God, save me from cut-jeans bimbettes taking us on the world’s most boring journeys. Why, oh why do we have the extraordinarily yawn-inducing travel shows on Indian television?
Good travel shows have a few obvious elements. The first is an interesting anchor – someone with a personality; which means he or she has had a life, has seen the world, has a fresh viewpoint on things and still has the nous to tell a tale. 25 year old cheerleader types from the chattering classes of Delhi & Mumbai DO NOT fall into this category. Neither for that matter does tired editors of news channels. The next requirement is an underlying theme. Food is a great theme. Hotel detectives, the idea of checking out hotels incognito, is another theme that works. Why not also (Frater’s) ‘Follow the monsoon’ or (my very own) ‘Follow the Indian mango trail’ as themes for a uniquely Indian travel show? Or maybe something around Nostalgia. I can think of at least 10 other interesting thematic possibilities. Hey guys, there is no harm in thinking. The last requirement is a storyline that incorporates real human beings in believable situations. Considering India is bursting with interesting characters at every turn, this should be not too difficult to do.
And just in case money is the problem, here is my plea to the bean counters at TV channels, – please release more budgets. Indian travellers are growing up, they are big-spenders, your advertisers salivate at the prospect of reaching out to them – so well made shows with enough money spent is a good investment.
Kunal Vijayakar & the Times Now team do a reasonable job with the Foodie Show, which is the only Indian travel show I can stomach (so to speak). I am waiting for more like this.
3 responses so far ↓
milo // October 1, 2007 at 9:42 pm |
Amen!
Hugo Cardoso // October 2, 2007 at 6:19 am |
Ahah, that’s a curious coincidence… I’d also though of a mango trail, and one that could proceed from south to north ahead of the monsoon – as the mangos ripe. wouldn’t it be wonderful? Not necessarily as a travel show, more like a personal journey…
Musafir // December 18, 2007 at 2:14 am |
Key things the travel producers/hosts should remember.
1. Don’t film it like you are the spectacle –because you are not the place you visit is. Do a voice over instead of frequently appearing before the camera. (it’s very irritating)
2. Don’t make it a show for the pilgrims by spending majority of the time at religious sites. It becomes boring and redundant, therefore keep temples, mosques, churches etc to the minimum. KEEP IT SECULAR
3. If there are no interesting places in India, go elsewhere. After all there are NRIs in almost every corner of the globe. Has anyone thought of doing a travel show about NRIs in different parts of the world…Dubai, UK, Japan, America.. possibilities are infinite and the excitement incredible.