Media personality MV Nikesh Kumar is back. He is returning to journalism after the hiatus of a year.
Nikesh will host a show ‘Ente Chora Thilaykkunnu’ (My Blood Boils) on Reporter TV, a channel he floated in 2010 after a long tenure with Indiavision. Nikesh is the current managing director of Reporter. The show, he claims, is an attempt to bring the real-life issues of people out of the television studios.
“It will be issue based, both political and social. The debate will be held outdoors; at places where an issue persists. The public/the locals are the main stakeholders of grave problems. They will be given priority in the show to question laxity of the authorities,” he told The News Minute. A prominent visual media journalist whose style of news presentation was imitated by many of his successors, Nikesh bid farewell to active journalism to foray into politics in 2016.
He was fielded as an independent candidate of the Left Democratic Front by the CPI (M) from Azhikode constituency in Kannur during the Assembly elections in May 2016. He had quit journalism saying that it was a continuation of his political stand. ‘While I quit I had said that I will do a TV show even if I win or lose,” he had said and he did lose the election. The live discussion will began in two weeks and will be broadcast on prime time between eight and nine on weekdays.
He will travel extensively for the outdoor shooting of the live show. The show will debate the day-to-day social and political issues of the state. Guests on the show will be sitting at studio rooms of Reporter. It won’t be the anchor but the local people who will be asking questions to the guests. “The show aims to make an impact such that it would prompt the authorities to take action in incidents similar to the Walayar case. The concept is to make people an active part in such discussions,” he said.
Nikesh was referring to the incident where two sisters were found hanging at their home at Walayar in Palakkad within a span of two months. The police reportedly failed to thoroughly investigate the elder girl’s death, which could have prevented the death of the younger girl. Since the CPI (M) led LDF is ruling the state, his show is likely to ruffle a few feathers in the government whenever he has to criticise the authorities for not taking action on important issues? “I have no comments to offer on this. You watch the show and make your own judgement,” said Nikesh who maintains a close relation with prominent Left leaders.