Long ago...once upon a time...when TV was synonymous with DD and magazines ruled the roost, there used to be one by the name of " Manohar Kahaniyaan ". It had stories about crime - brothers killing each other over property disputes, thefts, loots, homicides, kidnappings, rapes and all other kinds of heinous crimes...With pictures of victims and suspects scattered, the actual report was made as sensational as possible. Result: People gulped down every bit of it and I must say it was among the pioneers of current reality shows on TV albeit in a printed format. True - a reality show with people committing crimes isnt possible. So what do you have instead? A surrogate reality show! Yes. Where you have "natya rupantaran" or dramatised version of the events.
Its always one’s ultimate dream (or nightmare! as you take it) to be at the scene of crime.
"Where were you on that fateful night of 22 November,2002?" (Ummm..aaa.. I was..aaa..I guess I was sleeping mi-lord!)
Alibis, hostile witnesses, false convictions, long running cases - all these have two sides to them. ONE - the partcipants - the victim, the criminal, accomplices, witnesses, circumstantial evidence..and TWO - the speculators. Then you have the third and the most important ones - the police,the detectives,the judciary on whom rests the onus of solving the mystery. And finally, you have the reporters. In the days of print media it was "Manohar Kahaniyaan". Cut to today, when we have dozens of News Channels, its SANSANI!!
Star News’ Sansani is a crime show aired Mon - Fri 11 pm. Produced by B.A.G Films, this show has just completed two years a couple of weeks ago. Its USP is its star host - Shrivardhan Trivedi whose get up suggests that he is released by Tihar Jail for two hours every day to host the show.
"Chain se sona hai to jaag jayiye!!!!!!!" - screams Shrivardhan with his typical twist of hands. His entry on the show would put the bollywood heroes to shame. If you are preparing to watch this show, make sure you put your kids to sleep, your wife to sleep if you have one, close all windows and doors, get a bottle of water, lower the volume of your television set(don’t worry, Shrivardhan speaks loud enough for you to hear clearly) and then carefully seat yourself in front of your Television set. Don’t get too close to the screen when the voice over says : "Zara gaur se dekhiye is masoom chehre ko." (Watch this innocent face carefully).
As the drama unfolds, you shudder and thank god it ain’t you. But when you realise how grievous and incredible the world of crime can be, you just can’t relax and go to sleep. Thats what the show aims at. To make you aware, alert and know the importance of being the part of the society and not just the part of your own small family. Sansani has been instrumental in helping the law in catching the suspects, making long losts meet - all through its helpline mobile number and email constantly scrolling or splashed on the screen while the hour long show is on. I won’t mind a dose of reality if that reality really helps people in their day to day lives. Shrivardhan may seem overtly dramatic but that is also a part of his and producers’ sincerity as people cannot be woken up from sleep in whispers. They have to be screamed at!
There have been several such shows in the past on different channels. In the past, Suhaib Iliyasi’s India’s Most wanted was one such show. There is another on IBN where a lady seems to be teaching witchcraft rather than reporting a crime. Sansani is an immensely popular show and though I donot watch it religiously, I am always hooked when I happen to be awake and surfing channels at night. Kudos to the team of SSSANNNNNNSANNiiiiiiii !!
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