Headliners
They were all celebrities in their own right. We all watched them on Doordarshan at 9:30 every night. It was fun to predict who would be reading the news that day. Yes, they were part of a generation, they were part of tragedies, they were part of the Indian voice and above all, they were the messengers.
Minu certainly had her share of admirers. Grapevine was full of colorful stories which included her and a certain Ramakrishna Hegde. Apparently, one of my friends’ friend who happens to be an electrician, saw her at Hegde’s house in Delhi, when he went to do some electrical repairs.
The stoic Neethi Ravindran was supposed to be from Bengalooru. Don’t ask me why or how I heard that news. You could see her aging gracefully as the years rolled over.
And, the charming Geethanjali Aiyer. The story was that she was not a Tamilian, but a Maharashtrian from Mumbai and was working for a 5-star (Taj ?) hotel as a receptionist. The Aiyer tag apparently came in after the marriage. Whatever the truth is, I certainly know that my father had a soft corner for her. I liked her too. My wife seems to think that she was ugly. Well, what does a girl know about another girl’s beauty anyway!!!
Komal GB Singh was popular even outside the Doordarshan circles. She was the choice MC for any international event, be it a SAARC summit or the International Film Festival of India. She had that twinkle in her eyes which made her so popular. There was a sitar player in Mysooru who was a replica of Komal.
As far as news reading is concerned, the best of them all was undoubtedly Rini Khanna nee Simon. The voice modulation, grace, and punch in the delivery was unmatched. She had the English pronunciation for the word “issue”, at a time when most of us in India had the American pronunciation. I do remember that the last page in Star of Mysore carried a news item on Rini Simon marrying Deepak Khanna, who was employed by Indian Airforce.
Later years saw too much of Usha Albuquerque. She was a decent news reader, nothing special about her. But for some odd reason, Doordarshan seemed to like her a lot.
Sheila Kaul, Mrinalini, and Nita Thomas dropped in once in a while.
As for the men, Uday Bir Saran Das was my mother’s favorite. She always wished that she had a daughter so that she could marry her off to this guy. Das was so regular in late 80’s, but suddenly disappered from the screen one day. I saw him come back after several years, but the charm was lost and he looked very old and ill. I just hope he was fine.
Shashi Kumar became popular through Doordarshan, but quickly shifted allegiance. He was in PTI for some time and even hosted ‘Tana-Bana’ (the cheap remake of ‘Surabhi’). He used to host a lot of live events too. He had a very good style and manner.
Tajeshwar Singh was so boring. His likes for theatre apart, I thought his news reading skills lacked enthusiasm and good demeanor. He was quite banal (with a ‘b’).
Fo some magical reason Suneet Tandon always paired up with Komal in a variety of international events. He was a good news reader. But as some said, he looked like a person suffering from TB (I hope that isn’t true!). He was so thin and he certainly did not carry the weight (literally!). But he did deliver quite well. His pronunciation and accent was just right to be appreciated.
We also had Najeeb Jung, Raman and a host others who passed by.
I did not watch Hindi news all that often. But, I did have a good handle on who’s who in Hindi news. Avinash Kaur Sareen was undoubtedly the prettiest among them. Shobhana Jagadeesh, Manjari Joshi, and Sarla Maheshwari were certainly good readers. The oil faced Salma Sultana was undoubtedly the worst of the lot. She could easily win the worst news reader award any day. I was told that she was Zia-ul-Haq’s grand daughter (or somehow related to him) and thus Doordarshan promoted her big time. Well, there goes yet another rumor. Shammi Narang was perhaps the best among the guys. Raman was quite lousy. I do have to agree that Shobhana and Shammi were both excellent singers. Avinash wasn’t bad either.
It has been more than a decade since I saw any of these faces on the small screen. I wonder where they are today and what they are doing. As long as my generation lives, they will be remembered.
Explore posts in the same categories: Media
A Paradise for Dreamers 
June 18, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Thanks DS for taking us in your Time Machine to 20 years back.
Yes, the gossip about Minu was very much there.
And Rini Simon was as much admired as Salma was despised.
Does anybody still watch the boring Durdarshan news?
June 18, 2007 at 9:12 pm
great to revist the DD NEws Days! thanks DS.
** had heard that tejeshwar singh didn’t have his left hand. so whenever he was on screen, me used to look deep into the sccreen just to see if i could get a glimpse of his left hand.
** remember the chubby lady who came at 1:15 pm on sundays (news for hearing impaired)
** among kannada news readers, Ramakrishna Upadhyaya, Krishna Galagali, Ishwara Dai Thota and Sabeeha Bhanu were the favourites.
i thought you might like this link (visit in leisure):
Who said I am nostalgic?
June 18, 2007 at 10:53 pm
Wow!
I travelled back in time! My Mom used to make us watch the news daily. However, I don’t think I will let little biyadiya watch the news for quite some years hence; the news are so full of crime and scandals and ugly politics. It was not like that when we were kids.
RK, I remember the chubby lady 🙂 I used to love imitating her, and had learnt a few signals too.
June 19, 2007 at 1:33 am
[…] a very nice post, Decemberstud remembers the Doordarshan newsreaders of yore. They were all celebrities in their own right. We all watched […]
June 19, 2007 at 4:26 am
parijatha, nice to hear (no pun intended) that!
and i still remember the tunes that came at the beginning and the end of NEWS.
in the late ’80s, imm. after NEWS, the SANSAD SAMACHAR/ PARLIAMENT NEWS or VIDHANASABHEYALLI INDU would start. and that would be the time to continue doing home work for another 10 mins before getting distracted again…. 😉
June 19, 2007 at 4:44 am
DS: Who can forget Salma Sultana… she could turn Color into Black and White and lent “bland” a new meaning… I remember Minu of the early ’80’s saw her again sometime in the late nineties …. she had aged “gracefully”.. like everyone else .. always wondered about the RK Hegde connexion
June 19, 2007 at 7:14 am
if memory serves me right, originally the hindi news at 8:40 and the english news at 9:00. wasn’t shammi narang the guy who had only one ‘sha’ sound and that was ‘the other sha’? i haven’t read all the posts on this thread, but you guys will surely enjoy reading …
somehow, i liked salma sultana – she was as bland as doordarshan could ever be. and now, as we become parents (as parijata points out), we miss the goody goody doordarshan news where bad things never happen (or happen very rarely).
btw, i don’t think most indians use the american pronunciation of ‘issue’ (‘ishoo’) either. we have other words too, where our pronunciation is neither british nor american (well, i mean we don’t even attempt to pronounce it like the british or the americans do) – one example that immediately comes to mind is ‘advantage’. for quite some time now, i have been meaning to compile a list of such words as well as accepted indian phrases (slangs?) that ain’t correct either in british or american english (but haven’t gotten around to doing so).
– s.b.
June 19, 2007 at 5:16 pm
@ Aram:
Well, at that time DD enws was certainly not boring. but, I have never made an attempt to watch it when visit India now. How is it?
@ RK:
Yes, I do remember the rumor about Tajeshwar Singh not having his left hand. And, who can ever forget the chubby lady who came for ‘badirOn ke liye samAchAr patrika’. But, the girl who was reading the actual news was beautiful though 🙂 I did not watch Kannada news all that much, was neevr home at that time. I know I know, too much loitering.
@ pArijAta:
Yes, as you are aware, even here, the enws is full of crime stories. As for the chubby lady from sunday, yep, even I had mastered a few signs which included President, India, Bangladesh etc.
@ Shruti:
Thanks for the link!!!
@ Vijay:
Oh man, tell me about Salma Sultana. She was indeed the nightmare which all the kids were afraid of. How monotonous and boring could news reading be, seriously?
@ SB:
You deserve my salut. You are THE first person who has told me that Salma Sultana is liked by someone. Oh well, different tastes I guess 😉 Yes, I agree with the pronunciation of ‘issue’, but we were certainly closer to the American accent than British and thatw as the point I was trying to make. On that note, you should really compile that list and post it.
June 20, 2007 at 1:49 am
Oh Guy, you could remember all these names! I was trying to recall their faces but not everyone’s I could.
And what is this so much rumours to connect around.. ayyo devare..!
June 20, 2007 at 3:00 am
SB: As DS says.. salut is in order… You ARE talking about the newsreader Salma Sultana right? 😉
June 20, 2007 at 9:56 am
of all the names mentioned here, i can identify only suneet tandon. what pronunciation! superb! and yes, he looks a little too ill!
June 20, 2007 at 6:07 pm
vijay/sb:
i didn’t mean to say that salma sultana was ms. doordarshan, if that’s what you guys are inferring!
her hindi was pretty ok to good. she had a monotonous face that you guys have already pointed out, and somehow i like(d) that in a newsreader – she is not there to entertain me but just to present news – the more poker face the better. i somehow have never cared for the informal manner how news is presented in the usa (and probably in many other places of the world – india too, now!). but of course, that is just me.
talking of non-desi presenters, i like daljit dhaliwal – and her presentation – too 🙂 (not that i watch bbc news daily nowadays anyway), and anderson cooper 360 is ok too, though everytime i watch him (i haven’t for quite some time now), i remember the first time i watched his program – during the tsunami telecast.
i still get irritated remembering the desi dude aneesh/ashish(?) who was anderson’s man on the spot. every sentence he would religiously utter ‘anderson’. “there is so much water, anderson, people are everywhere anderson” it got to the point where i thought i was anderson not s.b.! there was another desi too – the only word of his that i remember is ‘baaaady’ – he was based in new delhi i believe. sanjay gupta was/is pretty good as an expert correspondent.
i liked linda spur of bbc sports (radio) – her english was superb and her description of the wimbledon tennis matches was too good. i had traipsed all the way to bush house (london) in 1990 to meet her – came back empty handed (figuratively speaking). bottom line, i’ve never seen her (or her photo for that matter).
folks, have i digressed enough?
– s.b.
February 10, 2013 at 5:49 pm
Digressed or not, I, too, loved Linda Spurr’s Wimbledon commentary on the BBC World Service on short wave (those were the days!). She is no longer with the BBC, though, having made a lateral career shift and become a freelance writer and teacher several years ago. You can see her photo at “http://www.writerscentrenorwich.org.uk/uniquewritingprizeautumn2011.aspx”.
June 21, 2007 at 4:18 am
That was a long time ago.
DS, it is amazing that you remember all of them with their little idiosyncrasies. Thanks for a luxury trip down memory lane.
I remember all of those people except Neethi Ravindran – was she the one with a mole on her face?
We used to have favorites at home. Shashi Kumar was well liked by all. Do people remember PC Ramakrishnan and Luku Sanyal (Madras and Bombay Doordarshan – circa 1982) ?
And about Bangalore DD, we had a person named Gayatri Chandrashekhar doing “Insight” with Maya Sharma. GC’s English accent was horrible. She would break apart a word into its letters and it was very jarring to hear her. Maya, OTOH, was very professional and I knew she would make it. (She is with NDTV now, I think)
The news opening music went through several versions – Indian music based and western based. Their logos and opening graphics used to change once every couple of years.
It has been a long time since I have watched any news on TV. Most of my news is from the Web which, I am sure, is the case with most people on this board.
sb, can you compile such a list and put it up somewhere? It will be interesting to look at – with even Indians having diverse accents by virtue of their being domiciled all over the world.
June 21, 2007 at 9:36 am
Ooops never heard about these people … They all come in TV is it 😉
June 21, 2007 at 9:25 pm
sb: ah a fellow Salma Sultana fan, finally 🙂 I never understood why everyone hated her. As you said, she had a perfect poker face and monotonous way of reading and I liked it in a newsreader. She had a kind of dignity and poise. On the rare occasions she deigned to smile or wore a bindi, she could even look pretty good actually (I am talking mid 80s). The other hindi news reader I liked was Sarla Maheswari. Couldn’t stand Avinash Kaur Sareen for some reason.
June 22, 2007 at 11:21 am
d.s./neelagriva:
thanks for the trust bestowed upon me. as d.s. knows, i am not good at keeping my word (and/or compiling information) :-). however, i can do something like i did on vijay’s blog, i.e., keep adding material at one place as i keep finding it :-).
– s.b.
June 22, 2007 at 5:48 pm
@ Veena:
Yep, I told you that I rememebr too much of junk, didn’t I?
@ Vijay:
it looks like SB is gonna start an SS fan club soon, huh?
@ Mouna:
And, your point in the comment is that the rest of us are too old? 😉
@ SB:
Now now, don’t start calling ME SB. I am nobody, YOU are somebody 😉 I certainly don’t like the informal manner in which news is presented in America, but certainly not a fan of “Why the heck am I forced to read news” Salma Sulatana either.
Okieeee, looks like our ‘preferances’ are quite different. Anderson cooper is ‘ok’, really? I think he can be ranked as one of the WORST news anchors out here. He can compete well with Shepher Smith from Fox. The biggest problem with AC is that he is brainless. He has zero knowledge on the stuff he talks. he just reads whatever is given to him and above all he is not at all clear. He ooh’s and aaah’s way too much. If at all there is an award for the most irritating TV personality in America, he should get it.
And no, you really didn’t digress all that. We reserve that for Vijay’s blog, don’t we?
@ Nilagriva:
Thanks!!! Yes, Neethi was the one with the mole on her face. She was quite popular at that time. Maya Sharma certainly rocks. I first saw her covering one of the Lok Sabha elections (89?) from Bangalore. That was when Prannoy Roy and Vinod Dua catapulted to the top of ‘fame scale’.
@ Bachodi:
Ahhhh lucky you…you didn’t have to watch Salma Sultana (that was another dig at SB)
@ Mohan:
Alright, now we have a real tem. How about SB being the rpesident and you being the VP of SS fan club 🙂 She even looked pretty, huh? I certainly have no comments there 😉 Yes, Sarla Maheshwari was an excellent news reader. I thought Avinash was the ebst of the lot, to look at, that is.
June 24, 2007 at 2:27 pm
My favourite was Geetanjali Iyer..for Imaginations not to be discussed in an open forum like this . Give me a call for reasons . However I wasnt married and my imaginations were still running ‘Wild’.
Meanwhile someone is seeying ‘MANDYAns’ running wild scooters without helmet .
June 24, 2007 at 10:04 pm
@ DG:
You seemed to be a ‘tiger’ in those days, huh? 🙂 I am sure all the readers here are quite imaginative to figure out how colorful your imaginations were. Sure, send me the number, I won’t mind calling you, if not for this, at least to thank you for all the other things.
As for the ‘debased MANDYAns’, I am just glad that somehow I am not responsible for all that, more so since I am supposed to be the reason for all those ‘miles on the Mysore-Bangalore highway’. If you have observed, somehow I am reponsible for all the problems in this World.
June 25, 2007 at 6:09 am
You have said earlier that you have a superior memory and this has proved it enough.
U remember the names, faces, their pronounciations, mannerisms and a little about where they went after DD, also rumours cornering them!!
Interesting.
June 25, 2007 at 7:08 am
this is a start of a totally different list :-).
really upsets me when words that were nice when i was growing up have got negative connotations now.
i start off with ‘gay’ a word that meant something so different now, before it was hijacked!
and how about ‘legacy’ – it used to mean a gift, an inheritance, an heirloom – and now, it means something outdated, something that is forced upon you that you would rather not have (if only in the software context and not anywhere else)!
i am sure you and your readers can come up with many more! “it” happens with the evolving language, i guess. oh well …
– s.b.
June 25, 2007 at 7:59 am
d.s.:
“As for the ‘debased MANDYAns’, I am just glad that somehow I am not responsible for all that, more so since I am supposed to be the reason for all those ‘miles on the Mysore-Bangalore highway’. If you have observed, somehow I am reponsible for all the problems in this World.”
i know you two share the same last name – but could you solve my curiousity as to how you two are related?
– s.b.
June 25, 2007 at 5:32 pm
@ Srik:
Thanks!!! Oh well, as you can imagine, a ton of junk is stuffed in the ehad. I need to get all that out.
@ SB:
As you have rightly pointed out, as the language evolves, these things are bound to happen. I am sure there are several more words, some of which can’t even be discussed in a forum like this (think cat, for example). And, this is obviously not restricted to English. We can see examples in Indian languages as well. Care to write a post on this?
And bro, curiosity kills the cat, remember? 😉
June 26, 2007 at 6:38 am
d.s.:
“And bro, curiosity kills the cat, remember?”
not if you are little tommy stout 😉
– s.b.
June 26, 2007 at 5:04 pm
@ SB:
Sure, that’s me….but unfortunately there is a Little Johnny Green who hates me from the bottom of his heart!!!
BTW, my wife is totally impressed by you after reading the Linda Spur comment. Needless to say, she is a BBC fanatic
July 3, 2007 at 7:12 am
d.s.:
yeah, i read about johnny green on one of your other posts/comments. cannot comprehend the “why?” – i did understand what you wrote.
thanks to your wife for the appreciation :-). i used to religiously listen to bbc sports news in the early 1980s (6:15 pm ist i believe it was). here i bought a “world band radio” when i first came here nearly a couple of decades ago. it was my biggest investment of the time – at that time, people would look at me strange-like when i mentioned short-wave (this was pre-internet era, remember? – a big big big handicap).
“Smile, move on, and don’t worry until your closest pals have an issue.”
btw, saw your comment on mysorean’s blog. thank you for getting me started on my english list :-). i am sure you have lived in india long enough to know what the word could also mean in india. of course, lately they are saying the same thing in the usa too, i.e., having issues is an issue!
– s.b.
p.s.: would you mind starting the comment tracker on your blog? it will be easier to continue this series :-).
July 5, 2007 at 7:08 am
i thought i wrote a long comment last weekend sometime (or was it earlier this week?). did it disappear because of something i did wrong?
i wonder!
– s.b.
July 5, 2007 at 12:16 pm
ok, here is the first word that i will use to begin my “desi english word usage” list. thanks to mohan@kingrooster –> check his usage of the word “issue” – standard practice in india, it is only now catching up in the usa, i.e., now they are saying that having kids is an issue! 😉
– s.b.
July 6, 2007 at 1:24 pm
@ SB:
Nope, no long comment here. I have never seen you write anything ‘long’ 😉 Good start opn the english quirks, you need to add more 🙂
July 10, 2007 at 5:27 pm
@ SB:
Well, Akismet had caught you. I freed the comment just now.
You wouldn’t know why Johnny Green is so green because I didn’t tell you 🙂
Here’s another thing. My wife was such a huge fan of BBC that she went out and bought a world band radio with the money she got from her first scholarship in college. So, you have a partner here.
Yes, I have been smiling and have moved on, thank you.
Now, continue the English list. Comment tracker is on, so you cannot give any more reasons 😉
March 13, 2008 at 5:15 am
Gitanjali Aiyer was the best. in malayalam there was maya sreekumar
March 19, 2008 at 3:16 am
I remember a Ramu Damodaran..who read the news as if he had memorised it… (no tele prompters those days).
II loved sarala Maheshwari’s sarees and Rini was my personal favourite.
Salma Sultan’s face was a little too plastic….
( Pardon me dear members of SS fan club )
July 9, 2008 at 11:34 pm
I remember few of these news readers… that time i used to bet with my neighbouring uncle that today who is going to be new reader… bhaya (guys) or baaya (girls) and letter on we started discussing about the features… i do recall minu… she was beautiful lady… and salma sultan used to give feeling that news broadcasting was from pakistan… as her make-up style and face features were quite similar to news readers from pakistan… anyway good efforts by author to put this subject…
January 23, 2009 at 4:00 am
i was on hunt for pictures for all the DD news readers for a project….
i cannot get any for Komal GB Singh and Rini Khanna
please help
January 23, 2009 at 4:01 am
i was on hunt for pictures for all the DD news readers for a project….
i cannot get any for Komal GB Singh and Rini Khanna
please help
February 4, 2009 at 7:52 am
Ahem!! Anyone heard of Sadhana Srivastava???
My favs were:
1. Komal GB Singh
2. Sadhana Srivastava
And I continue to be the self proclaimed President for Life of Komal GB Singh Fan Club… LOL!!
Have a nice day folks!!
February 18, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Hi,
I thoroughly enjoyed the ‘Headliners’.I looked for their pictures, could’nt find them.The newsreaders like Rini Simon, Suneet Tandon were really impressive. Infact, I always wanted to be a newsreader like them- the pronunciation, articulation and modulation charmed me.It was like a melody.
Will love to join DD as a news reader.
Have a rocking day, people !
March 31, 2009 at 6:54 am
A new face in DD team. She is impressive but her low cut blouse is of bad taste but for some it an additional attraction to watch samachar plus.
March 31, 2009 at 6:57 am
I mean Ritu Verma, a new face. She is talented. I think she is the wife of Ashok Shrivastav, another male anchor on DD.
April 1, 2009 at 1:12 am
Since some years now, a beautiful anchor by name Neelam Sharma is appearing on Door Darshan. People say that she is very talented news presenter as well as has very good personal statistics like good height, attractive face with dimple in cheek and long shiny & silky hair.
In total a good combination of talents and beauty which is rare on Door Darshan.
April 4, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Man, what name you have mentioned? Neelam is “picture perfect” on Indian TV screen. She is beautiful and talented. While watching her in Samachar +, I get the feeling of old timer like Sarla Maheshwari. In fact, Neelam is much better than the old timers. I wish her good luck and also wish good viewing to her fans.
May 17, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I DO AGREE WITH WHQATEVER SAID ABOUT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL & TALENTED NEELAM SHARMA OF DD NEWS. SHE IS VERY GOOD LOOKING, EXTREMELY INTELLIGENT AND CARRIES A SUPERB AURA AROUND HER. SHE IS VERY TALL, VERY SLEEK LIKE A PENCIL,VERY CUTE LIKE A BUTTON AND HAS EXTREMELY LONG HAIR – WHICH ARE A RARE COMMODITY THESE DAYS. THE DIMPLES ON HER CHEEKS ARE VERY SEXY AND YES SHE HAS GOT XTREMELY SEXY TEETH AS WELL THAT YOU GET TO SEE IN HER SPECIAL SHOWS – CHARCHA MEIN ON FRIDAYS AT 10 PM. BUT DUE TO REASONS BEST KNOWN TO DD NEWS BUMPKINS, THIS SHOW HAS BEEN TAKEN OFF FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
May 29, 2009 at 10:54 pm
This show has resumed now. It was postponed due to election episodes.
I too agree to your views about Neelam. She is really cute and dashing personality on Hindi TV screen. Whenever I see her I turn on and will take several hours to become normal. It is a fact.
Does any body has her photos? If yes then please send to me or post in this forum.
Also, can any one throw some light on her private life? I would like to know who is that luckiest guy as her hubby?
June 1, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Hello Maaa
you can have some of Neelam’s pictures on net- they are availble on Discuss TV Forum. I entirely agree with you that she is superb. She carries an extraordinary aura around her which makes her so different from the rest. If you wish to continue a dialogue on her , dont hesitate to mail on rahul692008@rediffmail.com. You will be generously paid back.
June 2, 2009 at 4:15 am
I like her dimple in the right cheek and long shiny hair. It gives a sleepless night when she comes on tv screen.
June 2, 2009 at 8:56 pm
hi maaa
what do u do when you watch her and get sleepless nights????
June 3, 2009 at 1:43 am
have spoiled many pillows so far. I do not know how can see her in bone and flesh? Any clue.
Have sent you a mail on you email ID. You said “You will be generously paid back”. Waiting for that.
April 5, 2009 at 5:58 am
There used to be a weather report presenter and her name was Saheba or Saba. A lovely personality with good presentation skill and a long and thick open hair style.
She is not coming since sometime now. I love to see her again. Any body can send her photos.
December 7, 2011 at 5:06 am
yes i remember her. she was some sharma long dark hair used to come for the weather after hindi news and also host a show on sunday afternoon
April 8, 2009 at 12:52 am
Where is Nishant? He was reading news in Samachar +, then disappeared. A good voice for news reading.
I must say that DD introduces good talented people but never groomed them to be with channel for longer. In this way, DD drains the resources and it is shear waste.
April 12, 2009 at 12:33 am
When Neelam Sharma comes to read news on DD. I see news, not listen. She has such a beautiful personality that I do not want to waste time in listening. Watching her is a wonderful joy and bliss for me and for so many like me.
April 12, 2009 at 12:37 am
I am searching for the photos of oldies like Komal, Avinash, Shammi Narang, Manjari and Raman. If any body can send me the photos, please do so on abddx@gmail.com
April 13, 2009 at 3:52 am
I do not know why there are no good news anchors in DD in English. There is one permanent face, i.e., Mrak. But he is stone face gentleman.
Why DD does not pay good renumeration for English news readers? Just see all private TV channels are equipped excellent English news readers as well as good show presenters eg., Srinivasan (NDTV), Shirin (News x) and many more.
DD has to change its image.
April 17, 2009 at 10:58 pm
I support all the comments expressed for Neelam Sharma of DD.
She has both talents and beauty which is is refreshing factor to those who watch her news and programs on DD.
April 17, 2009 at 11:07 pm
It is true that it is heartening to see Neelam on DD. She has mesmerized many viewers by her skill and beauty. I know many people switch on DD to just watch her.
I am a die hard fan of her professionalism as well as her refreshing beauty. Sometime, it leaves killing effects on me when her long and shiny hairs flip on her shoulder. Wov.
April 25, 2009 at 12:25 am
Can any body supply more information about Ritu Verma? Where is she now? Any news?
April 27, 2009 at 5:48 am
I think she has left DD. But I would remember her low cut blouse.It was an added attraction to watch DD News. A good face with charming personality.
April 27, 2009 at 5:54 am
Any news about Kadambani Sharma who used to appear in DD News 2/3 years back. There was one Sanjiv Sharma, where are these people. Lovely people
April 27, 2009 at 5:56 am
xxxx
May 29, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Hi
Can any body post Neelam Sharma’s latest photos. I love her. I want to see how she will look in some new hair style. The one she is wearing suits her perfectly, but it is desire to see her in different dress and new hair style.
May 29, 2009 at 10:46 pm
There was one Maha Siddiqui used to come in DD News English. where is she? Any clue.
May 31, 2009 at 4:26 am
DD News anchor Rakhi Bakshi looks versatile. She can present program in English and also in Hindu. Also, her presentation is good.
May 31, 2009 at 6:32 am
Can any body tell me that what are the days on which Neelam Sharma appears on DD News? and time slots, if possible. A perfect anchor for TV screen.
June 1, 2009 at 6:06 am
I intently watch DD News when Neelam Sharma reads the news. Lovely lady.
I am searching this type of lady to tie the knot.
June 2, 2009 at 4:04 am
I am also searching disparately for such type of lady in Chinnai.
I am highly impressed by her talents of presenting programs as well as her lovely personality. In fact, I love every things she does at the screen, say, using her hands, fingers, eyes, and beautiful neck and flipping of her long hair. It is great to see her in flesh and bone. I do not know when I will get this chance.
It is my long desire to see her in different types of dresses. She comes only in sarees.
June 5, 2009 at 2:45 am
I think DD News is not recruiting new faces. If at all, they are taking few they are not up to the standard. I wish to see more anchors like Neelam Sharma in terms of skill and personality.
It looks that Neelam is the last word of anchoring in Hindi TV media. She is a figure of talents and beauty, a rare combination.
Wish her more success and also wish her fans good viewing of her talents and attractive personality.
June 29, 2009 at 6:32 am
Can any body post the contact of Neelam Sharma?
DD News is carrying the name on the basis of her talents and beauty.
June 29, 2009 at 6:36 am
Is Neelam Sharma married? How about the family?
DD News should give on their website the info about every anchor, director, producer for the sake of viewers to know about them. Some viewers fancy some news presenters. So, they feel informed.
June 29, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Yes Ms. Neelam Sharma is a married lady and obviuosly has got a family . She is the most respected lady anchor in DD and has got excellent reputation for her work / dedication.In fact she is the ‘True Face ‘ of DD and DD should feel proud to have anchors like her. i happen to know her for quite some time.
July 1, 2009 at 7:07 am
Thanks for this info.
As you know her quite well, I would appreciate your giving some information about her professional and family details. You know that some people start idolizing some personalities due to one reason or the other and would be keen to more about that personality. I can say for sure that Neelam Sharma has reached to a status of celebrity on Indian TV Screen. As some body has mentioned that she the picture perfect for TV screen. Addition to this her professional skill to handle any topic is really amazing. I remember may be two years back she handled a very bold topic regarding same sex interest (I forgot the exact title)among men and women. She was focussed on the subject without deviating the theme of the topic that in my opinion she should have got a prize for that program. It was bold topic but handled beautifully sans vulgarity.
Hats off to her.
I appreciate your more in-puts about her.
July 1, 2009 at 9:24 pm
You can contact me at dr.prateekmathur@rediffmail.com
July 1, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Thanks
I would contact you
June 30, 2009 at 8:27 pm
1. can anybody tell me where is ritu verma ?
2. any contact no of ritu verma
she is beautiful lady
July 7, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Hey guys
Do not write unsolicited comments for Neelam Sharma. One guy warned me about that. I do not know why he selected me to warn.
I also do not know why this guy is here in the forum reading the comments written by others, if he does not have patience. He pretended that he is the well wisher of the lady. If he is her well wisher then she does not need enemies.
Guys, just take care while writing acomments.
July 28, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Nice trip down memory lane! 🙂
VB
September 16, 2009 at 1:22 am
If you got the pics of Komal G B singh , Pls send a copy to my mail id
Thanks!
October 10, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Great read! Maybe you can identify some of the Doordarshan readers in these images
October 29, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Can any body post the photos of Neelam Sharma, the face of Door Darshan. She is really beautiful with her long shiny hair and dimple in the right cheek
October 31, 2009 at 10:25 pm
search “neelam sharma dd news” on google you found lot of images and videos and specially you must copy this link “www.exbii.com/showthread.php?p=15175464”
you found lot of images
June 17, 2011 at 8:44 am
there is a beautiful gorgeous looking anchor with absolute command over english and a great voice nidhi kumar someon pl giv me her add and put her on a decent time i watch her late night ///// or early morning but it sure makes my day///
August 12, 2011 at 7:38 pm
“for quite some time now, i have been meaning to compile a list of such words as well as accepted indian phrases (slangs?) that ain’t correct either in british or american english (but haven’t gotten around to doing so).”
check out samosapedia (if only i had taken my idea and run with it!!).
August 17, 2011 at 5:03 am
really dd news have some very good news anchors, but its because of dd’s own fault that it is losing its vieworship. ritu verma, neelam sharma are very talented anchors with good voice power, and communication skill, they both are true people who would carry forward legacy of great news anchors of dd news. through this forum i would request dd news officials to get ritu verma back on air, she is really a talented anchor.
August 12, 2012 at 1:46 pm
really man, idont unerstand dd news is putting ritu verma in the backend.
November 20, 2011 at 10:47 pm
I used to watch news just to watch avinash kaur sareen .she was just beautiful and i was mad of her.I spend times just watching her than listening news.she was a good news reader also with much command on language.
I want to see her pic on if you can post it
March 13, 2012 at 8:50 am
Nostalgic memories about our original qualitative DD newsreaders. Don’t miss to read this aricle
March 13, 2012 at 8:50 am
Nostalgic memories about our original qualitative DD newsreaders. Don’t miss to read this aricle
November 23, 2014 at 10:27 am
I saw this very late. It took all of us back to a different era. I rate the DD as the best ever channel despite being a govt controlled one. The news readers were household names and had a great fan following. My favourite news readers are Niti Ravindran and Sashi Kumar. Both of them were graceful and had a certain style in them. Others were also good. None of them was boisterous or aggressive. Of course times have changed and along with growing levels of professionalism new methods are tried to increase viewership and profits. To be able to continue as a TV anchor or news reader is much more difficult now a days. Yet as one belonging to a generation ( born in early sixties) that saw best of both the pre and post global India my vote is for that innocent, pure,DD news. We heard Chandralekha,Spoorthi sinha, Surojit Sen and Barun halder on the AIR which is still dear to my heart. We heard and saw Sashi Kumar,Sunit Tandon,Komal GB Singh on the DD. Now we are watching the likes of Rajdeep sardesai, Arnab Goswami and Barkha Dutt on countless channels. The story goes on but DD remains green in our memories.
K.Sekhar
November 15, 2015 at 7:35 am
i need information about 1980 news readers minu, Geethanjali Aiyer,Komal GB Singh,sangetha , sukanya photos n now what they r doing