As host of the popular talk show, Talking Point, aired every Saturday in Rosebowl, a cable television channel in Kerala, Dhanya Varma approaches every topic with extreme empathy and identifies with the people whose stories are being told. “This show has completely changed the way I look at things,” admits Dhanya. 

This young, dynamic talk show host has become a household name in Kerala, endearing herself to the urban youth and believes that the prime commitment of visual media should be to the viewers. She stands apart from the crass commercialism of talk shows for the way she handles a discussion. At a time, when talk shows and reality show hosts are mostly the butt of ridicule for sporting fake accents, having a scatterbrained approach and shooting off idiotic questions, she comes across as a no-nonsense, sensible person who displays sensitivity while approaching every subject. 

“You’ve to think about the people sitting on the other end, in their drawing rooms listening to every word you say,” she reminds. For 33-year-old Dhanya, “Journalism is all about being with people.” 

Talking Point started in November, 2009. Sumesh Lal, the brain behind Rosebowl Channel, offered her this new talk show, hoping to make a show with a difference. Dhanya took up the challenge and worked in tandem with the team, building up the popularity chart of the programme steadily.

Talking Point with Dhanya Varma stands apart from the regular talk shows with its topics that directly touch the lives of the urban youth. The subjects are varied. Do We Need a Moon Mission?, Spirituality or Religion / Can We Change Our Religion?, Are Goodlooking People More Successful?, Single In the City,  Is Media Getting Too Corrupt?, Social Drinking – Where To Draw the Line?, Are We Consuming Genetically Modified Food?, are some of the subjects that the programme has presented.

“In fact, these are questions that are within me, my own questions,” she says. “I’m trying to find the answers for myself through each episode.” Perhaps it is this sense of enquiry that gives the genuine flavour of this entire programme.

One of the episodes that affected her most, was ‘Real Heroes,’ which presented some notable personalities including Sabriye Tenberken, the celebrated German social activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee and co-founder of Braille Without Borders, who runs the International Institute of Social Enterpreneurs in Vellayani near Thiruvananthapuram. 

Single in the City, was another unforgettable experience, confesses Dhanya.  The episode that had six women panellists speak on their personal experiences of leading a single life in Kerala’s cities, was quite an eye-opener. “In every show, when you meet somebody whose life is drastically different from your own life, when you come face to face with emotions that you never experience in your own, things that you see from a comfort zone, it’s all a revelation for me,” she says.

Most of the people who appear in Talking Point episodes are not seen in mainstream media. There are many people who do quite remarkable work, yet go unnoticed. “I never thought Kerala had such a wide range of people,” she says.

Dhanya moved to Kochi, Kerala in 2007 where she now lives with her daughter and husband, a pilot with Indian Navy who is posted there at present. She approached Rosebowl for a job but was offered a talk show.

Her beginning in the field can be traced to hardcore news. She anchored the Hindi news bulletin for STAR News. For five years, she anchored STAR Savera, the morning news bulletin of STAR News in Hindi.

She had all the possible drawbacks for a news anchor. She had neither a background in news or in Hindi. “The only Hindi I knew was the spoken tongue of Mumbai,” says Dhanya who only lived in Mumbai as a student.

Like every student, Dhanya toyed between choices – an MBA and journalism, but, “I couldn’t dream of doing an MBA.” she says. Finally, it was Masters in Visual Communication, from University of Pune. She chose Pune as a city that gave people a lot of space, especially for women. Her time at the University of Pune was quite a learning experience, mixing with people from diverse backgrounds. “Those years taught me about the cultural and social fabric of India,” she says.

Dhanya’s work experience includes Star Gold, where she worked in post-production. And the knowledge of post-production certainly helps a lot on anchoring and hosting jobs, she says. Dhanya learned with the biggest, as an Associate Producer for Kaun Banega Crorepati, and then anchoring prime time bulletins on Star News.

A committed professional, Dhanya believes in giving a 100 per cent to anything that she does. “I can not think of not doing my research for a programme,” she states. For her, hosting a talk show for a local cable channel and anchoring a prime time news bulletin for a national channel are equally important.

As host of the popular talk show, Talking Point, aired every Saturday in Rosebowl, a cable television channel in Kerala, Dhanya Varma approaches every topic with extreme empathy and identifies with the people whose stories are being told. “This show has completely changed the way I look at things,” admits Dhanya. 

This young, dynamic talk show host has become a household name in Kerala, endearing herself to the urban youth and believes that the prime commitment of visual media should be to the viewers. She stands apart from the crass commercialism of talk shows for the way she handles a discussion. At a time, when talk shows and reality show hosts are mostly the butt of ridicule for sporting fake accents, having a scatterbrained approach and shooting off idiotic questions, she comes across as a no-nonsense, sensible person who displays sensitivity while approaching every subject. 

“You’ve to think about the people sitting on the other end,
in their drawing rooms listening to every word you say,” she reminds. For 33-year-old Dhanya, “Journalism is all about being with people.” 

Talking Point started in November, 2009. Sumesh Lal,
the brain behind Rosebowl Channel, offered her this new talk show, hoping to make a show with a difference. Dhanya took up the challenge and worked in tandem with the team, building up the popularity chart of the programme steadily.

Talking Point with Dhanya Varma stands apart from the regular talk shows with its topics that directly touch the lives of the urban youth. The subjects are varied. Do We Need a Moon Mission?, Spirituality or Religion / Can We Change Our Religion?, Are Goodlooking People More Successful?, Single In the City,  Is Media Getting Too Corrupt?, Social Drinking – Where To Draw the Line?, Are We Consuming Genetically Modified Food?, are some of the subjects that the programme has presented.

“In fact, these are questions that are within me, my own questions,” she says. “I’m trying to find the answers for myself through each episode.” Perhaps it is this sense of enquiry that gives the genuine flavour of this entire programme.

One of the episodes that affected her most, was ‘Real Heroes,’ which presented some notable personalities including Sabriye Tenberken, the celebrated German social activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee and co-founder of Braille Without Borders, who runs the International Institute of Social Enterpreneurs in Vellayani near Thiruvananthapuram. 

Single in the City, was another unforgettable experience, confesses Dhanya.  The episode that had six women panellists speak on their personal experiences of leading a single life in Kerala’s cities, was quite an eye-opener. “In every show, when you meet somebody whose life is drastically different from your own life, when you come face to face with emotions that you never experience in your own, things that you see from a comfort zone, it’s all a revelation for me,” she says.

Most of the people who appear in Talking Point episodes are not seen in mainstream media. There are many people who do quite remarkable work, yet go unnoticed. “I never thought Kerala had such a wide range of people,” she says.

Dhanya moved to Kochi, Kerala in 2007 where she now lives with her daughter and husband, a pilot with Indian Navy who is posted there at present. She approached Rosebowl for a job but was offered a talk show.

Her beginning in the field can be traced to hardcore news. She anchored the Hindi news bulletin for STAR News. For five years, she anchored STAR Savera, the morning news bulletin of STAR News in Hindi.

She had all the possible drawbacks for a news anchor. She had neither a background in news or in Hindi. “The only Hindi I knew was the spoken tongue of Mumbai,” says Dhanya who only lived in Mumbai as a student.

Like every student, Dhanya toyed between choices – an MBA and journalism, but, “I couldn’t dream of doing an MBA.” she says. Finally, it was Masters in Visual Communication, from University of Pune. She chose Pune as a city that gave people a lot of space, especially for women. Her time at the University of Pune was quite a learning experience, mixing with people from diverse backgrounds. “Those years taught me about the cultural and social fabric of India,” she says.

Dhanya’s work experience includes Star Gold, where she worked in post-production. And the knowledge of post-production certainly helps a lot on anchoring and hosting jobs, she says. Dhanya learned with the biggest, as an Associate Producer for Kaun Banega Crorepati, and then anchoring prime time bulletins on Star News.

A committed professional, Dhanya believes in giving a 100 per cent to anything that she does. “I can not think of not doing my research for a programme,” she states. For her, hosting a talk show for a local cable channel and anchoring a prime time news bulletin for a national channel are equally important.