Our Esteemed Jury

The Jury! Year after year, The ITA Jury has been a panel of wisdom that sifts the grain from the chaff in a most objective, equitable and even-handed manner.

This year too, the roster of worthies, sitting in deliberations on excellence in Television, was superlative, indeed. What else could you say to a tapestry of names like Lekh Tandon, Johnny Bakshi, Shrabani deodhar, Javed Sayyed, Vinod Ganatra, S.C. Sehgal, Dharam Gulati, Umesh Gupta, Uday Shanker Pani, Achut Vaze and Dhananjay Kulkarni… (gasp, gasp…!)

And all these worthies, divided into a 2-tier jury, spent upwards of 100 hours scanning through the sea of entries to hand-pick the exquisite for the honours. But there is a flip side to it also…

Yes, they were pictures of concentration while poring over episode after episode of the entire spectrum of Television, here, but despite that they also had a whole of a time. The key to the chummy, chummy vibes they shared amongst themselves, wherein nothing else mattered (not even age), was the trust and respect in which the held each other. Hence, even veterans of the age and standing of Lekh ji or Johnny ji refused to be treated like seniors by others. They were no fuddy-duddies - they made it clear the very first day and that really put the others at ease and the whole atmosphere became like that of campus canteen with a bunch of boisterous boys having the fun of their lives. It was indeed a ‘fun’ Jury and the one-liners, the repartees, the give-and-takes were simply rocking…!

But all of this transpired only in the breaks (Which were hai, so thode thode…!) - otherwise, their eyes were just glued to the TV screen, ripping the shows apart and deciding about that X-element in them, which could then be award worthy.

But those breaks, however little, kind of refreshed and recharged them instantly. Particularly hitting was Lekhji’s subtle yet punching sense of humour, Johnnyji’s Kabootar udao guffaws, Dharm Gulati, Subhash Sehgal and Umesh Gupta’s pun and play upon words, Uday Pani’s exemplary capacity of taking a joke on himself… so on and so forth…!

But if repartee and riposte were the order of the day, there was an equally serious streak of debate and dialogue on the quality or otherwise of the work being shown!

And now the shows rated and marks given, the judging dockets have been sealed and collected by the noted independent agency, EIKONA (which, it seems, means Eye (how apt!) in Russian). They will now proceed to collate and calibrate the marks absolutely on their own to finally declare the top-4, with the winners getting to be known only when that blue envelope is opened by a presenter on the stage, at the Award-Ceremony. Prior to that, no one (and this includes the ITA and the Jury as well) has even a faint inkling of what the results are going to be …!

However, the fate of the entries has been sealed and the entire world of television waits with bated breath as to which way the winds will blow?

Says an obviously elated Anu Ranjan, ‘The judging is over and the results have been sealed… but now we have to open another lid – the lid of pure fun & frolic to make the Award-ceremony a treat to remember!’ Shashi Ranjan, oozes confidence, ‘Since last four months, we are up on our feet and surely will prove ourselves up to the mark, too. You’ll see the charisma… soon enough!’

That’s confidence, guys (and gals – if that makes it more politically correct!)! And that’s enough for us to vouch for the fact that you, too, will hurrah yourself hoarse, screaming…
That’s Entertainment…!