Divya Seth

When a team on the game show Aao Gu-ess Karen (Home TV) won the jackpot, Divya Seth jumped with glee. She was more excited than the winners. While discussing eve-teasing on Puruskshetra (EL), she threatened to slap one of the "pathetic panellists". Viewers were puzzled. What's gotten into the bubbly host? Well, nothing really. It's just that Purushkshetra brings out the lesser known side of Divya Seth. The more mature one.

Why Purushkshetra? Ah! She was expecting that one.

"As a matter of fact I kept asking the producers the same thing. I just couldn't figure out why they were so sure that I was right for the role. They kept telling me that the decision was up to me. As far as they were concerned, I was going to be the next host of Pursuhkshetra."

But, did she really know what she was getting into? Had she ever seen the show before? "This may sound uncanny, but when the Best of Purushkshetra was being shown, I was always air-borne and missed all of them. I was sure that someone up there didn't want me to see them!" Tough luck. So, she didn't get to see Kiron Kher in action. But, surely, she knows why Kher left the show? No, all Divya Seth says she knows is that "Kiron Kher's contract was over and she needed to move on."

Kher's exit was as a surprise. An even bigger one was Divya Seth taking over. People expected her to carry on from where Kher had left off. "But you can't do that. Every chat show takes on the personality of the anchor. My director was very clear on what he wantedhe just wanted me to be myself and do the things I wanted."

So sometimes, she lost her cool, sometimes she just couldn't stop laughing. But wasn't telling one of the guests on the eve-teasing episode that she would slap him, carrying this do-your-own-thing act a bit too far? "Okay, so I lost my cool. But that man was really getting to me. I can't control my anger, maybe I should try harder. The fact is that I react to thingsit is a dialogue and I don't think that my role is just that of a moderator. What you see on air is me."

Would she do the same episode differently now? "I don't think so. There was an episode in which I laughed loudly. When I saw it, I thought I had overdone it. I told the producers to edit it out. They felt that it was natural and let it stay. Maybe what people are seeing is the difference between a more worldly wise anchor and a less experienced one."

"Also, there are issues which make me very angry, issues which I am not really exposed to. When I talk about eve-teasing or child abuse it is from what I know, not necessarily what I have experienced."

She's smart. She knows when to shut up and let the others do the talking. Does that mean she does her fair share of homework before an episode? "I am not too involved at that stage. The research team is so good. They pick up topics, discuss them and flesh out the entire episode even before it's shot. I was amazed when they got child abusers on the show. To a certain extent, they even preempt the course of the show." Well, then what exactly does Divya Seth do, other than looking good and playing host? "Well, for starters, I make sure that the discussion is heading somewhere. See, firstly I am told everything that there is to know about the subject and given a skeleton questionnaire. It has everything. There are times when I think of something and, gleefully, tell the director that he missed it. He looks at me and explains that it is so obvious that someone in the audience is bound to bring it up. And they do. From there I take over and steer the conversation. You've got to give me credit for that."

We do, we do. It's just that do men really open up and talk to a woman about all that guy stuff? "If I go with my hackles up, they won't. When I go on the sets I am neutral, I am not judging anyone. I don't meet any participant before the shoot and hence, I don't have any preconceived notions. If it was entirely a man's show, it would become something like a boy's club. There would be a lot of back-slapping and boasting, maybe even lying. I think the show has the right balance now."

And with that judgement delivered, Divya Seth disappears to put on some make-up and look good for the photographer.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.