Veteran lyricist and new writer Javed Akhtar will host a show Jaane Pehchaane on The EPIC Channel, a segmented Hindi entertainment channel in the space of Indian history and mythology, told in a contemporary format. The show will discuss Bollywood film scenes, characters, scriptwriting and dialogues, then and now. Here, Akhtar talks about what inspired him to take up this show and why viewers across all age groups will find it interesting. Excerpts:

What inspired you to be a part of the show?
The concept was interesting. I have been associated with such shows in the past and while I have discussed legendary films in those shows, here I will talk about characters and their metamorphosis. For example, there is a marked difference in the 'hero' of a film then and now. The hero is never poor in today's films. Similarly, the mother no longer carries the 'devi' image in films. She is shown to dress in western clothes, is a friend to her children and has progressive views. We want to portray how with time, the socio-economic strata of society has undergone a sea change and that is observed through films.

You seem to enjoy hosting such shows now.
Yes, I like to discuss films then and now, narrate interesting incidents and I don't read lines from a teleprompter or mug them up. I speak extempore, there is no script. All I have to do is sit and talk.

Do you feel the youth of the country is interested in knowing about films of a bygone era?
Many a times we are assuming a lot of things about today's youth, which is not true. I recall one such incident when I narrated dohas or Urdu poetry and people were sceptical if the youth would connect with this, but surprisingly, the youth really enjoys such events and programmes. The youth today is not willing to get bored, so we should not misjudge them.

Since you are discussing Hindi cinema, what changes do you see in films now?
See, it's a myth that all the films that were made during olden days were good. They also made bad films. Secondly, I feel technically cinema is more sound today, by and large we have lesser melodramatic performances and the performances of actors on the whole have improved. It will be difficult to find another Dilip Kumar or Amitabh Bachchan, but the stories today have much more variety. I don't think an interesting film like Piku would have been made in the olden days. While films have variety today, some where I feel they lack intellectual depth or a social message or concern that we found in earlier films.

You often comment on the lyrics in today's films. Would you discuss that too in the show?
Lyrics... the lesser said the better. Unfortunately, the language and thinking is sad when it comes to lyrics today. The lyrics have not been going right for a long time now, but yes, wait till we discuss that on the show.

Jaane Pehchaane with Javed Akhtar airs on Wednesday and Thursday at 10 pm on The EPIC Channel.