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The doc WINS
Be It DD or Win, Symanth C. Raman is a familiar face to viewers
SUMANTH C. Raman's phone-in sports quiz shows on DD are extremely popular. The countless number of calls from all over the country proves it. (Earlier telecast on Monday nights, the quiz can now be witnessed on Sundays, 10.05 a.m.) The camaraderie that he establishes with the voices on the other side makes him a winner straightway.
And it's not just Sports. Recently watching him on Win TV in a phone-in show again, but very different from what he's doing on DD, was a revelation. Viewers were calling him up non-stop, to give their opinion on the subject of discussion that day — capital punishment. Dhananjoy deserved the end, said some. Capital punishment is inhuman, chorused others. And callers included many from places as far away as Sharjah, Dubai and Muscat! "Naattu Nadappu," the programme on Win (Saturdays 8.30 p.m.), takes up a topical issue and calls for views from the public. "Naattu ... " is just about four or five weeks old. "Actually just before the Elections we had done `Vote Podunga'. Even at the outset we stated that it was not exactly a scientific opinion poll; just a snapshot of varied viewpoints. But our findings were very close to the final results. The incredible response led us to conceive `Naattu Nadappu'. It would not be necessarily political, we decided ... happenings that affect the people in a positive or negative way would be the subject of the week. The day after the Kumbakonam fire disaster, we welcomed callers to share their feelings about the tragedy... "
If you find Sumanth's Win project as racy as his Sports sojourn on DD, the reason is that this doc makes it as peppy as possible. "The subject may be serious or light, but you have to goad the caller on to convey what he wishes to very quickly, because many others are waiting on the line ... but a friendly touch is vital," says Sumanth.
He feels that instead of using a phone-in show to just play film songs or clippings, social awareness and healthy exchange of ideas would be possible in this kind of programme. Sumanth has a solid point, which channels can consider.
Team work
A medical doctor by profession, Sumanth began as an anchor of "Sports Round-Up," a magazine show on DD, some years ago. Subsequently, he did a tele-quiz programme with film actor Kasturi for a few weeks and that in a way helped him discover that his interest lay in live exchanges.
Interaction with the public on screen is more challenging than rehearsed fare. Thus the DD Sports Quiz came as a boon to Sumanth.
What if a caller gets particularly nasty ... "You can sense a trouble maker even when he begins to talk. Then I just cut short the call and go to the next ... it can be handled," is Sumanth's confident stand. "All of it is team work ... without DD's support Sports Quiz couldn't have been such a success," he adds.
A busy doctor, Sumanth manages to squeeze in time for all his media-oriented activities. "My mom who's been encouraging me throughout is a great inspiration. And when you love doing something you're bound to find the time ... " he smiles.
MALATHI RANGARAJAN
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