Meet the fleet

Meet the fleet

source: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/meet-the-fleet/404162/

 

 

 

 

Remember the days when there were just a few select faces that donned the mantle of television anchoring? While Siddharth Basu and Derek O'Brien were our quintessential quiz masters, voices of Annu Kapoor, Renuka Shahane and Sonu Nigam were heard time and again on the musical shows that television had to offer. But with the dawn of reality shows, there have been newer faces making it to your drawing rooms almost every other day. Slowly but steadily, the reality-show contestants have taken over the mantle of television anchors or hosts. Looks like, television in India has come a full circle. One wonders if this phase is here to stay or is just a passing one. "I doubt it is a phase. After being tried and tested on a reality show it is no surprise that they are considered natural choices to anchor shows on popular channels," says Ashish Patil, GM, MTV India. Shambhavi Sharma and Anmol Gupta are two such faces hosting a show called Gtalk on MTV. After being an integral part of Roadies 4.0, they were soon absorbed by the channel as anchors. "Audiences know their personality well. It hence becomes easy for them to connect with the hosts," adds Patil. Sony Television's popular show Indian Idol also has given television channels a handful of anchors. Meiyang Chang, who was quite popular with the crowd during the last season of Indian Idol, has bagged the role of an anchor this season. "It is because of the reality shows that even people from smaller towns can now dream of anchoring shows on television," he says, saying that reality music shows have helped many achieve their dreams. This holds true to another two young music-makers, Rahul Vaidya and Vineet Singh, who got a chance to showcase their anchoring talent through Aaja Mahi Vay soon after they tasted success with Indian Idol and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa respectively. In fact, more and more youngsters are getting a chance to utilise their skills through reality shows. It has made their path towards success a tad more accessible. But it is only talent that can keep them up there, says Patil. It isn't just youngsters who are getting a chance to host shows, the contestants of Laughter Challenge have also got their due. Raju Srivastava, one of the most sought-after comedians from the first season, has a show called Raju Hazir Ho on NDTV Imagine and he feels life has actually taken a U-turn for him. "Whatever I am today is because of Laughter Challenge. People recognise me and make me feel like a star wherever I go. But I still have the urge to achieve more," smiles Srivastava.

Srivastava's counterpart Navin Prabhakar will soon be making his debut as anchor on Star One's Hello Kaun? Pehchaan Kaun! Although the show is yet to go on air, it looks like the channel has already placed its bet on him. With this, will we see the mantle being completely shifted to reality-show contestants? We'll wait and watch to see that, since at the end of the day, as Patil says, it's only talent that counts.

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