May 28, 2010 11:11 PM
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History is junk said Henry Ford. I guess i was one of the very few persons who actually liked History as a subject. Most of my class mates, friends hated it. People around me wondered what I could possibly enjoy in reading about kings, battles, and old times. But somehow History always fascinate me, and i guess it was thanks to Amar Chitra Katha, where I came to know of our ancient Indian history. I was fascinated reading about the Mughal Dynasty, the Marathas and Shivaji, the Indian freedom movement. Later on World History fascinated me equally too, especially World War II, Nazis, the Holocaust, as well as some other specific periods like Cold War, Napoleonic Era, the American Civil War, Presidents. It was not just periods, but also loved to read about the biographies of famous people, their ideas, their thoughts, their beliefs.
The issue to me was not History per se, but the way it was taught. We had some great History teachers at school who bought alive the subject, with the way they narrated it, but most of the History teachers, were people who were there just for their pay check. No passion, no interest in their job. Teaching to them, meant giving out notes, asking us to mug up dates, while they just lazed in class.
But how to get across History to the audiences in a way, that while being true to the facts, is at the same time keeps the viewer interested. That has always been a huge question. Too much emphasis on detail, facts and accuracy will make the program look dull, and at the same time an overdue emphasis on entertaining the audience, will result in an India Channel History X.
What i like about Fox History is that it does not view History as simply a series of dates, facts, information. It takes the topic, and using an excellent narrative, builds up the viewer's interest. Also instead of showing some vague historical topics, most of the shows are relevant and topical in nature. Add to it, some really good TV movies, series and also excellent historical movies every Saturday. Some really worthwhile shows on Fox History
Biography: This TV series basically covers world famous movie actors, entertainers, singers, musicians. Coming on every Friday, this basically looks at the lives of these people, how they started out, their achievements, their failures, the scandals, controversies involved. Some famous people covered so far include Jude Law, Catherine Zeta Jones, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, J.K.Rowling, George Clooney, Nicole Kidman.
Infamous Assassinations: Who was behind John.F.Kennedy's assassination? Why was Mahatma Gandhi killed? What was the plot behind Rajiv Gandhi's gruesome death? Brilliant program that takes up the assassination of a world famous personality, and explores it in detail, using news clippings, interviews, video shots to recreate the event, and also try to find out the reasons.
Special Forces Heroes: Watch the real story behind some of the greatest military operations in the world? Be it the Israeli raid on Entebbe to release the hostages. Or the World War II battles at El Alamein? Watch the real heroes risk their lives as they battle terrorists, enemy soldiers, insurgents against all odds. Inspiring.
Building the Ultimate: Ever wondered how these gigantic skyscrapers in New York were built? Or how did the engineers achieve the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge? How were the massive battleships and aircraft carriers conceived? This brilliant program gives you a wonderful insight into the faceless heroes behind those engineering marvels.
Prehistoric Park: Initially was not too keen on watching this show, how many times would I see dinosaurs again. But later caught some episodes of this, and the audacity of the concept itself stunned me. Using CGI and&
