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I
returned
from the frostbitten frigidity of DD shows to the mind-numbing warmth of satellite
channel soaps to discover the marriage season on in full swing this week. Even
more surprising was the fact that the nuptials weren't being celebrated on the
usual suspects (read weepy Balaji family dramas or Rajshri extravaganzas) but
on shows one least expected them on. How the world changes. These
were shows that started with a 'different' premise and held out the promise of
staying different. It seems they have succumbed to the commercial lure of the
'grand wedding' phenomenon that seems to strike the average soap once every six
months. Never mind if the last big such event on Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin left
a very bad taste in the mouth when the wedding never materialised after reels
of marriage preparations.  This
time, the ones that have bitten the marriage bait are India Calling, Ek
Ladki Anjaani Si and even Jab Love Hua! Both India Calling and
Ek Ladki.... have turned up the marketing hype on the grand weddings that
will actually take place next week. Star One's India Calling had started
out on a very different note, with its take on the call centre scenario in metropolises
and the journey of a young girl through them.
Its degeneration (is transmutation
a better politically correct term here?) into just another family drama has taken
all the wind out of it, although the channel insists it's been better for the
TRPs. Chandni, who was slated to marry Dilawar in an arranged match, will now
marry her sweetheart Adi instead. Dilawar is even helping in the wedding preparations.
 In
Ek Ladki..., long suffering Anu who got impregnated by accident, will marry
the man of her dreams Nikhil instead of the good doctor who saved her life, nursed
her back to health, and who fell in love with her in the process. The good doc
in fact, in now instrumental in setting up the wedding, which unfolds on screen
on Monday.
In
Zee's Jab Love Hua, the delightful capers of Raghu and Aanya get a twist
with Aanya now poised to marry Rahul, the scion of a wealthy urban family. And
yes - it's heartbroken Raghu who's helping with the preparations. So,
just as the many Balaji soaps ape their siblings in plot and track, now we have
disparate soaps with different themes all converging on one event, and handling
it in more or less a similar fashion. Coincidence? ****
|  Dragons
- bit of a drag?
Discovery
launched its much hyped opus, Dragons, this week. Awesome simulations and
a simple yet engrossing commentary make this series a must watch. This was good
edutainment, even though the scientists' mannerisms as they probe a dino fossil
and speculate on its existence does seem a trifle theatrical at times. And perhaps
it would have been a better idea to split up the series into smaller episodes.
The two hour special on Thursday, though gripping, had the rest of the family
wandering off to other diversions after the first hour. Besides, gruesome fossils
and autopsies of dino innards don't make exactly great dinner company. **** |
 Talent
moves to TV
The
latest of the supposedly good actors turning to TV now includes veteran film actor
Soni Razdan, who made a lustreless entry in Sony's Aisa Des Hai Mera this
week. It is her machinations as the 'firang' mother of the London bred Rusty,
that have turned the protagonist from a sugar pie to a scheming fiend in the last
few episodes. Lekh Tandon's classy directorial touches are nowhere apparent in
this meandering saga that moved from London to Punjab and is now stuck in the
same domestic conflicts over and over. Soni's entry is hardly likely to cause
a ripple. And
though veteran Marathi stage artiste Bharati Achrekar, who returned as Kantaben
to Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka, is able to keep the energy level up, her loud acting
does nothing for her own earlier formidable theatre reputation. So unlike
Makarand Deshpande, the maverick theatre personality who's now ensconced in the
Balaji camp. As the crafty lawyer who outwits Meera every time in the courtroom,
he lifts the show above the mundane. ****
Couch
potato heroine of the week - Tulsi, definitely. One thought she would
fall right into the arms of Mihir after being re-united with her truant husband
who threw her out of the house 20 years ago, but the country's favourite bahu
just gave him a good piece of her mind and the back of her hand. Way to go, lady! (The
views expressed here are those of the author and indiantelevision.com need not
necessarily subscribe to the same) | 
