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Cool show for kids
SHOOTING WITH children can be as unpredictable as filming fauna in the wild. It's an equally uncontrolled scenario with tiny ones because you would never know how they would react to a particular query of yours on camera. But Anupam Kher seems to have mastered the art. At no point does his kids' show on SAB, `Say Na Something To Anupam Uncle,' appear either contrived or rehearsed. The exchanges between the tots and the `uncle' are enjoyable exercises in spontaneity. And the ease with which Anupam comes down to the level of the children — chatting with them, listening intently to their responses, joking, playing and dancing — is absolutely mind-blowing. The rigmarole of singing songs, reciting poems and telling stories finds no place here. The first significant step in such child-oriented shows is to make the kids comfortable. And Anupam achieves it effortlessly. He asks them the most ordinary of questions and the responses are almost touching in their frankness and innocence. The man seems to understand their psyche only too well. At no point is his tone even slightly jeering. The approach he adopts is simple — cheer them up and ask them only what they know and like to talk about.
The format of `Say Na ... ' is well thought out — Anupam talks to them individually and then as a group, and a session for story telling and laughter follows. But the most enjoyable is the `Say A Secret To Anupam Uncle' segment. The things the children come up with, their serious expressions and Anupam's equally serious reactions all look so natural that you can think about them with a smile long after the show is over. Recently there was this kid that whispered into Anupam's ear that once when he burped in class, the other boys thought it was the teacher ... while a cute little girl confessed that two boys in her class looked `very nice.'
Pointers to a child's psyche in `Say Na ... " are many — you get glimpses of their small world, what they yearn for and what makes them happy. For example, you realise that many of them love their `dadhimas' and find a lot of joy living with them. The joint family system, you feel, gives them a sense of security. And kids these days seem to know a lot about the importance of money.
Watching and participating in shows such as `Say Na ... ' should do wonders to a child's self-confidence. Why don't other desi anchors of child-centric shows take a tip or two from this veteran?
MALATHI RANGARAJAN
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