With several talk shows to choose from, what makes ‘Teacher’s Achievers’ Club’ stand out? Or, is it the same old celebs saying the same old things? Rachna Bisht-Rawat asks Boman Irani.
Boman Irani is being candid describing the content of the Teacher’s Achievers’ Club on Star World where he interviews one achiever per episode. Stretching from Narayan Murthy to Priyanka Chopra to Sabysachi Mukherjee to Mira Nair, it is an impressive list of 12, but viewers are cautioned to not expect sensationalism. “It is a chat show,” he says, “we’re not looking at scoops.”
What to expect
To make it different for viewers then, there will have to be some honesty. The same old celebs saying the same old things might not interest too many couch potatoes who
have anyways ODed on the saccharine sweetness and pretentiousness of Koffee with Karan.
So, has he been able to get inside the skin of these celebrities, walk around in it and show us who they really are? He answers that one candidly, “I know most of my interviewees from earlier. They are interesting people who have enriched my life. The chat show gives me an opportunity to know them better, to ask them questions. But, I agree that you can’t sit on a chat show and be the same person you are in your study at home. There is a façade most people maintain, but we can try to get as close to the real person as we can.”
He recollects that Priyanka Chopra was once quoted as saying, “I’m a different person when the lights are on and a different person when the lights are off.” So, when Priyanka finished her interview on his programme, Boman reminded her of that smilingly and asked her candidly, during his interview, for just how long had the lights been on and for how long had they been off. “She said 60:40. 60 per cent the lights were off and 40 per cent the lights were on.” Boman says that’s fair, considering that a celebrity will not exhibit the same body language in the studio that he or she will exhibit amongst friends and family.
Real people
The purpose of these interviews is to reveal to the audience the people behind the successful avatars, and try to figure out what substance and characteristics it takes to make it to the Forbes list, or have awards to your name, or an enviable lifestyle and fan following. Boman says he is doing it by talking to them about their professional highs and lows, and their personal stories.
So, what was the one quality he noticed in most of the achievers? “Humility,” says Boman. “All of them have tried to retain their humility. It is important for them. That is what Sabysachi told me, that’s what Mira said, that’s what Narayan Murthy said. In the real world, adulation is an intoxicant.” We want to know if that intoxicant changes people.
Does success change a person? “No!” says Boman, “It doesn’t. Success just augments who you really are. If you are kind, you have more to give so you become kinder. If you are not a nice person, if you are a miser, you have a lot more to hold on to and you just get more obnoxious. Fame makes you look larger than life, but it doesn’t really change the kind of person you really are. Narayan Murthy just epitomises what I’m saying.” As an achiever himself, Boman says people around him keep him grounded. “If I start behaving obnoxiously, I don’t think I would be allowed in my house. It would not be tolerated.”
The other quality that Boman says he noticed in all achievers was ‘great focus’. But, having great focus extracts a price and what most achievers missed was not getting enough time to spend with their families and the people they love. “That’s what Sabya and Priyanka said,” he recollects.
Since the programme is supposed to be a self-help book for youngsters, Boman has to answer one last question. Who, according to him, is an achiever? “You don’t have to make a 100 million to be an achiever. You don’t have to be famous to be an achiever. As long as you are doing what you have to do with passion, and achieving your targets, you are an achiever. An achiever could be a housewife,” he says. Now, that is definitely a positive message for those who have their life before them. Or, even those who just look at large dreams and forget small pleasures.