Amritvani shree ram. Neeya Naana is a talk show hosted by Gopinath. This show started in the year 2006 with the name Makkal yaar pakkam.
However, it gained more popularity after being renamed to Neeya Naana and is one of the most spoken about shows. The Anchor Gopinath was awarded Favorite Anchor (Male) in the Vijay Television Awards 2014. The topics debated are varied ranging from serious social issues to topics where they discuss if the female sense of humor is better than the males’. They organizers flash the topic of the week in their channel and welcome the general public to take part in it. Interested people are selected for talking for and against the topic. The show lets the participants to exercise their constitutional right and freely express their views even when it is a controversial topic.
Towards the end, experts/guests are invited to express their views or share their experience related to the discussion. At the end, good speakers are also awarded. This show is created and directed by Anthony Thirunelveli of Mercury Networks. When awarded the Favorite Anchor trophy, Gopinath invited Anthony on stage and told that he is the brain behind such a spoken-about show. Anthony has chosen topics varied interests ranging from “Hospitals and clinics become more of commercial establishments” to “why some men wear more jewelry than women”. Their show where transgender participated got a lot of accolade and was an eye opener for the society who scorns at them.
The show is aired in Vijay TV every Sunday at 9:00 PM and goes on for about 2 hours. Another version of this story. Neeya Naana in Tamil means “You? Or Me?”, is a Tamil Talk and Debate show telecasted in Start Vijay Television on every Sunday Nights and the first show started long back on 2006, since then it has got its familiarity and success till date, and every show is been telecasted for 90 minutes. Neeya Naana is being produced by Mercury Networks.
The show is an outcome of the ideas brought up by Anthony Thirunelveli, and the show is being hosted by Gopinath. Gopinath is the heartbeat of the show and Anthony being the Brain of the program. Gopinath Chandran aged 39, is a renowned Indian Television Anchor, Journalist, Reporter, News Reader, Entrepreneur, Writer and also now an Anchor in a variety of Star Vijay TV reality shows, award ceremony, etc. Gopinath starts the debate by firing questions at the one of the groups, and response to the questions followed by the challenge by the other group forms rest of the show. Often some participants 'act' out relevant situations to express their point better, which make the show more entertaining.
Gained its name among the Tamil popular shows, Neeya Naana brings a completely two different thinkers of the society to the show and allow them to express their view and debate on a topic that they think that affects them the most by sharing their views, opinions, frustrations, anger and most of the time with counter-arguments. Every week, a new, different but unique topic is given to a new two groups of people representing the opposite poles face against each other and debate on the show. Even though the show started in 2006, initially it did not receive much attention then later, few changes were made to give all groups of people an opportunity to express their opinion about topics that are relevant to the current social, economic, and political situation. This change of structure appealed to all age groups and started to gain its popularity and able to sustain the same till date. Moreover, it became one of the prominent Tamil shows to promote freedom of speech. Neeya Naana deals with both the subject – feel good topics as well as burning and sensation issues in the society and every episode final session will feature celebrity guests to express their view on the topics. At the end of 2 hours of debate, Gopinath ends the show by expressing his personal comments and several facts and points of consideration from the participation.
Finally before the show ends, the sponsors of the show will distribute prizes for the speakers who impressed the team.
The News Minute August 23, 2014 9.20 pm IST Vijay TV’s talk show ‘Neeya Naana’ on medical ethics in Tamil Nadu has become the bone of contention within the medical community after discussions were triggered over unnecessary health tests and kickbacks received by doctors. Points discussed on the show include redundant implementation of expensive master health checkups and ‘unnecessary’ screening for diseases like diabetes and hypertension in patients. However, counterarguments made by doctors in various social media forums dissented that such health checkups are essential to identify lifestyle diseases like diabetes which is rampant in India today. Kickbacks received by doctors for referrals to specific laboratories they tie up with was another point that was discussed on the show hosted by Gopinath. One disgruntled member of the public had pointedly asked the doctors on the show.
“Why do you ask us to go only to that particular lab or hospital for a test?” People in the program also asked if master health checks were to screen people for common diseases, why were TB tests (sputum analysis) not a part of the tests? The audience had alleged that doctors screen people for diabetes and hypertension only to make money. But many doctors in Tamil Nadu are denying it, saying while it is important to include TB tests, it is unfair to say there is no need to conduct tests for diabetes and hypertension as these diseases are an epidemic in India. Mass screening for TB is not effective, they add.
The programme has turned into such a huge controversy that as of Monday, a complaint has been filed by the Intern and Post-graduate Association of Tamil Nadu seeking action against the talk show coordinators. Senior health journalist Pushpa Narayanan on a Facebook post noted, “There are many doctors who are unethical – they demand kickbacks for diagnosis, they are pampered by pharmaceutical companies for prescribing medicines to patients, and they are cunning enough to ask for authorships in research studies they are not a part of.” She believed that many of them put patients last on their list of priority. She highlighted the dearth of informative medical health reporting in Tamil Nadu saying that “neither media organizations nor doctors associations have taken efforts change the way healthcare reporting is done in India.
“ Underscoring the importance of well-informed medical health coverage, Narayanan believed that questions asked by well-informed journalists can make the distinction between genuine public health knowledge and advertising. During a hospital press conference highlighting its 99% success rate in heart surgeries, only two out of 20 media people asked the key question – what “success” meant, said Narayanan.
According to the hospital, it meant 'Patient is wheeled out alive from the theatre.' However, more important parameters of consideration towards quality of life or survival after leaving the operation theatre were excluded.