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MUMBAI: Amrita TV?s Natakame Ulakam which championed political satire in Malayalam Television, to jolt politicians out of their self-righteous and hypocritical composure and unmask the motives behind their pretentiousness, has crossed 350 episodes. Telecast every Saturday at 10.30pm, it is re-telecast on Wednesday mornings at 9.00am.
Natakame Ulakam marked the first time that political satire, which had traditionally been an offspring of the print sector, was adopted by the visual media; the televised avtar retained the same sting and punch of the original genre, providing even more entertainment and illumination in its print version.
The burlesque begins with a talking head of the creator-producer who trains the cross-hairs of his humorous assault on individuals currently ruling the news roost or incidents cannibalizing the front pages, mocking, lampooning them with all the conventional artillery in the satirical arsenal such as sarcasm, irony, ridicule, exaggeration, comparison, analogy etc. He also loads his verbal narrative with weapons from the visual armoury- political clippings edited in tune to hit numbers to form rollicking sequences, parodies of popular film songs providing ?musical voice overs? to visuals, intercutting well-known film clippings with real life footage for the most hilarious results, repeated replays and other editing techniques to add more voltage to his fire power.
He is scrupulously impartial and non- partisan ; no one is spared his witty volleys, with both the Oppositions and Ruling party alike becoming the target of his lively barbs and mocking salvos as he akes on public men of all hues and shows them up in their true colors.
Over the years since its launch, Natakame Ulakam has been honoured with numerous awards , with the 2011 State Awards for Best News Based programme and the 2012 Adoor Bhasi Award for the Best Political Satire Show being the most conspicuous in the lot.
As Natakame Ulakam moves on, provoking different shades of mirth and hilarity in its viewers, it has long since graduated from a mere weekend prime time entertainer to a programme that has the power and clout to influence and even change the perception in the general public, of politics and politicians.
