The Hindu Business Line : A culinary twist!

A print advertisement about actor Aamir Khan's interview on NDTV would have definitely drawn many more to the news channel. The actor may be media-shy, but he does have a huge fan following across the country. But NDTV's India Questions, anchored by Prannoy Roy and Avigyan Prakash (for NDTV India), was a tad disappointing.

There were loaded questions for which the actor gave weighty and philosophical answers. And one also wonders why the young audience on the show asked him about the underworld, politics, casting couch and Mallika Sherawat.

A relaxed and confident Aamir handled the questions with ease, managing to evade the odd tricky question. To a question on how short actors felt when cast against tall actresses, he smiled and said: "You should ask this question to a short actor!"

Just for laughs

Raju Srivastava, one of the winners of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge on Star One, is emerging as a good stand-up comedian. With a rather nonchalant expression, Srivastava turns everyday events that otherwise seem so mundane into comic situations. In one of his latest appearances, Srivastava enacted a typical scene at a North Indian wedding. His breezy style and easy manner add to his appeal.

Another popular participant in the show is Ehsaan Qureshi. He combines verses with commentary and observations. Sunil Pal, the winner of the show, has already won a role in a Hindi film. Satire, parody, spoof — call it by any name, if artistically enacted, these can hit popularity charts.

A feast, literally!

Just as cookery books have been hugely popular, culinary shows have been drawing in audiences across television channels. Almost every channel has a cookery show, either in the afternoon or on Sunday mornings. Most Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi and Hindi channels have slots for cookery shows with popular chefs.

Discovery Travel and Living's exotic cuisine show is quite interesting as it goes beyond food. The channel's show on the world's wine, beer and spirit producing regions is equally riveting. Not to be left behind in this genre of programming, Zee Café, the English entertainment channel of Zee Network, is launching a cookery show, Oliver's Twist.

"The show captures the best in culture and style from London's street life," says a channel spokesman. The show is hosted by Jamie Oliver, "the super chef who's got a cult following in Britain," and "is doing what he loves most, cooking for his friends."

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