<font color="#ff0000">Guest Article: </font> Chetan Bhagat: Hunting for the Stars

Bhagat shares his experiences as a judge for STAR Anchor Hunt, launched by STAR News in 10 cities across India

I was extremely nervous before signing on as a judge for STAR Anchor Hunt, a talent search show to find potential news anchors across India. After all, an English-language author judging a reality show on a Hindi news channel - when was the last time you heard that?

And yet, the STAR News contract was in front of me. Over three months, we would traverse the entire Hindi belt, visiting around a dozen cities. We would cull the top 20 candidates from tens of thousands of applications filed online. After that, we'd put the selected candidates into a stringent final round in the STAR studios in Delhi. From there would emerge a handful of candidates, who would become the face of STAR News.

Yes, this wasn't a regular reality show, where the winners would be patted on their backs, given gift hampers and sent home. Here, the winners would actually get jobs as anchors for the news channel. If selected, they would speak to crores of people on a daily basis.

Still, I wasn't convinced. What's an English-language author doing in the middle of all this? The people from STAR asked me what the apprehensions were. I told them a couple.

One, Hindi news channels are the kings of sensationalism. The loud fonts and screaming headlines, the over-exaggeration of minor news items, the fake tugging at emotions - news channels in India are often criticized for the mockery they make of news; and the criticism is not without reason. Everyday, we have at least 50 breaking-news items, which are forgotten the next day. In the quest for TRPs, news channels turn into entertainment shows.

The people from STAR looked at each other and turned to me. "Your concerns are valid, Sir," they said, "But tell us one thing. How will all this change?"

That sentence hit home. It is easy to criticize something from a distance. It is easy for me to sit in my English-literature world and comment on the lack of standards in Hindi TV programming. But it is hard to join in and try and improve the situation. And here I had an opportunity to do it. Did I have the power to sign the contract?

"What else, Sir?" they asked me.

"Why do you have to make it a reality show?" I said. "Why not just an interview process in your offices? The moment it becomes a public show, there is SMS polling with regional biases, which hurts actual talent."

The STAR people had come prepared.

"Sir, this may be a reality show. But there will be no SMS voting. We want the best, above everything else," the media honchos told me. No SMS polling? I wondered. How can a show give up on that easy, lucrative source of revenue?

"Don't forget, Sir," the STAR News official said, "We have to give the winners a job. We live with them."

I was impressed by the effort to make a real show. I also saw the logic in showing the Anchor Hunt on TV. This way, the youth of India could see the selection process. An anchor is required to have good communication and on-the-spot thinking skills. These are the same skills used in almost any job interview. So, whether a young person wanted to be an anchor or not, watching the show would help add some useful skills to him.

"Do I have to be a tough judge?" I said. The STAR officials smiled. They could see I was leaning towards the show. "You can be whatever judge you like. Just pick the best."

I lifted my pen and signed the contract. And thus began a journey into the Indian heartland. We met the youth of this country from all backgrounds -- rural and urban, rich and poor, moderately to highly educated. However, they had one thing in common -- everyone had a dream, and they were willing to work hard for it. Many candidates lacked anchor-like skills, but quite a few were excellent.

In every audition city, all of us -- Tisca Chopra (Bollywood actor), STAR News anchors Deepak Chaurasia and Siddharth Sharma, and I -- had a tough time making the final shortlist.

I witnessed the raw talent of my country firsthand, which frankly, is India's only hope in making it to the league of big nations. A girl had fought with her conservative parents to come for the audition; a boy had learnt English by watching English movies; some kids borrowed clothes to look good. When you see dedication like this, you see hope for our country, which has been marred by corruption and poor leadership.

Every hard-working youth I saw, inspired me to work harder in my own job. Every youth we rejected, a pain seethed through my heart. After three months, I felt I had an experience of a lifetime.

As the show shoot ends, all I can say is STAR may have found a few good anchors, but I found something a lot more valuable. I found a lot of hope for my country, as I see immense pools of talent tucked away in its interiors. All they need is opportunity, that one little chance to prove themselves. I hope with this show, we have succeeded in providing that.

For we as individuals can't actually change the world. But we can all be that one ray of sunshine, which changes a few lives.

(Chetan Bhagat is an Indian author, whose books include Five Point Someone and One Night @ The Call Center.)