Sidharth Kannan is energetic, vivacious, charismatic, witty, knowledgeable and above all an emcee, host or presenter, whatever you may choose to call him, par excellence. At an official event that I recently attended at Russia, Siddharth was requested to host this important and big programme and after his dramatic entry sharp at the scheduled time, he kept the audiences mesmerised, regaled, entertained and fully involved for next 3 hours. Neither audience, nor he got tired as suddenly the auditorium seemed to have been filled with and unending supply of energy.
Incidentally, this was not the first time that I attended an event hosted by Siddharth. A few years ago also, I got an opportunity and if anything, he seems to be getting younger, bolder and tastier like an ageing wine!
What makes him different from other hosts, who may be equally enigmatic, witty, energetic and knowledgeable, if not more? We have witnessed award ceremonies hosted by the stars such as Shahrukh, Ranveer, Ranbir, Saif etc! I think what raises Siddharth’s stature as an emcee and host one notch above others is his uncanny ability to be tremendously funny, comic and boisterous and yet never trespassing the thin line of becoming satirical or hitting the members of audience or performing artists below the belt causing any embarrassment. If anything, he only makes ordinary folks that include me, feel involved, entertained, confident to do things that they might not have ever done before and yet never crossing the line that would cause hurt, embarrassment or discomfort. In fact, beyond a point, members of audience want him to come to them for a prank or two. Such is Siddharth’s charm.
At this last event at Russia, he made someone with two left feet like me dance, appreciated my ordinary and short speech like a path breaking address and made me feel so important and revered in spite of I being just one amongst several hundred attending the event. And I am sure, each of those hundreds would express a similar feeling, if asked.
He is a celebrity, having interviewed or hosted most of the celebrities, worked with kings of comical timing such as Cyrus Broacha, hosted large number of iconic shows on radio and TV, highly recognised and decorated and yet absolutely down to earth. This speaks highly of his bringing up by his erudite parents in Delhi. His bother Hrishikesh Kannan, popularly known as Hrishi K is extremely popular RJ. It can be safely concluded that talent runs deep in the family.
This is neither a tribute nor a eulogy, because Siddharth has to entertain, regale and host millions and given his energy, I have no doubt that he’s destined for much bigger honours than what he has already achieved. It’s celebration of Siddharth’s great quality of spreading unbridled happiness wherever he goes, a quality many of us need to imbibe, emulate and demonstrate.
Arvind Arya blog 