The camera should love you and vice versa

Vimal Chander Joshi interviews Ashish Patil, general manager and senior  vice-president, creative and content, MTV Networks India Pvt Ltd

What traits do you look for in a video jockey?

A VJ should be cool. Being cool doesn’t have anything to do with your physical appearance, but one should be articulate, unpredictable and witty. Besides that, we capitalise on a VJ’s strengths so that s/he gets a unique identity — like Nikhil is an expert in music and gadgets, Ramona was projected as a tomboy and Malaika (a former VJ) as a hottie.

How has the role of a VJ changed in the past few years?

The typical definition has changed a lot. A VJ is not only meant to host a countdown show, as music is readily available for mobiles and computers.

Now, you don’t need a VJ to tell you which song to listen to. He or she should know about fashion, trends, celebrities, alternative sports, technology, latest gossip, current affairs and also about music – and have a point of view on all these subjects!

Is it important to have a background in acting or the glam world to become a VJ?

No. None of our VJs had acting or modelling background, barring Ayushman and Deepti. Most of them came through talent hunt shows. You need to have spontaneity and an inimitable sense of humour — it should be quite palpable. One doesn’t need rocket science to discover this within oneself. When I screened (MTV VJ) Jose (Covaco), I found him ridiculously funny. He talks casually and leaves you in splits.

How long can one continue VJing?

It is a proper profession and has a life-long preposition. As you grow older, if you keep reinventing yourself, you can stay in the profession forever.

Cyrus Broacha has been with MTV for the past 15 years, Nikhil (Chinappa) for 13 years, (Cyrus) Sahukar for 11 and Anusha for eight years.

Author: HT Horizons

Date: 13th Jan., 2010

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