Ravish Kumar, the name needs no introduction. Based on his life and particularly his NDTV years, a strong and moving documentary ‘While We Watched’ won many accolades, especially globally. This powerful and moving documentary captures Ravish Kumar’s journalism and personal life for two years (2018-19), while highlighting the sorry and worrying state of Indian media.

‘While We Watched’ was an extremely deep and moving experience for me and many others. In this Blog, I will reflect on how the documentary effectively captures Ravish Kumar and his journalistic conviction behind the camera, and also its subtle commentary on the audience.

The Contrast of Two ‘Medias’

As I said above, the documentary draws a lot of emphasis on the state of India. Throughout the movie, it portrays the contrast between the news shows of India’s mainstream media (popularly called ‘Godi Media’), and that of Ravish. While the famous anchors; Arnab Goswami, Sudhir Chaudhary, Amish Devgan (and many more) screamed on national TV with jingoistic theme, making the country and its leadership alike, Ravish was busy with more grounded and important issues of job crisis and delivery of government schemes, and rising religious hatred.

There is a strong scene where Ravish literally scolds his own audience, “I want to see how much Hindu-Muslim you can do…” while highlighting the plight of students who were waiting for SSC exam results/appointment for 4 years. Similarly, the documentary captures how the mainstream (Godi) media was using the polarizing issues like Bhima Koregaon arrests, JNU student protests to divide people into “us versus them” through their toxic and inciteful propaganda, while Ravish was still dealing with the issues eloquently and expecting his audience to maintain calm.

Even, during the sensitive situation after Pulwama attack followed by the Indian airstrikes in Pakistan, Ravish’s journalism was patient and subjective, while the mainstream (Godi) media was screaming, jumping as if themselves standing on the battlefield. Someone rightly pointed out that the very reason the documentary is effective in portraying Ravish is because it is able to build a strong contrast with Arnab.

‘While We Watched’ presents the behind the scenes of Ravish Kumar’s fearless journalism 

The Crumbling NDTV

The documentary spans over the period of 2018-2019, which was actually the time, NDTV was in a struggling phase. One of the pioneers of television news in India was now struggling with declining TRP, boycott from ruling party leaders and number of cases on the channel’s owner, Prannoy and Radhika Roy. Though the documentary doesn’t cover it, but it’s well known how these financial and legal struggles led to NDTV’s hostile takeover by Adani in 2022, bringing an end to an era.

‘While We Watched’ very effectively captures NDTV’s struggles without actually shedding much on the details. In almost every show, Ravish and his team struggles to find either editor or cameraman. In one of the scenes, Ravish says in frustration “Kuch nahi hai humare pas (We have nothing here)”. In other scene, Ravish gets into a heated argument with the PCR over some error in his teleprompter. There is also a very wise use of the metaphor in the form of cake-cutting showing the flurry of resignations from the struggling company.

Ravish Kumar in an intense still from ‘While We Watched’

The Portrayal of Ravish Kumar

In my opinion, the documentary derives power in its portrayal of Ravish Kumar, which director Vinay Shukla has very smartly kept realistic and vulnerable. Usually, you expect the protagonist in the strongest avatar. But, here is a journalist who despite his 28 years of experience in the industry, is struggling in a crumbling newsroom amid the polarizing political climate in the country.

A normal watcher would be rooting for Ravish to come out victorious or get some sort of salvage at the end. But none of that happens. It’s the mainstream (Godi) media that is seen jubilantly celebrating the 2019 election results, while Ravish remains isolated, lost and questioning a bit of himself and his audience.

The documentary captures the chilling times when Ravish is abused and given death threats on call. This also highlights the challenges faced by journalists today, especially who dare to speak against power (We know fates of Rajiv Pratap, Mukesh Chandrakar, Gauri Lankesh).

The sequence when Ravish rebuts the abuser saying, “Who is ‘deshdrohi’ (traitor), no one is ‘deshdrohi’ in this country” is quite strong. Equally funny is the scene where he asks one of the abusers to sing ‘Vande Mataram’ along with him. One of the most poignant and touching scenes is where the documentary ends, when Ravish says “No, we won’t do that…we won’t do what the government wants us to”.

‘While We Watched’ also reflects on Ravish’s personal life, especially a lighter and calmer side of his with his wife and daughters. When Ravish plays with his daughter on his lap, asks her to play her toy piano, or the scenes where his wife consoles him and affirms her support towards Ravish and his struggling brand of journalism, it presents the protagonist in humane form, allowing the audience to relate to him better.

Ravish Kumar and Director Vinay Shukla with prestigious Peabody award for ‘While We Watched’

Masterful and Bold Filmmaking

While I speak on how powerful and moving this documentary is, it’s all more important to laud the superb direction and concept by Mr Vinay Shukla. This was Shukla’s second directorial after ‘An Insignificant Man’ (which he co-directed with Khushboo Ranka) another solid documentary covering the rise of maverick leader Arvind Kejriwal and his promising Aam Aadmi Party. Ever since then, I was excited for his next directorial and after knowing it’s on Ravish Kumar, the excitement further went sky high.

Firstly, the very concept was a huge gamble and challenge. Documenting a journalist and his team like this, while making sure not to intrude the space from where it can affect their subconscious mind, was extremely challenging. I already emphasized how Shukla presented Ravish in a humane and vulnerable form, and how he brilliantly used metaphors. Equally praiseworthy has been the team’s camerawork and editing. The way the frames have been used, scenes are cut along with the deep background sound, keeps you hooked and moving at the same time, a trait also experienced with Shukla’s first directorial. Again, I am quite excited for Vinay Shukla’s next venture.

A Commentary on Indian Audience

‘While We Watched’, an apt title for the doc, is also a strong commentary on the Indian audience in today’s polarizing and intense climate. It’s not just the style of journalism that has changed but also the consumers of the news, ie, we the people. The media and public who used to question, scrutinize and criticize the government over issues like price rise, job crisis, corruption, today either stay silent or hide behind the jubilance of nationalism and even worryingly, ‘Hindutva’. So, while we feel pity at the cowardliness and opportunist conduct of the media, the documentary subtly also asks the audience to question their change in taste and suspension of logical mind.

It would be unfair to close this Blog without a few personal thoughts of mine on Mr Ravish Kumar. Honestly speaking, Ravish and his style of journalism has had deep impact on me since early days, when I was quite naive in the world of news. His eloquent and sarcastic style of presenting news even while dealing with serious and daring issues like poor delivery of schemes, job crisis and propaganda, is commendable. I, however, won’t shy away from saying that I do feel somewhat disappointed today as Ravish’s journalism reflects more of his personal frustration than the objective style of his former self. But, Mr Ravish Kumar has always asked his viewers to never be his fan, and do scrutinize his journalism, so I hope my compliment is taken in positive sense. And, no words can describe the role Ravish has played in the lives of mine and many other by being the ‘Voice of the Voiceless’.

“Not all battles are fought for victory, some battles are fought to show the world that someone was there in the battlefield”: Ravish Kumar