Options are aplenty

WHEN THERE can be formal coaching for cooking and catwalking, etiquette and event management, effective courses for making impressive forays into the small screen come as no surprise.

Classes for acting, all of us have heard of, but courses for newsreading, compering, anchoring, moderating and the like are more recent concepts. Those who have been quick enough to realise the business potential of this proposition have plunged into it straightaway.

Take Century Channels (Phone - 6265323) for example. Mooted in April and formally begun in July, this school for on-screen presentation trains its students in seven categories - news reading, anchoring, compering, interviewing, reporting, moderating and announcing, in a short span of a fortnight or so. Shakir who heads Century Channels has himself completed a media course in California and later in Abu Dhabi and feels professional training in such fields would help in bringing out confident and capable on-screen presenters.

But how much can training help, if you do not have the fire in you, asks Venu Arvind, a small screen success who has established himself as a television star. "If a person is spontaneous and creative, formal training in areas such as anchoring is not essential", he reiterates. Venu feels that in compering, anchoring or moderating a person should be able to think coherently and frame his questions quickly. "And according to me the curriculum should have focus and direction otherwise it could become a case of the blind leading the blind", he laughs.

Y. Gee. Mahendra, the actor who runs an acting school himself, is vociferous in his view of the need to improve diction and intonation "in which our anchors fail pathetically." "An anglicised, accented Tamil dialect is doing the rounds these days and sadly being imbibed by many. Remember, viewers all over the world watch these shows and this artificial language is what they are exposed to", is his observation.

"But we do concentrate on all aspects possible in the one month course that we offer. It comes in a neat package. Our first batch which we have just sent out, is being interviewed by various channels and the candidates are awaiting results", says A. V. Ramana Rao who is the brain behind Starmakers (2470081), the television academy that promises comprehensive practical and theoretical training in on-screen and off-screen presentations. The latter includes dubbing and voice-over skills.

Only a small batch is taken at a time, and though these institutes do not assure placements, they do assist their students in finding suitable jobs.

Shakir feels that a pleasant demeanour and youth (the upper age limit is 35) are the criteria for selection initially. But Ramana Rao differs. ``We had a 60 year-old who wished to do the course and we took him, because in certain areas of screen presentation age may not matter".

Y. Gee. Mahendra concurs with the view and says that there are many retired people who wish to enter the field of acting or compering out of sheer interest. Money is not a question at all for them, and looks alone is not everything. So why not, he queries. "Of course, as long as they do not hinder the chances of professionals in the line", he chuckles.

That takes us to the question of television as a career. Rajini Rajesh, who has been a presenter on DD and Jaya TV, is clear that a career in television cannot be a secure one. "You have to have something else to fall back on.. as casuals how much can one earn?" counters this energetic anchor and compere who is a journalist by profession. According to her, spontaneity is a pre- requisite for anchors. Formal training alone may not suffice.

``Where can you say there is 100 per cent job security? If you do not do well at the office, your firm may chuck you out.''. So if you are good, work is available, is Venu Arvind's argument. Y. Gee.M. feels the same and so does 'Bombay' Kannan. Many of these are artistes who had given up their jobs to make a career in the small or big screen. 'Bombay' Kannan, who was a bank manager, also feels that till one establishes himself, financially he must have something to see him through the various crises. "But training alone cannot work wonders...be it acting or anchoring, you have to have it in you," he smiles.

Shakir says as far as the training offered by him goes, he advises his students not to seek placements immediately. Practice at home, rehearsing for some more time the methods imparted and then applying for jobs, is the way to do it, he tells the students. And with constant training, confidence, fluency and spontaneity success will be yours, he says.

"One thing I am sure of is that writers cannot be trained", says the successful writer of serials, Devibala. But television has opened up innumerable vistas for writers, actors, technicians and presenters. So this could turn out to be a secure avenue, says Devibala whose name would spell familiarity to watchers of "Akshaya", "Ippadikku Thendral" and "Madisaar Mami", which created waves on the small screen. "Naiyaandi Durbar" and "Alli Durbar" are talk shows whose popularity is only too well known. And the man behind these shows, D. Ramnarayan, begins rather hesitantly. "I am not sure I am the right person to talk on the subject. But I do feel that training people is imperative. There are so many job opportunities here and without capable personnel who can speak correct Tamil, good projects could get stalled, he goes on. "The two-talk shows we do are popular mainly because we were able to lay hands on the right people. Mr. Kailasam (Min Bimbangal) and I spent quite some time to find the apt faces. A professional approach is needed and formal training could be the answer".

Ramana Rao says that the participation certificate that Starmakers gives is respected. Excepting DD, makeup has to be taken care of by the talents themselves when they work for satellite channels. And Starmakers teaches the art of makeup too.

What these institutes have achieved, it is too early to gauge. There are too many views on the subject itself. Y. Gee. M. and Ramnarayan have a point when they say that the Tamil diction of comperes have to be taken note of and redressed when necessary. After all, if Shobana Ravi is a name to reckon with in newsreading till today, it is skilled diction, ringing clarity and appropriate modulation that aid her. "We want good Tamil on television" says Ramnarayan. One has only to wait and see what the up and coming television institutes can achieve in this regard.

MALATHI RANGARAJAN

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