Media industry to be laid bare in Bollywood poduction Rann

Indian TV channels, that have for long prided themselves for exposing wrong-doing, will soon come under public gaze, thanks to Nollywood film maker Ram Gopal Verma's next venture, due for release later in the year.

At a press conference in New Delhi, Bollywood filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma announced the release this year of 'Rann' (Battle). With megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the lead, the movie is based on the media industry's insatiable appetite for advertisers and viewers, and is touted as a behind-the-scenes look at how news channels, greedy for ratings, are being manipulated into sensationalising stories.

"What will the media do if torn between commerce on one hand and conscience on the other -- that is the premise of this film," lead actor Amitabh Bachchan said at the press conference on Wednesday.

The premise is certainly valid, with news channels in India having exploded to 143 from 43 in 2004, according to a report in Outlook magazine.

Verma's treatment of the theme, however, seems to be as mundane as one has come to expect from this director. Bachchan plays the head of a prominent news channel in Rann. The other cast comprises tyhe usual suspects - other channel bigwigs, a conscientious journalist, an unscrupulous industrialist and a power-hungry politician. One can probably predict the rest, with some pallid female interest, action scenes, and song-and-dance sequences thrown in.

Perhaps more interesting than the movie was the press conference, as Verma announced that he had twisted around the national anthem 'Jana gana mane' while retaining its tune for the movie's theme song. The gimmick was easily seen through by those present as a blatant attempt to create the very artificial but headline-grabbing controversy that his film purports to lambaste!