Q: Your show has received stupendous response from
all quarters. Has the audience given it more love than you
expected?
A: This is a very dream reaction that we are getting...right
from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, people are watching it in the
small towns, villages, big cities... People across all economic
groups and across rural and urban areas are watching it.
The way people are emotionally connected to it is great.
The way it is moving them, touching them, and affecting
them is very heartening.
Q: You seem to have donned the role of a social
reformer. Post "Satyamev Jayate", do we see you
take on a larger role at some point, perhaps join politics?
A: I am not interested in politics, so I won't be joining
politics. I feel what I am able to do from where I am, from
the the stream that I am in, is much more. I can contribute
much more (this way). So I am happy doing that.
Q: Is there any follow-up mechanism to the social
issues that you have been raising on the show?
A: We believe information and knowledge make you act differently.
Giving a broad example, if you look at a film like "Taare
Zameen Par"... When the film was released, majority
of the country's population had no idea that there was something
like dyslexia, a learning disability. Thereafter, it started
having an impact that has continued till today. So what
we can do with this show is - 13 "Taare Zameen Par".
We are trying to get the viewers to look inwards. We are
not expecting you to join an andolan (revolution) on female
foeticide, nor are we expecting you to barge in each house
of your neighbourhood to check if they are doing it or not...
what we are expecting is that you yourself should not do
it, and if somebody is thinking of doing it, you should
discourage them from doing it.
We are trying to show the way forward. And by that I don't
mean that we have a solution. So in answer to what the follow
up is to this - I don't know what it is. What we are doing
is basic, essential, fundamental and primary. And according
to me, the follow-up or rather fallout of this will be very
organic in itself.
Q: Several individuals and NGOs work towards society's
betterment. But that hasn't helped so far. What do you have
to say?
A: We are not discovering a new issue, we are actually
tackling issues that are well known. Our research is based
on work done by experts and social activists over the last
20 to 30 years. So their work is remarkable and important.
Now what do I bring to the table?
Their work is the foundation of our work, and I am using
my goodwill, which I have earned over the last two-and-a-half-decades.
I am trying to put it to good use and using television,
a fantastically strong medium, to address issues on a mass
scale.
Q: You have let go of the aura around a celebrity
to come closer to the country's masses and their problems.
How gratifying is the experience?
A: It's been an amazing journey to come in contact with
people from different parts of the country and from different
cultures. I have had the good fortune of learning so much
more about the country. It has got me closer to the people
of our country. It is a huge learning experience for me
to do this show.