Diksha Kamra
The Making of a Talk Show
Basking in reflected fame and glory
How do you produce a talk show— especially during elections? Arguments, debate, charges, counter-charges, heat and light. Battle for India on CNN-IBN hosted by youth icon Rajdeep Sardesai had the making of it all.
The studio had more cameras than people around. The cameras surrounded us from all possible directions. The flood of lights was like a canopy of stars. The audience, a bunch of politically-charged students enthusiastic to be a part of the show, were awaiting the drama to begin.
Rajdeep, the anchor, entered a few minutes later and had a tete-a-tete with the youngsters. “How many amongst you will vote for the Congress?” he asked. “How many for BJP? Do you want a young prime minister? Anybody outside politics you think should become the P.M?” The audience responded:“Aamir Khan” “Ratan Tata” and even “Sanjay Dutt” to which he gave a jabreaks. Please be an animated audience. Feel free to applaud and express your views on the speakers’ w dropping response; “Sanjay Dutt will be very bad.” But he nodded in agreement for Ratan Tata.
“We begin and end the show with a big applause. We do the same before and after the comments,” Rajdeep told the audience. An assistant stood behind him adjusting the mike. The three speakers representing BJP, the Congress and CPM entered and took their places on the podiums. And finally the show began!
Cameras from different directions were focused on a range of angles. One directed on the anchor, other to get the perfect gaze of the audience. And a huge video camera rested on a long chord, erupting from the back of the audience slowly zooming in on the face of the speakers.
The show was not telecast live. So the audience was asked to clap again and again, when the anchor went wrong with the opening shot. For instance, Rajdeep in an energetic tone started, “Hello and welcome to Battle for India,” and the audience clapped. Unsatisfied with the punch of the opening remark, he spoke into the micro-phone: “Sorry, I will take that again.” So he repeated his intro and the audience burst into an applause.
Again, in the middle of the show, he repeated the question to the BJP speaker, for better impact. That is the way it is in a talk show, especially when it is not live. Rajdeep Sardesai, with ‘Raj’ in his first name and ‘Sar’ in the surname, nevertheless lived up to his reputation, and emerged the King of the Show!
The studio had more cameras than people around. The cameras surrounded us from all possible directions. The flood of lights was like a canopy of stars. The audience, a bunch of politically-charged students enthusiastic to be a part of the show, were awaiting the drama to begin.
Rajdeep, the anchor, entered a few minutes later and had a tete-a-tete with the youngsters. “How many amongst you will vote for the Congress?” he asked. “How many for BJP? Do you want a young prime minister? Anybody outside politics you think should become the P.M?” The audience responded:“Aamir Khan” “Ratan Tata” and even “Sanjay Dutt” to which he gave a jabreaks. Please be an animated audience. Feel free to applaud and express your views on the speakers’ w dropping response; “Sanjay Dutt will be very bad.” But he nodded in agreement for Ratan Tata.
“We begin and end the show with a big applause. We do the same before and after the comments,” Rajdeep told the audience. An assistant stood behind him adjusting the mike. The three speakers representing BJP, the Congress and CPM entered and took their places on the podiums. And finally the show began!
Cameras from different directions were focused on a range of angles. One directed on the anchor, other to get the perfect gaze of the audience. And a huge video camera rested on a long chord, erupting from the back of the audience slowly zooming in on the face of the speakers.
The show was not telecast live. So the audience was asked to clap again and again, when the anchor went wrong with the opening shot. For instance, Rajdeep in an energetic tone started, “Hello and welcome to Battle for India,” and the audience clapped. Unsatisfied with the punch of the opening remark, he spoke into the micro-phone: “Sorry, I will take that again.” So he repeated his intro and the audience burst into an applause.
Again, in the middle of the show, he repeated the question to the BJP speaker, for better impact. That is the way it is in a talk show, especially when it is not live. Rajdeep Sardesai, with ‘Raj’ in his first name and ‘Sar’ in the surname, nevertheless lived up to his reputation, and emerged the King of the Show!
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