Taking cues from the hour-long ‘apolitical’ interview – or televised interaction – between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, news anchor Ravish Kumar dedicated his prime time slot on NDTV on Wednesday, 24 April, to indulge in the ‘non-political’ – and mangoes.
During his interaction with PM Modi, Kumar – Akshay and not Ravish – asked him a question that seems to have caught the fancy of many on social media:
“Does Modi eat mangoes? And if he does, does he cut it into pieces while eating or eat it as a whole, with the seed, leaning over the sink?”
(Here are ten other extremely important questions that the PM has finally answered.)
“If politicians are indulging in non-political interactions, especially during the election season, why shouldn’t we? Why not eat mangoes instead,” Ravish said, in his show.
“We thought of doing something different tonight,” he added.
What followed was not ‘aam’ (common) at all. A whole segment of the show dedicated to mangoes was aired – showcasing different varieties, uses, drinks you can make with them, how to cut them and, how to eat them.
This was followed by an ‘in-depth’ analysis of the potency of the questions asked by Akshay, by contrasting them with questions posed by lyricist Prasoon Joshi in an earlier interview.
From questions on Modi’s personal wealth, secret behind his ‘endless energy’ and his alternative careers... juxtaposed clips of the two interviews were used to highlight how interviews of the PM have always been ‘apolitical’ and have failed in addressing the concerns of the common citizen.
‘If Life Gives You Kumar – Be Ravish, Not Akshay’
This sarcasm-filled decoding of the interviews and the ‘mango prime time’ segment evoked sharp reactions on Twitter:
Here is the entire #ModiWithAkshay interview:
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