She has the gift of the gab coupled with a sense of humour. She can enliven a live event without any difficulty. Meet anchor and emcee Munmun Singh, who has hosted a large number of shows at both the state and national level. Munmun is also a popular face on television and has hosted popular shows like Priya Odia, Subham Bhabatu, Tarang Parivar Award, Ama Rosei, Apana ka Pasand, Srimati Kam Nuhanti and Movie Ticket. In a tete-a-tete with Orissa POST, Munmun shares her story.
Munmun wanted to anchor live and television shows even as a child. “I have been very comfortable going on stage and performing skits and other items since childhood. I was also good at debate and elocution. I never had stage fright. That gave me a strong foundation in anchoring,” she says.
When she was in Class IX, Munmun participated in a debate ‘Sky in Your Eyes’ and was adjudged the runner-up, while a student from BJB College came first. The win gave a boost to her confidence and she decided to focus on anchoring shows.
Recalling her experience of anchoring a show for the first time, Munmun says, “I was pursuing Plus II in RD Women’s College when I was asked to host our annual function, as my senior, who was supposed to do the anchoring, was absent for a few days. I was supposed to participate in the antakshari competition but my seniors, who were aware of my hosting skills, requested me to host the show instead.”
Not only did she come to the rescue of her seniors, but the show turned out to be a hit, with the audience very impressed by her anchoring skills. “My first professional assignment as an anchor was at Mayfair Family Day. I anchored two shows at Bhubaneswar and Puri on the same day, which was a big challenge. Initially, I was a bit nervous, but I managed to pull it off successfully. The events were quite successful, and my popularity grew overnight.”
“I completed my MBA with specialisation in human resources and was working for a staffing company in Bangalore. There I got a chance to host the Interstate Corporate Women’s Sports Championship in 2009, which brought me into the limelight. After that, offers started pouring in. I was even approached to do films because of my good height and looks but I turned down all the offers as I was not interested in acting,” she adds.
Munmun secured a government job but decided against joining as she wanted to make a mark as a successful anchor. “Although my parents wanted me to take up that job, I wanted to be a successful anchor. It was my husband who encouraged me to take up anchoring as a profession,” says Munmun, who won the Srimati Bhubaneswar title last year.
“Only we can shape our lives by the decisions we take, no one else can. My decision to take up anchoring as a profession was one of the best decisions I made in my life. My secret recipe for a successful event depends on three factors — truth, magic and feelings. You cannot fake it on stage. A good anchor can create magic on stage, and an effective communicator knows how to play with words to connect with the audience. Like Michael Jackson, I too believe the stage is my home. I leave it to the audience to judge how well I do. What I do, I do with conviction. Hosting shows helped me reinvent the speaker, narrator, singer, actor and comic artist in me, as anchoring demands all these qualities,” she says.
Munmun, who has completed more than a decade in the profession, says that she takes pride in being an anchor and has always maintained the ethics of the profession. “I want to prove to the world that a married woman despite all household responsibilities can be a successful professional,” she says.
Sharing a few memories of anchoring events, Munmun says, “The closing day of Kalinga Nagar Mahotsav was a very memorable one. It was a star-studded affair and everyone, including actors Sabyasachi Mishra and Buddhaditya Mohanty, appreciated my anchoring style. Also, on the annual day celebration of SBI, the chief general manager praised my hosting and presented me a gift. I was felicitated twice by the president of Innerwheel Club for hosting their national-level show ‘Nari Teri Kitne Roop.’ The president said, ‘No one can host the show with such panache. Being a woman, you understand the sentiments and emotions of other women which puts life into your anchoring.’”
Munmun, who has also hosted shows like First Night Marathon by CII and Young Indians, Western India Information Technology Fair, national-level reality show Jhoom India and Chef-De-Cuisine for Indian Oil, attributes her success to her husband. “My husband Akram Khan has been a big support. He continuously motivates me,” she says.
A winner of the Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award, Munmun says, “There is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise. A strong woman builds her own empire. It is always a challenge for a married woman to work in a creative profession, but I love challenges.”
She adds, “Actor and emcee Gitikka Ganju Dhar is my inspiration. She had once told me that hosting is all about communicating. Effective communication is about connecting with the audience. There is no shortcut to success. Preparation, practice and delivery are the three musts for being a successful anchor.”
RASHMI REKHA DAS, OP