After interview fiasco, Doordarshan bosses eager to impress with Modi’s address to the nation
May 30, 2014
New Delhi: In the middle of election season, ham-handed editing of Narendra Modi’s interview to Doordarshan created an unseemly controversy: his comments on Priyanka Gandhi came out distorted, and even drew a sharp response from Ms Gandhi. Mr Modi had to release the full version of the interview, which his team had also recorded.
Now the same state broadcaster is in charge of telecasting PM Modi’s first address to the nation, which is slated for this weekend.
“We are on standby mode, ready to be at South block or 7 Race Course Road in less than 15 minutes,” said a Doordarshan staffer, part of the team entrusted with the job. The usual bureaucratic lethargy has been replaced by an eagerness to please the new boss. “Our preparations are being checked by the top bosses. We are leaving nothing to chance.”
Usually the team that records such important events comprises of 10-12 members from the broadcaster, which includes producers, cameramen, technical engineers, light and sound experts; but this time it is likely to be a bigger team with top officials eager to meet Mr Modi.
“In all probability, Doordarshan News Director General Mr SM Khan, his deputy and other top officials will be at the recording,” said the Doordarshan staffer. “The director general himself is taking stock of every small detail.”
And the bureaucratic jostle does not stop there. The buzz in Mandi House is that Tripurarai Saran, Director General of Doordarshan National, is keen to override the news section in recording the interview. All appointees of the previous Congress government, now these officials know that their jobs may be on the line, they may soon be replaced by BJP favorites unless they do something spectacular to impress Narendra Modi. Hence they are readying in the long queue for his address to the nation.
A new studio at 7RCR?
The new prime minister is yet to shift to 7 Race Course Road, his official residence, and is not keen to address the nation from Gujarat Bhawan, where he has been staying. BJP sources have confirmed that he is likely to move into his official residence today.
PMO officials have been enquiring about the studio set-up at 7RCR, and it will be interesting to see how the tech-savvy Modi team adjusts to the old-school infrastructure at hand.
In a classic case of red-tape which had become a signature of the last government, a proposal to create a state-of-the-art studio in the prime minister’s residence has been lying in limbo for months. With Mr Modi being more of a television friendly personality than his predecessor, some feel that proposal may finally take off.
“There is a buzz in the Mandi House (the building which houses Doordarshan) that the Director General of DD, Tripurari Saran, wants the DD National to record the interview, let’s wait for a few days for the things to be clear. There is a jostle among the officials, both from DD News and Doordarshan national arm, for the recording in a bid to catch the eye of Modi,” another source from the Mandi House said.
The interview fiasco
The last interview of Mr Modi, recorded before the elections had an answer on Priyanka Gandhi, which was left out of the version that was telecast. But misleading leaks soon appeared, which suggested that Mr Modi has said that Priyanka Gandhi was “like a daughter”. This drew an angry response from Ms Gandhi, while the BJP accused Doordarshan of leaving out the portion due to pressure from the Congress government.
When Mr Modi’s team released the interview, the quote was more mundane, and went something like this: “It is her (Priyanka Gandhi) duty to work for her mother and her brother. If she hurls ten more curses (against me), then too a daughter is a daughter, and whatever she does, I will not be angry at her.”
The Doordarshan producer who was in charge of that interview is understandably being left out of the team that will cover Narendra Modi’s address to the nation.
May 30, 2014
New Delhi: In the middle of election season, ham-handed editing of Narendra Modi’s interview to Doordarshan created an unseemly controversy: his comments on Priyanka Gandhi came out distorted, and even drew a sharp response from Ms Gandhi. Mr Modi had to release the full version of the interview, which his team had also recorded.
Now the same state broadcaster is in charge of telecasting PM Modi’s first address to the nation, which is slated for this weekend.
“We are on standby mode, ready to be at South block or 7 Race Course Road in less than 15 minutes,” said a Doordarshan staffer, part of the team entrusted with the job. The usual bureaucratic lethargy has been replaced by an eagerness to please the new boss. “Our preparations are being checked by the top bosses. We are leaving nothing to chance.”
Usually the team that records such important events comprises of 10-12 members from the broadcaster, which includes producers, cameramen, technical engineers, light and sound experts; but this time it is likely to be a bigger team with top officials eager to meet Mr Modi.
“In all probability, Doordarshan News Director General Mr SM Khan, his deputy and other top officials will be at the recording,” said the Doordarshan staffer. “The director general himself is taking stock of every small detail.”
And the bureaucratic jostle does not stop there. The buzz in Mandi House is that Tripurarai Saran, Director General of Doordarshan National, is keen to override the news section in recording the interview. All appointees of the previous Congress government, now these officials know that their jobs may be on the line, they may soon be replaced by BJP favorites unless they do something spectacular to impress Narendra Modi. Hence they are readying in the long queue for his address to the nation.
A new studio at 7RCR?
The new prime minister is yet to shift to 7 Race Course Road, his official residence, and is not keen to address the nation from Gujarat Bhawan, where he has been staying. BJP sources have confirmed that he is likely to move into his official residence today.
PMO officials have been enquiring about the studio set-up at 7RCR, and it will be interesting to see how the tech-savvy Modi team adjusts to the old-school infrastructure at hand.
In a classic case of red-tape which had become a signature of the last government, a proposal to create a state-of-the-art studio in the prime minister’s residence has been lying in limbo for months. With Mr Modi being more of a television friendly personality than his predecessor, some feel that proposal may finally take off.
“There is a buzz in the Mandi House (the building which houses Doordarshan) that the Director General of DD, Tripurari Saran, wants the DD National to record the interview, let’s wait for a few days for the things to be clear. There is a jostle among the officials, both from DD News and Doordarshan national arm, for the recording in a bid to catch the eye of Modi,” another source from the Mandi House said.
The interview fiasco
The last interview of Mr Modi, recorded before the elections had an answer on Priyanka Gandhi, which was left out of the version that was telecast. But misleading leaks soon appeared, which suggested that Mr Modi has said that Priyanka Gandhi was “like a daughter”. This drew an angry response from Ms Gandhi, while the BJP accused Doordarshan of leaving out the portion due to pressure from the Congress government.
When Mr Modi’s team released the interview, the quote was more mundane, and went something like this: “It is her (Priyanka Gandhi) duty to work for her mother and her brother. If she hurls ten more curses (against me), then too a daughter is a daughter, and whatever she does, I will not be angry at her.”
The Doordarshan producer who was in charge of that interview is understandably being left out of the team that will cover Narendra Modi’s address to the nation.
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This story was first published in www.thepoliticalindian.com on May 30, 2014
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