She was poisoned. Her phone is missing. Her room keys are missing. Police: Did you sleep all night? Om: Till morning. Police: And your wife? Om: By me. Police: Aha, how could you know that if you were asleep? Perhaps, KGGK’s scriptwriters need to assist the CBI in its investigations.
