THE SHOW MUST GO ON
However, after a year of telecast we find that The Shotgun Show hasn’t exactly managed to hit the jackpot. In fact, it’s not even been able to notch-up good TRPs though producer-director Shashi Ranjan claims otherwise. He insists that the very first episode on nationalism which had M V Kamath, Sunil Dutt, G R Khairnar and Arun Shourie on its panel had got a rating of 4 plus. He adds that subsequently the TRPs went upto 7. And in the same breath Ranjan points out, TRPs in this country are a hoax! He claims that they do not reflect the taste of the majority of the viewers who reside in the interiors. “When we went to Chitrakut, a small village in MP, the crowd there went hysterical seeing Shatrughan Sinha. They called him Shotgun, obviously referring to the show and when they realised that I was the director, they made me promise that I'd address their problems in the show,” beams Ranjan. As promised by Sinha, the show in the course of one year tackled controversial issues like the problems of Kashmiri Pundits, the film industry’s nexus with the mafia, sex and violence in films, prohibition, to name a few. It’s probably the only talk-show to have had maximum number of eminent personalities on its panel. However, beginning with five to six celebrity panelists it's now down to three. Says Ranjan, “We realised that it was just becoming a hotch-potch. Nobody had enough time to air his/her views. Thirty minutes is too short a time for a talk-show. We require atleast forty five minutes.” Besides the duration, another problem faced by the show was the recurrent change in timeslots. To begin with, it was telecast at an unearthly hour, 10 pm on Sunday. “I was not happy with the slot but it was Zee’s decision,” says Ranjan matter-of-factly. Zee tossed the show around dictated by everyone's whims. At one point it was shown on Zee India everyday. “The only two serious programmes they had were The Shotgun Show and Rubaru, so they kept showing them after the elections were over,” reveals Ranjan. The show has had repeat telecasts umpteen times on Zee itself. Now, it is shown at 12.30pm on Sunday. “And, the viewership has slumped,” laments Ranjan. “Viewers are totally confused. Since it is repeated often, it only adds to their confusion,” says Ranjan. He is at a loss to explain why Zee’s doing this to his show. ''It's the only talk-show on Zee and I fail to understand why it's not given sufficient publicity why it is not promoted better,” he grouses. In fact, Ranjan had conceived the idea of doing a talk-show three years ago and had approached Zee at that time. “But Zee did not understand the concept.” When the management changed he approached them again and this time he got the green signal. The main problem one faces with the talk-show according to Ranjan is that the audience is not very articulate before a camera. He cites the example of riot victims who were very vociferous about police brutality when he spoke to them individually but when they were on the show they clammed up. “When I asked a woman why she wasn’t talking about her experience she said, ‘Yahan to bade bade sahab baithe hain. Unke saamne mein kya bolu’ because the panelists were A A Khan and KPS Gill. Consequently, the episode turned out to be a damp suib," Ranjan remembers. Another reason for talk-shows not being as popular as their western counterparts is that people who come on the panel use it as a means to propagate their agendas. “Politicians have hidden agendas,” laughs Ranjan. He cites the instance of Kalpnath Rai, Madanlal Khurana and George Fernandes who had been invited on the panel to talk about corruption. Kalpnath Rai tried to defend himself because he was allegedly involved in corruption, which was understandable. But what perplexed Ranjan was his uncalled for devotion to George Fernandes. “We were taken aback with the way he was going on and on about Fernandes’ achievements. Two months later I understood what it was all about. He was trying to work his way into the Samata Party and eventually succeeded,” he smiles.
So the moot question is, after 52 episodes, will The Shotgun Show continue? “Of course it will. Despite all the problems the show is popular. However, after 52 episodes the show will be visually different. I am going to change the format,” Ranjan promises. And the channel too? “I can’t say anything right now,” he says evasively. With Sinha now firmly entrenched in Delhi how is he planning to shoot further episodes? “Fortunately, he understands the potential of the programme and he’s very professional. So there’ll be no problems,” Ranjan assures. Of the other talk shows, he has a high regard for Vir Sanghvi’s A Question Of Answers “which has good panelists and topics”. He adds that STAR Plus in the last one year has emerged as a thought-provoking channel and “is very good at promoting news and current affairs shows.” In all probability that’s where you'll find The Shotgun Show next!
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“Most of
the chat shows on the air these days are chit-chat shows,” Shatrughan
Sinha had declared a year ago. He’d promised that The Shotgun Show would
be different. It would be hot, controversial, fiery, a no-holds-barred talk
show with his trademark elan. It was the first talk-show to boast of a sponsor,
Polar, from the very first episode. Telecast on Zee, the show initially seemed
like an ideal platform for addressing the myriad problems faced by the country
despite the apprehensions that Sinha would use the show to air his and his
party’s (Bharatiya Janata Party) views. Sufficient hype had been created,
for this was the first time an established personality was hosting a talk-show.
And Sinha being a volatile and vociferous orator, expectations from him and
his show were sky-high.
One episode that
crackled the screen with its intensity was the one on Kashmiri Pundits. The
show had the victims of Pannun Kashmir, Kuldip Nayar and Yaseen Malik, JKLF
president on the panel, and the debate was so hot and fiery that it had to
be divided into three episodes. For 20 days Zee couldn’t decide whether
the episode should be aired or not. Even the sponsors were uncomfortable
with the show and decided to withdraw from the show claims Ranjan. “The
problem is that brands refuse to associate themselves with serious shows.
They prefer frivolous film-based programmes,” he rues. He’s upset
with Zee too. “They haven’t handled the show properly. Everything
was done haphazardly,” he complains.
