Hunting for VJs
“We’re thrilled about the hunt… Three of the VJs Karen, Naveen and Sapna have taken a break so we need more people.”
SOUTHERN SPICE’S irrepressible VJ Craig looks rather mournful as he thoughtfully rocks to and fro in his chair at the channel’s conference room, “I’m looking for a job, Cary’s looking for a job. Usha’s busy filing for bankruptcy and all three of us have booked sections of the pavement outside to move into,” he says with a theatrical groan.
Actually, Craig and Co. are not rally chewing on their well-manicured nails. Not yet, even though SS Music recently launched a massive ‘VJ Hunt’ in an attempt to dig out VJs with attitude. “We’re thrilled about the hunt…. Three of our VJs – Karen, Naveen and Sapna – have taken a break so we need more people,” he say.
For the moment, however, the limelight is still on SS Music’s now depleted VJ force, which claims to have eclipsed even the well-established-MTV and Channel V twanging battalions over the course of just two years in Chennai. Its winning formula? Music that the south can identify with and VJs who don’t look, and sound, like they just got off the plane from New York.
Though Craig, who will be turning 22 this weekend, insists that he’s getting ‘too old’ to work, or even climb the stairs to the studio, his burgeoning fan club seems to be getting more enthusiastic about him every day.
He receives about 1,500 calls a day, and when he’s not camped beside the phone he’s nervously opening parcels and letters. “I get love letters, suicide notes…. It’s scary,” he laughs.
Now Craig’s busy sifting through the thousands of people who want to be VJs. SS music has covered Bangalore, where they had about 900 entries from places as far hung as Jalandar and Patiala. Chennai’s next in line and their office is feverishly sorting through the 1,600 applications they have received so far.
So Craig’s busy gearing up for the Chennai Chapter, and Probably Keeping his part of the pavement well dusted – just in case.
By Shonali Muthalaly
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