Nearly 30 years after it was made on a shorter than shoestring budget, the Kundan Shah-directed caper Jaane bhi do yaaro remains one of Bollywood’s most loved movies, presciently squatting at the 2010 intersection of politicians, businessmen and journalists a la Niira Radiagate.
In JBDY, two commercial photographers (played by Naseeruddin Shah and the late Ravi Baswani) pick up freelance assignments for Khabardar, a muckraking publication edited by Shobha Sen (Bhakti Barve) that ostensibly wants to expose the link between an unscrupulous builder (Pankaj Kapoor) and a corrupt municipal commissioner (Satish Shah).
The lensmen come up with damning evidence but, well, the editor is “stringing along” with another builder (Om Puri) and strumming a different tune.
Now, what if the remorseless Bhakti Barve played Barkha Dutt, the “massively influential but ethically embattled” NDTV anchor?
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“Barkha’s show of her lifetime left me unimpressed because it did not answer some key questions. Where is her apology to her viewers (she did not look into the camera, address her viewers and say “sorry” even when prompted).”
T.N. Ninan in Business Standard:
“If both (Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi) could bring themselves to admitting that they crossed a line, apologise and declare that it won’t happen again, the entire journalist community would breathe easier and hold its head up a little higher. So would a generation of young journalism students and new entrants into the profession, who have grown up idealising Ms Dutt and others.”
“Should Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi say “mea culpa” for letting down their readers and viewers? Absolutely. Then, why don’t they?”
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Full coverage: BARKHA DUTT on the allegations against her
Lessons for Vir and Barkha from Prem and Nikhilda
‘Credibility is like virginity, and it’s been lost’
‘A too-argumentative Barkha squanders chance’
86% feel let down by CD baat of top journalists
Has media credibility suffered a body-blow?
The TV anchor, the ex-editor and TV personality
Why we didn’t air Niira Radia tapes: two examples
Vir Sanghvi suspends Hindustan Times column
In which Adolf Hitler reacts to ‘Barkhagate’
churumuri 
Wow Churmuri, so many posts on Barkha. Are you doing a hatchet job on behlaf on Sagarika? Do you have an axe to grind?
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I think, now, it is too late to say “sorry”. She had her chance, but she never looked like accepting any wrong doing on her part. While on the programme, here is Greatbong’s take on it. Very funny http://greatbong.net/2010/12/01/raktha-hoon-main-khulla/
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Who says Barkha and Delhi press made mistake only once!! What about concoction of stories on Gujarat pogrom.
Today SIT declares the charges are baseless!!!
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Awesome awesome. The spoofs of this show become better and better
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It used to be Yedi…, now it is Barkha for a change!
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She is in tune with the times. Yeddy said he will not resign, Thomas said he will not quit. I think kick up a fuss, a lot of dust and then “move on” is the trend.
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>>Who says Barkha and Delhi press made mistake only once!! What about concoction of stories on Gujarat pogrom.
Today SIT declares the charges are baseless!!!>>
Narayana,
I wish this thing is taken to its logical conclusion by nailing Teesta, Arundirty et all for perjury and misleading the courts. But that I guess will never happen in our country.
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She was Bhakti Barve, not Bharve, an elegant and fine theater actress. Barkha Dutt being neither elegant nor fine but self-righteous and screechy, it is not an apt comparison!
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Check this out.
I still remember Rajdeep Sardesai’s favourite dialogue in his old talk show “GOOD, BAD and the UGLY”. The phrase goes like this “HAMAAM MAIN SUB NANGE HAIN” How true !!!!
This dialogue has come back to bite him hard.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/117685/little-support-rajdeep-sardesais-defence.html
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@tarlemaga
somehow, media in general and Rajdeep Sardesai in particular did not need any evidence against Modi (by the way I am not a BJP supporter) all these years (just today SIT seems to have given him a clean chit), but in the case of Radia tapes, argues that the case against Barkha and Veer, he claims that there is no evidence of what they claim in the tapes!!!
If this kind of misconduct was in BBC or New York times, Barkha and veer would have gone home by now. Long live Indian media.
Who the hell can we trust in India?
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@tarlemaga
somehow, media in general and Rajdeep Sardesai in particular did not need any evidence against Modi (by the way I am not a BJP supporter) all these years (just today SIT seems to have given him a clean chit). But in the case of Radia tapes, Rajdeep argues that there is no evidence against BD and VS!!!
If this kind of misconduct was in BBC or New York times, Barkha and veer would have gone home by now. Long live Indian media.
Who the hell can we trust in India?
PS: there was a typo in previous post, moderators, please publish this version.
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@churumuri
Why you should one apologies when they didn’t do anything wrong (according to them) ?
Will you say sorry, just because some says that you are wrong…
Problem is not with saying sorry, it is with agreeing on what is wrong in that talk.
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Like the Telecom Service Provider’s have PRE-PAID AND POST-PAID Services.
We have Newspaper barons producing pre-paid and post-paid news.
NEERA RADIA was dialling into Barkha/Vir Sanghvi/Rajdeep for PRE-PAID NEWS.
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NDTV made a mistake in not inviting Manish Tiwari to defend Bharka. He would ahve done a great job for he would have done one up on Shakuni
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