Madhu Mailankody: Setting Standards for Sports Presentation

By Abhishek N Bhat | coastaldigest.com
May 3, 2019

The advent of Star Sports into Kannada - a language which is already replete with nearly three dozen state-level television channels - has brought forth an accomplished anchorwoman, who can steal the hearts of television audience in Karnataka in general and sports enthusiasts in particular through her astute presentation amidst the hullaballoo of a bunch of sanctimonious and strident anchors cutting across the news and the entertainment channels.

Flashing a million dollar smile Madhu Mailankody was the first anchor to go live on air after the Walt Disney owned Star India recently launched the Star Sports 1 Kannada, said to be the country’s first and only dedicated Kannada sports channel.

The all-round ‘Sport Presenter’ is one of the very few female specialists in all forms of sports and games including cricket, football, badminton, kabaddi and volleyball in Karnataka. She is now often seen hosting various sports shows and programmes and interviewing sports legends on the channel. In spite of her acumen and insightfulness, the gorgeous girl’s humility and not so ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude has set new standards for anchoring and sports presentation in Kannada.

“How do you feel?” I drag her into a conversation on WhatsApp after watching her live on the television. “Working with legends of various sport and sharing work space with them... A good opportunity to interact with sports giants from across the world like Brian Lara, Brett Lee, Scott Styris, Anil Kumble, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Virendra Sehwag, Venkatesh Prasad…,” Madhu candidly responds before heading back to studio for shoot.

Madhu is a Mangalurean. Nay, a young Kasaragod Kannadiga woman, who even before entering the Star Sports had carved a niche in the hearts of Mangalureans through anchoring and hosting various events for past several years. Knowing that she is an out-spoken but publicity-shy woman who exudes genuine passion and commitment for her work, I obliquely pester her to tell me more about herself. She strikes me as a self-made woman, unburdened by all her God-gifted talents and achievements.

The desi girl’s lucid English, immaculate Kannada, chaste Hindi, friendly Malayalam and cordial Tulu coupled with an affable body language always make her stand out from the rest. Madhu’s multilingual and multicultural mastery makes her “an anchor sans borders” who can easily engage with diverse audience in almost all Indian states and beyond. She has won the applause of NRI audiences in Middle Eastern countries like United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman.

Madhu shares a close bond with the word ‘League’. She entered Star Sports in 2017 as an anchor for Indian Super League (ISL), the most premium football league of the country. In 2018-2019 she was an anchor for the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). In 2018-2019 she was a host for the entire Premiere Badminton League (PBL). She has been the ground MC for Karnataka Premiere League (KPL) since 2015. She was the solo host for three seasons of Mangalore Premier League (MPL) and then went on to become the voice of Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium for over 35,000 spectators during Indian Premier League (IPL). She also played the role of an anchor during several international cricket tournaments. Earlier this year she was part of the Asia Federation Cup.

The secret behind the magnanimous Madhu’s lively personality lies at ‘Mailankody’ in the pristine village of Perdala off Badiyadka town in Kasaragod district, where she was born as the second and last daughter of Savithri G Bhat and M Ganapathi Bhat, who opted agriculture after completing his post-graduation at a juncture when millions of rural Indians quit agriculture and migrated to towns and cities. She was brought up in the same village before shifting to Namma Kudla for college education. An alumnus of St Agnes and St Aloysius, two of Mangaluru’s prestigious colleges, Madhu is a passionate traveler, who prefers to spend time with the nature than in shopping malls and restaurants. The father’s pet daughter turns herself into a volcano of self-confidence when she says, “I am purely an independent girl!”

Comments

PK Kudla
 - 
Sunday, 5 May 2019

Terribly gorgeous girl.  Nice photos. 

Richard Rego
 - 
Sunday, 5 May 2019

Well written. Hope Madhu Mailankody reaches great heights of success

Roshan Martis
 - 
Sunday, 5 May 2019

Wonderful article on a wonderful girl. Proud of you Madhu Mailankody. God bless.

Aron
 - 
Saturday, 4 May 2019

Nice piece of article on a nice girl. All the best Madhu

Nithin Mangalore
 - 
Saturday, 4 May 2019

Madhu Malankodi is quite familiar in Mangalore. Happy to see her scaling new heights. I liked the last line: “I am purely an independent girl”. You are practically a feminist. I must thank the writer Mr Abhishek N Bhat for the beautiful write up. 

Raveena M
 - 
Saturday, 4 May 2019

Wonderful woman. One should live life like this! I worked Madhu during an event in Mangalore years ago and received my first salary from her. 

M Sadashiva Rao
 - 
Friday, 3 May 2019

A stupendous performance and achievement - By Madhu Mailankdy - hailing from a remote rural place - proving that it is one's talent, attitude and passion that makes or marks a person - one need not be City bread to be an achiever -  Congratulations and compliments to this simple girl from Perdala - who has carved a niche for herself in the arena of sports presentation

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 2,2020

Kasaragod, June 2: As Kerala commenced fresh academic year with online classes from Monday, a ninth-standard student at Malappuram district in North Kerala ended life allegedly owing to lack of online study facilities like television connection and a smartphone at her house.

Devika, daughter of Balakrishnan, hailing from a Dalit community at Valancherry, about 25 kilometres from Malappuram town, ended her life.

Balakrishnan told the media that he could not recharge the television connection owing to financial crunches. He was working as a daily wage worker and owing to COVID-19 and lockdown, he was not having much work these days. 

The family also did not have a smartphone or computer. The family members alleged that Devika was quite upset as she could not attend the virtual class that began on Monday. She was a student of a nearby government school.

Local police said that Devika, who was the eldest among four children of Balakrishnan, was suspected to have self-immolated using kerosene at a premise close to her house on Monday evening. The cause and provocations were still being probed only. No suicide notes were recovered yet.

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News Network
January 19,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 19: The long-awaited discussions on cabinet expansion finally took place between BJP national president Amit Shah and the state party unit on Saturday, but they produced no result.

Latest indications are that new members will be appointed only after CM BS Yediyurappa returns from Davos, Switzerland, on January 25.

The party held a close-door party meeting at a top hotel in Hubballi. The subject of expanding the cabinet, which currently has 16 vacancies, featured in the talks.

Earlier, Yediyurappa reportedly had a one-on-one with Shah during their 45-minute flight from Bengaluru to Hubballi. He is said to have insisted on accommodating all 11 newly MLAs in the cabinet. These legislators were earlier a part of Congress and JD(S); they contested the December byelections on BJP tickets and won.

This apart, BJP sources said, Yediyurappa and Shah had a brief chat at a private event at Palace Grounds . Separately, Shah, who is the Union home minister, held meetings with Jagadish Shettar, Laxman Savadi and Prahlad Joshi, seeking their views on cabinet expansion.

Shah also wanted to get an idea of what people think about the Yediyurappa government’s performance.

Newly elected MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi, BC Patil and Srimanth Patil greeted Shah. “We only met him to wish him; we didn’t discuss the cabinet issue. That’s something state BJP members will do,” said Hirekerur legislator BC Patil.

Saturday’s deliberations fail to break the stalemate over the cabinet appointments. There are clear differences in the camp about whether all Congress-JD(S) defectors should be made cabinet members, according to a senior minister attended one such meeting.

Shah reportedly wants only seven to eight newly elected MLAs to be made ministers; the rest of the spots should go to BJP loyalists. Yediyurappa disagrees with this position as he had promised all 13 turncoats places in the cabinet. Two lost in the bypolls.

Shah has now asked Yediyurappa to visit Delhi after returning from Davos to finalise the composition of the cabinet, according to the sources.

Yediyurappa will leave for Davos early on Sunday, while Shah will fly directly to Delhi from Hubballi.

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 14,2020

Newsroom, Jun 14: Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput, who was found dead in his house in Mumbai’s Bandra today, was heartbroken after the death of his former manager Disha Salian.

34-year-old actor had posted a heartfelt note after her death: “It’s such devastating news. My deepest condolences to Disha’s family and friends. May your soul rest in peace.” 

The police are considering 28-year-old Disha’s death as an accidental one and the investigation is on to find if it was a suicide. She died after falling off the 14th floor of a building in Malad, Mumbai on June 8.

It is not yet known if there is any connection between the two deaths. Sushant’s house help reportedly found him hanging inside his room on Sunday and cops are investigating the case. He was recently seen in Nitesh Tiwari’s Chhichhore and more recently on Netflix opposite Jacqueline Fernandez in Drive.

Who is Disha Salian?

Disha Salian hails from Karnataka’s coastal district of Udupi. She was born in 1992 into a business family background. She reportedly migrated to Mumbai with her family at an early age. 

After completing her education, she worked in the Times of India Group for more than three years. She went on to become the celebrity manager at Media Vantage.

Apart from Sushant, she had great links with many popular celebrities like Bharti Singh, Alisha Panwar, and others.

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