India Today And The Graphic Account Of Sasikala Checking In To Jail

#AmitMedia is at it again. Naah, actually it’s got nothing to do with #AmitMedia or Delhi media or north-centric media. This is just how mainstream television media, irrespective of the subject, strives to make news into entertainment.

Since we, at Newslaundry, consider it our paidaishi haq (birthright) to point out the little absurdities that make up the big Indian television tamasha, here goes.

Earlier today, VK Sasikala, who was found guilty in a disproportionate assets case, surrendered at Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara prison. To give you an insider’s view of what happened, India Today didn’t let the tiny detail of cameras not being present get in their way. Deprived of actual footage – and perhaps because the bulk of their newsroom appeared to have shifted base temporarily to Chennai – the channel’s photoshop team took over. And so it was that we were showed a little graphic novel that could be titled “Sasikala in Prison: A Series of Unfortunate Events”.

Take a look.

Here’s Sasikala checking in.

A rather dishy doctor appears while Sasikala looks on, her face scrunched into an expression that seems she has just bit her tongue.

While a grouchy lady constable looks on, Saskikala is handed her prison uniform, which is a blue-bordered saree that shares a remarkable similarity to those worn by the Sisters of Charity.

It proceeds to get better and better. (Don’t miss Ilavarasi by Sasikala’s side.)

#PeakFeelz.

The voiceover also informed viewers that “unskilled” Saskikala would now have to make incense sticks for which she would be paid Rs 50 a day.

With news like this, who needs a soap opera? Or a graphic novel for that matter.