HIMANSHU GURU, OP
Pinki Jha has compeered award ceremonies and TV shows but her forte lies in corporate anchoring. The gorgeous emcee will soon launch a web series on the lifestyles and cuisines of Orissa…
“I am an anchor and organisers pay me to be an emcee at different programmes. However, some of them bluntly say that I don’t need to speak too much, but just announce the names,” said young anchor Pinki Jha. She started her career as a Radio Jockey (RJ) and has carved a niche for herself in Orissa as an anchor. While the freelancer anchors award shows, entertainment-based concerts and TV shows, she excels as a corporate anchor. Orissa POST speaks to the gorgeous youngster about her success in the profession and the prospects of anchoring in Orissa.
Born to Nutan and Dr KK Jha at Joda in Keonjhar district, Pinki passed HSC from St Teresa School at Joda and completed Class XII from Bridgeford, Ranchi. Later she did BTech from Biju Patnaik University of Technology in Bhubaneswar. Although her family currently lives in Orissa, they hail from Bihar. Prateek is Pinki’s elder brother.
“In school I was a good performer and used to participate in competitions,” said the anchor. “Once my friend Saptak, who back then was a RJ and is now an assistant director in the Hindi film industry, suggested I try my luck in the radio. I got the opportunity later. During my BTech counseling a singer friend suggested I should apply in Radio Chocolate FM in Bhubaneswar. I took the suggestion and appeared for an audition. I was rejected because I was not good in Oriya, which was an essential qualification for the job. However, I was good in preparing scripts and they later invited me to join as an honorary intern and I accepted the offer.”
“As a RJ, I did the first programme in Dhenkanal. Along with RJ Subrat I presented a talk show during Rath Yatra. I was subsequently assigned to anchor the youth-based programme ‘Saja Saja Sanja Mauja’. RJ Anil was my partner in the programme where I mostly spoke Hindi and English, while he spoke in Oriya,” Pinki said.
“After my stint in Radio Chocolate I took a professional hibernation only to enter the corporate sector as an anchor in 2013. As a corporate anchor, I have worked in more than thousand shows. There is hardly any reputed brand for which I have not anchored,” the young anchor said.
Pinki is a known anchor in Bhubaneswar. Besides Orissa, she has performed in many other states. Her best shows are promotional events. She hosted national meets of top brands like Indian Oil, Oriya Film Fair awards, a show hosted by the All India Conference of Journalistic Associations of India in Talcher, Gopalpur Kite festival and clean beach festival, Rupashree Raja of FBB and last year’s Students’ Union Annual function of Utkal University. Moreover, she anchors Pathautsav every Sunday.
Asked if anchoring was professionally rewarding as a career, Pinki replied: “Definitely. Many youngsters are earning well. Yet while anchoring is a good career for girls, for boys it is a little bit tough. It is safe to be attached to a channel or some organisation that regularly gives you work. But channels don’t keep an anchor for long, because they are of the view that the audience would get bored seeing the same face for a long time. If you are a freelancer, you are independent. If you are smart enough to take up corporate anchoring, it is rewarding since you have the chance of earning good money by expending a minimum of effort. Aspirants should take a decision keeping these facts in mind.”
Asked to underline the qualities of a successful anchor, Pinki said: “Singers have readymade songs and dancers have choreographed pieces to perform in a function and both singers and dancers have to stay only for a short time (performance time) in front of the audience. But the Master of Ceremony appears after each performance. I mean the anchor stays for the longest time on the stage, while she doesn’t have a readymade script and is expected to speak spontaneously. An anchor needs to do proper homework beforehand to explore a company or its performances before compeering a show so that she has a lot of important things to say on stage. An anchor should have good command over words. If you are a good scriptwriter, it helps a lot because you can mentally compose and speak.”
Along with other six achievers from different fields, Pinki was felicitated in 2016 for being a successful anchor by Whistling Woods International. She is also a partner in the firm ‘Sambhavna’ that deals with conceptual wedding films and photos. Apart from scriptwriting, she is good in crafts and is an efficient lyricist.
“I will launch a fortnightly web series titled ‘Jugaadu Keeda’ where the cuisine and lifestyle of Orissa will be showcased. It will be a tribute to the state since people across the globe still know little about Orissa’s food and lifestyle. The first episode will focus on the street foods and lifestyle of commoners in Puri,” the anchor informed.
