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Behold
the'Jassi'
revolution!
Jassi
Jaissi Koi Nahin! The title of Sony's life-saver has proved
to be profitably prophetic. Jassi
has done the seemingly impossible. It has weaned audiences away
from the saas-bahu formula of couched entertainment, at least
temporarily, to actually consider the opposite option: what if the
protagonist didn't look like she had been dunked into gallons of
warpaint? What if she's actually just the opposite of a glossy gharwali?
What if she's a plain working woman?
 Great premise,
brilliantly handled by Tony and Deeya Singh whose deft vision bequeathed
our home-viewing medium with at least two previous pathbreaking
serials (Banegi Apni Baat and Just Mohabbat).
Jassi dares to walk the tightrope. While remaining steadfast
in its traditional values (check out the sarcastic dressing-down
from her doting grandma and parents that Jassi got when she headed
home hiccuping after a night at the disco) it also succeeds in touching
on taboo topics such as homosexuality.
The dress designer Maddy, played with flamboyant fluency by Rajesh
Khera, is the first fully-formed gay character in an Indian soap.
Some years ago on Zee's Tanaav Aly Khan had attempted to
play a sexually conflicted character writhing uneasily in the closet.
That soap never got a long rope.
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So
powerful is Jassi's impact that other soaps have begun
to adopt some of its 'plain Jane' methods
of seduction. Last week on Star's Kyun Hota Hai Pyarr
I was shocked to see a bespectacled whining and fussing
avatar of Jassi, who loses the chance to woo a man by trying
too hard to please him. "Can't you just be yourself?" the exasperated
man walked away… The sobbing Ms Rejected (who jumped up and
down on the bed with grief like an out-control sprinter) is
then madeover by her friends and taken to a discotheque to confront
love in a glossy new packaging.
Isn't that disturbingly similar to some of the happenings in
Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin? Shouldn't the channels stop crossing
wires? |
****
Multiple Marriages.This week Sony's Kya Haadsa Kya Haqeeqat
featured Jassi's Mallika , Rakshanda Khan (who's a far
better actress than some of the middling movie players) as a spirit
who takes possession of another woman's husband.
"You
can have him in the day. He's all mine in the night," meowed the
seductive spook, and then proceeded to have... er, spirited sex
(in a manner of speaking) with the other woman's husband.
Don't be alarmed. Multiple marriages have become an integral part
of primetime entertainment. Kusum on Sony's Kkusum has recently
gone through her third marriage. On Star's Kasautii Zindagii
Kay Anurag has just had his third marriage with the girl who
all along pretended to be interested in him to save his earlier
marriage. So much for acts of betrayal.
There was a touching moment of marital majesty last week when we
saw scenes of Anurag's marriage vows being juxtaposed with his ex-wife
Prerna's angrily taking off all her jewellery. Such moments tend
to get eclipsed by the chaotic cosmos
that the soaps build within the joint family setup.
****
Copyright
Violations.What
I really like about Kasautii is its use of re-recorded versions
of evergreen film songs like Hum bewafaa... (from Shalimar)
and Ajeeb dastaan... (from Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi).
The
popularity of these songs has actually been renewed through the soap.
On the flip side, most practitioners of the soap trade don't seem
to know a thing about copright laws!
I
was shocked recently to hear Lata Mangeshkar's Saanware (composed
by R D Burman for film Baseraa) being used almost as a wall-to-wall
carpet in the soundtrack of Zee's Kabhi Kabhie.
****
On
the rebound. By the way, Kabhi Kabhie - the story about
a woman "wedded" to Lord Krishna - has been done in a garish pseudo-mythological
tone. The Nightingale's voice undoubtedly adds poised dimension
to Jhulka's coy performance.
 As for Jhulka, the poor soul needs television more than
television needs her. Having played a belligerent Nana Patekar's
wife recently in the film Aanch, soaps seem to beckon her
with both arms.
Another talented large-screen fade-queen whose career has been transposed
to television is Anooradha Patel who suddenly surfaced on Jassi
as a fashion consultant.
Subhash
Ghai's failed discovery Apoorva Agnihotri too has suddenly discovered
portable stardom on television as
Jassi's beloved 'Armaan Sir'.
****
 Damp Squib. I wish we could look positively at
Shekhar Suman's re-invention on television. Regrettably, the 'rebirth'
of his popular Movers & Shakers on Sab TV as Carry
On Shekhar (don't miss the sly allusion to the raunchy British
'Carry On…' series of films) is a bit of a damp squib.
Because of the host's abrasive manner, celebrity-guests (Adi Godrej
appeared on the show with one of his locks which he said he wanted
to put on his host's mouth) are staying away. Last week, Suman's
celebrity-guest was MTV veejay Sophia whose job on her parent channel
is to interview celebrities (The most recent being Arjun Rampal
who was asked, "Are you a Mama's or a Papa's boy?") Oh boy!
Is she someone whom we'd be interested in as a celebrity? Let's
face it: the only celeb talkshow that's worth watching is Rendezvous
With Simi Garewal. Last week a re-run of a post-Kaho Na…
Pyar Hai episode featuring Hrithik Roshan with his parents seemed
far fresher than some of fresh talkshows where the guests look like
they could do with some serious stardom
before holding forth.
****
| Outstanding.
Excellent change of mood from social relevance (sexual harassment
at a work place) to thriller (flirtatious boss put in his place
by harassed woman and her spunky mother-in-law) made this week's
episodes of Sahara's Kagaar an exercise in weighty
infotainment. |
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If
only more serials would follow their own hearts rather than
run after the elusive TRPs, thereby over-stuffing the plots
with violent incidents. |
****
 Immortal ? There's
no dearth of acting talent on the soaps. Achint Kaur who plays the
vicious home-wrecker Geeta on Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
was admirably well-timed in her emotional responses on Thursday.
She had to interact politely with her co-star and also express her
silent exasperation about a missing envelope which could've damned
Tulsi.
"This Tulsi seems to have been born with immortality," the vamp
hissed.
Yes, Tulsi will remain as long as the god
of all small-screen smile on her.
****
Tailpiece:
Will the news channels please cease to pass of filmy hearsay
as "news"? Star News last week told us that Meghna Gulzar has signed
Preity Zinta, and that Vashu Bhagnani is doing another film with
American actress Brande Roderick (pronounced "Rodericks" by every
newscaster).
Both false.
(The views
expressed here are those of the author and indiantelevision.com
need not necessarily subscribe to the same)
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