AS they used to say in Roman gladiatorial circles, it’s all very well to be young and fresh and strong, but ultimately, what wins you the crowd’s applause is experience. While most of us learnt this in the Russell Crowe-starrer Gladiator, the old warhorse of Indian television, Doordarshan seems to have known it all along. DD National’s reality show Idea Jalsa was recently rated as the top reality show in its slot across 400 TV channels. That’s no mean feat, considering that the Indian television industry is all about cut-throat competition.

“We’re the only channel which provides the complete package,” director general of Doordarshan, Aruna Sharma, says proudly, “We divide our time differently from other TV channels. We know what viewers want to watch and we fill the gaps left by other channels.”

Jalsa, which was launched by the Indian Music Academy features concerts by renowned exponents of music— Indian classical, semi classical, folk and spiritual. They feature classical masters like Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma; popular singers like Shankar Mahadevan and Richa Sharma and young maestros like Rakesh Chaurasia and Niladri Kumar.

“We’ve tried to create a unique space for Indian indigenous music. Its important to highlight this as no other channel is doing it and it’s a fact that viewers want to watch shows like this,” says Sharma.

“It’s a great platform for us because no channel has tried to address the definite demand that viewers have for classical music,” says Chaurasia, “It’s just film music everywhere.” Kumar believes that another reason for the programme’s success is that it has a reach like no other programme on any other channel. “Most TV channels crow about their popularity, but fact of the matter is that it’s DD that’s truly national — it covers urban centres as well as rural India.”

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