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In
all fairness, Zee is at least making an effort to
move away from your average saas-bahu serials. What
to say about the formulaic flings with domesticity
which are becoming too much to handle? I've lost track
of the number of weddings, funerals and christening
ceremonies that Tulsi has gone through in Kyunkii
Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.
And
those premarital sex things! In Sony's Yeh Meri
Life Hai goody-goody Akaash has got Pooja's sister-in-in-law
Reema pregnant and now refuses to marry her!
Talk
about unprotected sex! Forget AIDS, on TV soaps you
can get the cold shoulder plus the royal snub after
a tumble in the hay.
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Poor
Kripa! In Sony's Kaisa Yeh Pyar Hai the poor small-town
girl has been impregnated by her host's wayward son Angad
and thrown out on the streets. Looks like an instant-replay
version of an old 1960s' melodrama from Hindi cinema called
Aasra. But this version incites a lot of aversion.
Can't
we see a bit more self control on these do-mess-tic dramas?
What monsters those judges on Zee's Sa Re Ga Ma Challenge
2005 turned out to be! They made poor Shaan sing and then
blasted him for being off-key, listless and uninspired.
Ismail Durbar went so far as to comment, "You must
pay more attention to your singing. Otherwise you'll remain
an anchor for the rest of your life."
Ouch!
Reminds me of HBO's Sex & The City where the
women are really talking hot these days. The kick of the
week was… artificial nipples! Samantha sported them,
and so did her other friends on the show. The men threw
appreciative glances at them. But on the whole the ladies
remain desperately famished for male company.
****
What
I like about the show is that the female protagonists aren't
scared to make themselves look ridiculous. That's quite
something… honestly! In one of the episodes last week
one of the ladies objected to her breasts being referred
to as "tittie-witties" by her lover in bed. When
she objected the man walked away from the lovemaking in
a huff… in the buff.
The
huff and the buff indicate the direction that men in the
soaps are pushed into. Invariably the male characters in
both the Indian and American soaps turn out to be wimpy
and disagreeable. There are exceptions, like Mr Bajaj in
Kasauti Zindagi Kay. But most of the male protagonists
make no bones about their brittleness.
Raunchy is in, I guess. On Star World's The Kumars At
No. 42 I find the grandmom (played with delightful aplomb
by Meera Sayal) is getting more and more suggestive in her
observations on guests. Last week she told singer Patsy
Palmer, "Your hips look like they can't pass wind."
****
Well
well… From the religious and tradition-bound 'Baa'
in Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi to the raunchy-rich
Susheela in The Kumars… the grandmom sure has come
a long way on television.
Caught Shilpa Shetty in conversation with an over-enthusiastic
correspondent on India TV's Chaat Masala. The lady asking
the questions was certainly more made-up, affected and filmy
than the star who struck me as natural in comparison.
Won't
these painted Jane-come-latelys take classes on verbal and
cosmetic restraint before gracing the camera? And the homework
done on these celebrity talk-shows is abysmal. No one seems
to have a clue as to what the star is all about. Most of
the time it's the interviewee who ends up holding up the
chat act while the interviewer tries to shout through her
thick lip gloss.
Sony's
Fame Gurukul had some amusing moments initially with
TV star Manav Govil and Mandira Bedi bantering about the
girls' bedroom (actually a badly constructed set). The principal
Ila Arun frowned hard and twisted Govil's ear. "Don't
forget you are a married man."
Er, is it okay to peep into girls' bedrooms otherwise? The
ones who got eliminated wept openly. Rex d'Souza, easily
the most affable contestant, sobbed in protest. "I
was told to leave with a smile if eliminated. But sorry,
I can't do that."
I heard judge Alka Yagnik rebuking a female contestant for
going out of sur. She should know about that. In fact I
often find the judges on these music contests to be unworthy
of evaluating true talent. What's Ismail Durbar's claim
to fame (and his credentials to judge the extraordinary
contestants on Challenge) except the two films which he
scored for Sanjay Leela Bhansali?
Shouldn't
he stop being so churlish?
Back
home mama Divya Seth fretted with Good Son Ronit Roy (who
looks like Mr Bajaj on a bad-hair day) about what to do with
the Salman Khan in their family. "Let him get arrested,"
the helpful Bua (suitably bespectacled) suggested. Mama Seth
grimaced so hard I thought her hair dye would wear off in
terror.
