Inside the Studio

 

Gautam Bhattacharya from his childhood days, had always harboured a supreme belief that he had in him to be a Sports Commentator. Regular stints with the All India Radio and few opportunities in Doorodarshan did nothing to unsettle the confidence.He hardly imagined that life would actually be spent in the print media and effectively very little,inside the studio !


 




 





 
                       

                                Participating in a live TV show with Sourav from

                                Colombo .


                                           

                                With Reshmi & Sambaran Banerjee at ABP Ananda.


 
                                                

                                In disguise for an ABP Ananda Show with actor 

                                Biplab Chatterjee .

 



 




   Gautam-the TV analyst

Ban on television and radio assignments by the office helped him to concentrate solely on print. And in the early nineties  whenever ABP Management allowed him to come on TV he certainly did not set the screen on fire. To put it bluntly, viewers weren’t suitably attracted .


   ‘Slog Over’ The Cricket Show

    Before the 1996 World Cup Gautam had co-anchored a 13-episode cricket show named ‘Slog overs’. But the Box office hardly recorded any enthusiasm. A section of the viewers felt, his articulation was decent but nothing great. The stiffness in front of the camera was showing and it was commonly felt Gautam’s future would be much more secured in print.


 

    Gautam hosting a show during Football World Cup in 2006.

The perception changed dramatically in the new millennium with a talk show on ETV named ‘Saaf Katha’. The high and mighty   appeared on the show be it Sourav Ganguly or Buddhadedeb Bhattacharya and opened up completely in front of the interviewer.


    Gautam interviewing Aparna Sen in a talk show

Every Sunday at 8 pm the Bengali TV audience remain glued to it’s charm making it one of the highest ranked non fiction TV shows in the Bengali TV channel industry. This was the time he gained reputation as a potential TV star.


    Gautam interviewing Prasenjit in a talk show

The star power finally was in display when Gautam started doing regular stints with Star Ananda. The renewed love affair with the    small screen begins in 2005, and viewers were pleasantly surprised to find a TV analyst who had improved to an almost breathtaking level. Be it Bradman’s birth centenary celebration in faraway Australia or Ganguly’s farewell series or Dalmiya’s battle royal vs   Budhdha, the moment he appeared on TV, TRP ratings shut up.


    Gautam Bhattacharya-the cricket writer or the TV analyst?

Now that he is a household TV celebrity; fresh debate has begun in the minds of the sports lovers, who is their first favoured   option:    Gautam Bhattacharya-the cricket writer or the TV analyst? A die-hard fan would of course say, who is bothered? I love both the avatars!