A journo-screenwriter couple that bonds over binge-watching speaks of their engaging journey in a new podcast you ought to hear
Janice Sequeira and Aniruddha Guha. Pic/Ivin Anthony
We have been thinking about headlines and titles because we chanced upon a podcast, finding comfort on a train ride occupied by white noise, where we learnt how much they really matter.
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We tune into Mr and Mrs Binge-Watch, a podcast by city-based content creator Janice Sequeira and screenwriter Aniruddha Guha, which pretty much is a nostalgic trip. Both Sequeira and Guha live together and are “voracious TV watchers”, and that’s precisely where this venture stems from. With an approach to their lives as an open book, we get an insight into the couple’s relationship and their favourite shows, while they churn out recommendations.
We dip into nostalgia when they start talking about The Good Wife, a sort of coping mechanism through college. Here is when Guha unpacks the title and its significance — surely it’s not a weepy drama and we never thought of it that way, but is it interesting that someone did? Yes, for the only time we thought about what the show was called was when a restaurant of the same name opened in BKC and sadly, had nothing to do with the show. Guha, a former film critic, tells us how podcasts allow creators to go beyond the approach of say, someone writing listicles. “The idea isn’t to pick up a show and give bullet points on what we like about it,” he explains.
Another topic that Guha highlights is how television shows today can present the same amount of intellectual stimulation a book does. Owing to his personal experience, he tells us, “Earlier, I would consume movies for entertainment and books for great stories. Now there are great stories being made into shows. Plus, there is an information overload online, so if the number of people reading has decreased, it cannot be attributed to binge-watching. TV content is also becoming shorter. For instance, you now have six to eight episodes in a series in contrast to the 15-20 you had previously. So you can binge and complete it in about six hours. It’s like watching a cricket match.”
Sequeira also points out how watching TV can further enrich and complement the reading experience, as opposed to the negative connotation attached to binge-watching. “I lost track of reading about five years ago. But with certain shows, like Gone Girl, I do pre-read or re-read the book to see how the director has treated it differently. Even with Chernobyl now, we learnt about the disaster in our history textbooks, but there’s so much to learn from the show that it will force people to go and look up on more,” she says.
The couple maintains that the podcast isn’t a review show, but one for recommendations. And with the bunch of opinions floating around the Internet, Mr and Mrs Bingewatch is an engaging, streamlined take that we hope to return to.
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