Well-known sports anchor, Sahil Khattar, is now anchoring Pro Wrestling League Season 4 on Sony Sports Network. “The best part about our six team league is that we have made this otherwise individual sport into a team effort.”
“As wrestling has a larger audience up north, Sony prefers to have me on board as I am not only a sporting person, but also, hailing from Chandigarh, can speak both Punjabi and Harvanyi. To add to that, I can speak Benarasi and Mumbaiya as well.” The six teams include Punjab Royals, Haryana Hammers, Delhi Sultans, UP Dangal, etc.” says Sahil, who is also working on a couple of web series at the moment.
Sahil goes on, “Such sporting leagues are very important for they help to spread sport and sporting sprit among the youth. The success of IPL has also seen football, hockey, Kabbadi and other leagues mushrooming. It is heartening to see huge crowds of both masses and classes turn up at our wrestling venues to watch a perfect fusion of raw physical prowess and quick thinking.”
Here Sahil, who also has his own YouTube channel, Khatarnak, says that the best part of live anchoring is to have a presence of mind, “Which, coupled with my broad understanding of human nature and content, allows me to wriggle out of bloopers that do happen. Also, since I am a funny man, people think I do it deliberately.” He has also hosted Dance India Dance.
What separates you from the crowd of other sporting anchors? ”With a rising number of sport properties, anchors today need to be versatile across various sports, like earlier you had Sameer Kochar and Gaurav Kapur. While the former was pure cricket, the latter brought other elements. A true anchor worth his salt fuses both entertainment and sports.”
Sahil, who prior to this, had also hosted the FIFA World cup Hindi, says that there is a lot of prep before starting any event. “I eat, sleep and breathe this Olympic grappling discipline, which empowers me with enough knowledge to fuse with my gift of the gab. Today, audience don’t want dull statistics drolled out; they want the same presented in a funny way.”
Since you spoke of IPL which has a lot of glamour, where will the attractive and glitzy come into the Pro Wrestling League Season? “Well, I am bald. On a serious note, given the rooted audience base, I don’t want to do anything to upset them. If they wanted eye candy, they could have taken a chocolate boy as host.”
In closing, Sahil wants to thank Sony for having signed him up as anchor for various sporting (cricket, wrestling, etc.) properties. “It gives me a chance to perform better and also hone my skills while on the job.”
Way to go, Sahil!!