In Pakistan, where entertainment on television means wedding ceremonies on morning shows, or selling your dignity for freebies, if a show with quality content makes it to its fourth season then it’s quite an achievement! Which is why we are excited to watch Tonite with HSY (despite the fact that they use that spelling of ‘tonight’), which starts airing tomorrow. Nevertheless, we spoke to the man himself to find out why he thinks his viewers should be tuning in, and what makes his show different from all the others.
HSY informed us of the various aspects of the show which have been tweaked, including the look of the set, the criteria of choosing guests, and the overall feel of the interview. What we were curious about was what the criteria for choosing guests is, since a few who will be making appearances this season made us skeptical about whether they deserved the recognition. Hassan clarified that this season isn’t just about on-screen celebrities, but also includes people who have been making waves on social media and such, which include comedians, models, comedy troupes etc. This clarified quite a few things, since a happening social media presence does not directly relate to stardom, at least for us! Hassan too admitted that there were people who even he hadn’t heard of, but with research found out that they have a huge fan following, hence this season is “focusing on what the viewer wants to see,†we were told.
Mawra, Urwa and Farhan will be some of the many celebrities making appearances this season
We are told not to expect generic questions as Hassan claims that he has aimed to show his audience “the real people behind the celebrities. We’ve asked them hard hitting questions; gotten answers for questions they wouldn’t normally answer,†Hassan said.
The shooting has been precise and as natural as possible, Hassan told us, there has been no re-shooting for mistakes and fumblings, which has given the show a more realistic and fresh feel, he said. In short, “it’s as live as possible†without actually being live Hassan declared.
We were told of the new segments that include games, rapid fires and also bringing in a surprise third guest to vamp things up a bit. All of which reminded us of the much loved Koffee with Karan, hence we asked Hassan what he makes of this comparison. “It’s flattering because I’m a huge fan of Karan, as much as I am of Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Ellen or Oprah. I find it silly to compare because there is a commonality amongst most talk shows all over, I didn’t come up with these concepts and neither did these other shows.†Hassan remarked.
While Hassan stated Karan to be “far senior and ahead,” he commented that the similarity between them would be the fact that they are both known and from the industry itself. “People know they can’t bullshit us, there is a sense of camaraderie and respect.â€
We have to agree, amongst the many things that HSY is good at, hosting is one of them, and as he said “questions can be the same, it’s about who is asking them and how you’re asking them,†and we can’t wait to see what answers Hassan has managed to get and from whom!
