It’s been raining political satires on Malayalam television. One show that has had a successful run among the lot is ‘Thiruva Ethirva’ on Manorama News channel. The programme lampoons news, views, controversies and bloopers that make headlines in Kerala. Presenting the current events interspersed with dialogues and scenes from movies is producer and presenter Jayamohan, chief news producer in the channel. The show had won him the Kerala state television award for best anchor in 2011. Jayamohan, a state award winner for his production, ‘Facebooked’, a current affairs show for the year 2012, talks about ‘Thiruva Ethirva’ and challenges involved in hosting such a programme. Excerpts:
About the show
It was planned as an election special programme in 2009 during the Lok Sabha polls. We had planned a 10-episode show. But it connected well with the audience and so it was made a weekly programme. We have now completed 278 episodes and have been on air for the last five years.
Success mantra
Politically-conscious Malayalis want to get information in the most simple manner. That’s what we do. Instead of sifting through in-depth political analysis and debates over a particular issue, they enjoy learning about things in a nutshell. We ensure that there is no bias against or towards any political party, which is an important factor for the success of such shows. But, we also have to appreciate our politicians for taking the show in the right spirit. You can’t expect that from politicians in any other state! Even if one of them is unhappy with a particular episode, he/she merely calls up and explains his/her stand.
Anchoring satire
During my college days, I was active in mime and theatre. I used to be a part of Trivandrum Mimers. I have taken part in youth festivals and have also staged street plays. All that might have honed my gift of the gab. When we conceptualised the show, the suggestion from the management was to model it like a stand-up comedy without resorting to acting or any gimmicks. That is, humour is presented in the most serious way! In broadcast journalism we are taught, ‘show what you see’. But a little bit of ‘de-schooling’ has to be done once you are in a real situation. We have to keep our minds and thoughts open to choose the best subject and then package it properly for the viewers.
Mushrooming of similar shows
Now all the channels have political satires, with some of them airing it daily. In fact, they are the top rated programmes on these channels. A major reason is obviously the Malayali’s love for humour and they never seem to get tired of watching these programmes. And politicians, on their part, give enough fodder for satirists!
Challenges involved
I sometimes feel that there is a section of people who take what we say too seriously which is quite dangerous. I’ve had some bad experiences on this front. A political leader, when he lost an election, wrote that an episode we did on him was one of the reasons for his defeat. That was a demoralising experience. So we are extremely cautious about everything we present.
‘Thiruva Ethirva’ is aired on Manorama News channel on Mondays at 10 p.m.
