M alayalam television channels have been trying to reinvent and rework the content of the visual medium so as to increase and maintain viewership. Be it serials, reality shows, interviews or current affairs, the trend is to tweak the format a bit. One such new show is ‘Hello Namasthey’, telecast on Mazhavil Manorama, where viewers interact with guests via messages and video calls. Parvathy Venugopal, the producer of the weekly show, tells us more about it. Excerpts:
Thought behind the show
Initially, I wanted to do a show on the line of FM channels, featuring radio jockeys. That did not work out. In order to incorporate the radio element, the interview is shot in a studio resembling an FM studio. We play the favourite song for our guest, just as an FM station would do. We have conceptualised it as a youth-oriented programme, which is not a regular feature on our channel. We have also a new face, Nandini Nair, as the anchor.
The format
It is a half-an-hour celebrity chat show. Before each episode, we announce the name of our guest on our Facebook page so that the viewers can ask questions via video calls or post questions on the Facebook page. Besides answering the questions of our anchor, the guests interact with the callers and reply to questions posted on the Facebook page. In between, we play the favourite songs of our guest. At the end of each episode we ask a question based on that particular episode. The prize is a gift autographed by the guest. Since there are four episodes in a month, the first person who sends the correct answers for all the four questions is declared the winner and he or she can choose a gift from the four. Prizes are given to the next three correct entries also.
But, don’t you think you cater to a limited number of viewers?
There was such an apprehension. But, web chat or Facebook is not something rare these days. In fact, recently we had an episode with actress Devika Nambiar [who acted in the serial ‘Parinayam’ and now in ‘Balamani’ on Mazhavil Manorama] wherein a mother and son came in for a video chat. It was wonderful to see how the son helped his mother to talk with the guest.
Celebrities on board
Alphons Joseph was our first guest. Other guests were Job Kurien, Jithu Joseph, Ansiba, Esther, Vijay Babu, Sandra Thomas, Ambika Pillai and Devika. The next episode has Rajeev Pillai as the guest.
As a producer
I began my career as assistant producer of ‘Talking Point’ on Rosebowl and assisted on a couple of other shows for the channel before moving to Mazhavil Manorama. My first independent work as a producer for the channel was ‘Orikkal Koodi’, where celebrities go back to their campus days. I was producing ‘Innathe Cinema’ till ‘Hello Namasthey’ happened. I have assisted in other programmes such as ‘Indian Voice’ and ‘Katha Ithuvare’. Now I am an assistant producer of the third season of ‘Veruthe Alla Bharya’.
‘Hello Namasthey’ airs on Saturdays at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
