BBC India Season viewpoint – Disappointing and unimaginative on the whole…

August 25

A season of programmes announced by the BBC, while a welcome initiative, slavishly panders to stars and familiar faces and simply isn’t imaginative enough says an influential voice in a personal capacity…

By Amit Roy

THE BBC HAS ANNOUNCED “a major new season of programmes across television and radio dedicated to one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world – India*”.

As a viewer I don’t wish to be ungrateful but when I looked at the mix of programmes and some of the presenters, I have to say my heart sank.

We are told, for example, that Sanjeev Bhaskar will present “a retrospective 90-minute documentary on the history of Indian cinema in “Bollywood And Beyond: A Century Of Indian Cinema”.

We have had the benefit of his profound thoughts on India in the past but the problem is they have tended to be more about Sanjeev Bhaskar in India than about India.

Freida Pinto features in a programme on India's nature and wildlife but why...? asks Amit Roy

Prince Charles is among Bhaskar’s admirers but what is it that he can tell us about Bollywood that we don’t already know?

We also learn that BBC Asian network “will present an interview with India’s greatest modern composer, AR Rahman…”

I bow to no one in my admiration for Rahman but he has been receiving fulsome coverage since 2002 when he composed the music for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, “Bombay Dreams“.

Then, there will be a film, “Mumbai High“, a musical, set in Dharavi, “the biggest slum in Asia”.

Is there a Bollywood overkill?

On Radio 2, for example, “Bollywood superstar Shilpa Shetty” – is she really a Bollywood superstar? – will present “a four-part guide to the music and the glamour of the Indian film industry”.

Over four 60-minute shows launching on 2 September at 10pm, she will her play “her favourite tracks and tells stories from behind the scenes with some of Bollywood’s biggest stars”.

Shilpa did well to win “Celebrity Big Brother” back in 2007 but isn’t 4×60 minutes overdoing things?
Will she chat about the cocktail of Bollywood and Indian Premier League cricket that has turned out to be toxic for some businessmen?
Notable among them has been Shilpa’s British Indian husband, Raj Kundra, who has been banned for life by the Supreme Court for involvement in the IPL betting scandal.

On BBC2, Bhaskar will be returning with the old cast of Goodness Gracious Me “for another one-off special of the ground-breaking British Asian sketch show”. The jokes might well have been amusing once but isn’t the formula a trifled tired now?

William Dalrymple appears in a TV programme about the 'White Mughals' - he is a ubiquitous presence on Indian culture and history, suggests Amit Roy

By the way, I wasn’t aware Sue Perkins, presenter of “The Great British Bake Off“, was an authority on India but she will be fronting a TV documentary, “Sue Perkins in Kolkata”.

She said: “At the start of this journey there were two things I knew about Kolkata: The Black Hole and Mother Theresa.”
That does not inspire much confidence, although she added: “It was a privilege to experience life beyond the clichés.”

Freida Pinto undoubtedly looked fetching in a salwar kameez in “Slumdog Millionaire” but is that reason enough for her to be one of the presenters of “The Wonders of India” – 2 x 60’ films from the BBC’s award-winning Natural History Unit capturing “the glory of India’s wild world”?

Or is this an example of celebrity casting?

Why is the ubiquitous William Dalrymple missing from the gravy train?

Fear not. He will be presenting, “The White Mughal: A Story in Art“.

I would have liked an examination of whether India can overtake China; why Delhi is the rape capital of India and why the government banned Leslee Udwin’s documentary, India’s Daughter; how India managed to send a mission to Mars; how the mobile phone has transformed India; how Indian curry is different from British curry**; and how India has been rescued by its women**.

I acknowledge the season is not all bad. I happen to know Dr Sona Datta, formerly of the British Museum, and look forward to her BBC Four documentary, “Treasures Of The Indus“.

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* Non-Italicised quotes are taken directly from BBC publicity material…
** There are radio segments on these subjects on Radio 2 as part of the India Season.

What’s in the BBC’s India season here: http://asianculturevulture.com/portfolios/bbc-india-season-whats-coming-on-tv-and-radio/

What do you think of the BBC’s India Season, go to our FACEBOOK page to comment and have your say! Do you agree with Amit Roy?

Reproduced with kind permission of ©Eastern Eye. Amit Roy is a regular contributor and columnist for the weekly newspaper and was formerly a foreign correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Sunday Times and Sunday Telegraph.

The views in this opinion piece do not necessarily express the opinion of www.asianculturevulture.com