THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The popular talk show 'Nammal Thammil' on Asianet is in for a face change yet again.
After Sreekantan Nair, the show's longtime host, quit office, the channel had sought to rev up the scene with actor Jagadish taking the floor. But even as the channel authorities insist that points are piling up on the rating scale after the lecturer-turned-comedian took over, a replacement of the anchor has been ratified.
It is learnt that Arun, who had made his mark in anchoring several serious shows on Asianet and Doordarshan, will take over from Jagadish from next Saturday onwards.
The channel's Chief Manager (PR) B S Praveen Kumar insisted that Jagadish is very much a part of the Asianet family and had agreed to host the show only as a "stopgap arrangement".
Said he, "Jagadish is too busy with films and wanted us to find a substitute within the duration of two or three episodes. And he did a great job, hats off to him. So we were on the lookout for the right choice and it seems we can possibly finalise on one of the two or three persons we have shortlisted in a few days' time."
When contacted, Jagadish said, "I am not a must in the film industry now. So if I ask for dates to be adjusted according to my mini screen commitments, they will cast someone else. Mammootty or Mohanlal can afford to do that, not me. And besides, even I cannot bear to see two stints of myself on the same channel. People are having enough of me as host of the comedy show," he said, laughing loud. Jagadish is happy that he was able to take up three subjects related to cinema in the six episodes that he hosted.
"And if you watched them, you would know that I handled them in a studied manner. Actor Innocent's wife had called up to say that the programme was doing really good now and so did many others. I share a good rapport with Asianet and I took up the assignment in a crucial circumstance to keep the show going. And I am winding up after propping up the ratings."
Jagadish added as an afterthought, "See, this is not a show the common people would watch. They are after fun things. Shows or soaps with things like black magic and all that would have more audience. This is for serious audiences. If I was not hosting the show, I would not keep myself up and awake at night to watch this show."
Hopefully, the realisation has dawned on the channel authorities too. May Arun be able to steer clear of the 'Goodbye' style and the subsequent 'Appukkuttan' style, Amen!