The name Rajashree Warrier  will set off a series of images flickering  across the Malayalee mindscreen : a proficient Bharatanatyam dancer  who has given  numerous stage performances inside and outside India a Carnatic Classical  vocalist who has rendered music concerts at home and abroad . But the picture that will  stay for keeps will probably be that of Rajashree, the doyenne of Malayalam TV anchoring.

She entered the visual media when it was still in its embryonic phase, in a stage at which ‘compeering’ to most people meant an announcer who glibly ad-libbed a few lines at the start of the show. In a  sense,  Rajashree was one of a handful of professionally qualified   anchors who taught the viewers the real meaning of ‘anchoring’ – a master of ceremonies who held the reins of the programme  firmly in his hand and decided the direction in which it should go. She joined  Doordarshan in 1990 where she hosted  Sameeksha, an intellectual discussion on the poems of Vayalar . Later she became  a staff of a prominent channel and co-hosted the then premiere morning show Suprabhatam for 2 ½  hours everyday, for 4 years on the trot – a show with which she is identified even today. She has presented a popular cultural magazine Daivathinte Nattil for DD Kerala ; a series on the classical dances of South  India  Saparya for Amrita  TV and another series on the cultural heritage of Kerala, Paithruka Keralam .

Being one of the first in the field has its share of advantages and disadvantages. She had no role model  to base herself upon, but  she was able to give a free hand to her originality and talent and develop her own individual style. While her pertinent  questions, clear reasoning, confidence and poise helped in no mean measure by her  good looks and charming smile soon won her accolades – that included the Best  Presenter Award a number of times – it was the air of  genteel dignity that  she brought to her  programmes that set her apart. She was no  ring mistress who do anything to  provoke or goad her guests to give a good performance,  but a refined hostess engaging them in a friendly, comfortable chat.

Rajashree, in her own words “is first a danseuse, secondly a  vocalist  and only then  a TV presenter”. But since her unpretentious presentation, courteous manners and flawless pronunciation have made her one of the most  easily recognized on-air personalities on TV today,  it is  as Rajashree the gracious anchor that Keralites will be most likely to remember her .