Kavita Chhibber's feature on Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Kavita Chhibber is doing some really good work in the Indian blogosphere and e-zine area!  I think she does some very original work always.  She has recently started doing podcasts.  This month is the special feature on Hrishikesh Mukherjee – the great Indian cinema Director.  He made movies like Anand, Chupke-Chupke, Khubsoorat, Mili, Golmaal, Rang Birangi etc.

She has done two interviews – One with Jaya Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan and second with Amol Palekar.  The insight into Hrishida – the man – and director is amazing.  One incident that I find endearing about Hrishida is when Amol Palekar talks about his unwillingness to shoot because of cricket match and how Hrishida handled that.

There are very few folks like Hrishikesh Mukherjee now.

As for the interview technique of Kavita you will notice her saying very little.  I think THAT is the hall-mark of a great interviewer.  They ask simple but probing questions and then sit back and listen and let the interviewee unfold him/her-self.  Larry King is an excellent example of that!  On Indian TV, the less said about the Indian interviewers the better.  They love their own voices so much that they are willing to overshadow the guests.  So, if you are a budding journalist, I think listening to and analyzing Kavita’s interviews should be a good education!