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Aeons
ago Jaya Bhaduri played Mili in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's film.
Now TV has its own Mili, spelt Miilee. Hopefully, this Miilee
will spread some sunshine on television.
Right
now, the prospects seem less than bright. The first few episodes
had a bit of the Sound Of Music and a bit of Gulzar's Parichay.
But it all boils down to nothing substantial as yet.
There's
Dadi Maa (Sushma Seth) on a wheelchair who frowns so hard at her
screen son Kiran Kumar that you fear for her grey wig. Beta erred
years ago by not having the spleen to marry the girl he loved. Grandma,
apparently, is a sucker for love. So she tells the haveli's favourite
butler (Vineet Kumar) who barks orders at housemaid's in short dresses
as though he were the speaker of an unruly parliament.
 Trust
television to provide employment to the exiled and forgotten. While
Star's Kavyanjali gets its sustenance and strength from the
stunning powerhouse of talent Amrita Singh, it also provides a place
for the poor old Achala Sachdev…remember the spunky matriarch
from the films Waqt and Kora Kagaz? Ms Sachdev is
the family 'Beeji', bustling about at jagrans and prodding Anjali
into a state of awakening.
Anjali,
played by the Ekta Kapoor's favourite, Natassha is a split Raat
Aur Din (no relation to the legendary Nargis in a film of that title)
personality who puts on a nose-ring in the night and goes on the
prowl. A rat who makes a big din!
Frankly, I want to see more of the star attraction, namely Amrita
Singh, on Kavyanjali. Why bring her out of retirement only to have
a set of callow newcomers take over the show? Also, the writing
is way below par. There are scenes and scenes in Kavyanjali which
rely too heavily on the physical absence or appearance of the characters
rather than the inherent emotion of the scene.
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I guess Kavyanjali will take time to catch on. But
catch on, it must. Amrita Singh must prove that big-screen
actors aren't disastrous on the home-viewing medium. Even
the hitherto-infallible Hema Malini seems to have failed
on TV in Kamini Damini.
All said and done TV has its own profile and its own icons.
We saw two of them this week on Star World's Koffee With
Karan. 'Tulsi' and 'Parvati', a.k.a Smriti Irani and
Sakshi Tanwar, were a barrelful of fun. Irani and Tanwar
may be rivals on TV. But, as Smriti told Karan, they're
friends in real life. "I think Tulsi and Parvati are
twins separated at birth and a lot of journalists when they
call up say there's some rivalry happening. But what mostly
transpires between me and Sakshi is we sit together and
crib about everything."
Smriti also revealed why she looks overweight. "I did
try to lose weight and I started looking younger than my
screen-son Gautam who is actually my classmate from school."
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Fans of the two TV icons were delighted and sometimes shocked
to hear them let their hair down. Smriti Malhotra confessed the
sexiest man in India is her husband. She calls Mallika Sherawat
a "phool- jhadi" and when asked which actor should be
in parliament she promptly replied, "Amitabh Bachchan."
 Not
to be left behind, Sakshi Tanwar called Abhishek Bachchan the
hottest hunk in Indian cinema. She called Salman Khan "mindblowing"
and said she would love to play Rani Mukherjee's role in Black.
When asked why she thought her show Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki was
better than Smriti's Kyunkii Saas..., Tanwar replied, "Because
the characters in Kahani are more human."
Watching the two ever-suffering TV matriarchs fighting over Karan
Johar's gift hamper was quite an experience.
The duo came across as normal….and blessedly, not half as
hysterical as they're shown to be in their respective soaps.
Says
Karan, "I haven't brought any TV stars on my show so far.
Bringing the two most popular characters from the soaps together
was my channel (Star)'s idea. I was game. And I'm glad. Smriti
and Sakshi turned out to be great fun, witty intelligent and utterly
unaffected."
Since this week's Sa Re Ga Ma coincided with April Fool's
Day, Shaan decided to make a fool of us. It's another matter he
ended up looking more a fool than a prankster. He gave up his
place to fellow-singer Babul Supriyo who made a hash of the anchoring
job. Shaan himself put on what he thought was a foolproof disguise
and an accent which he whisked off at the end of the show.
Good grief! Will these overgrown babas of blunderland please grow
up?
*****
Caught a rather interesting telefilm on Friday on Star One where
Pavan Malhotra played a pimp who hunts down a serial killer in
a helmet who loves to slow-murder prostitutes. Grisly? Yup, but
still gripping. Had seen the same film on Star Plus' Star Bestseller
many moons ago.
Better déjà vu than dread. That's the feeling I
get every time I see Sony's Yeh Meri Life Hai. I mean what
were they thinking of when they turned a college-campus comedy
into a gharelu socks-bhi-kabhi-stockings-thi
saga? The latest twist in the kahani is our Pooja's forced
marriage with a man of her father's choice who doesn't show up
for the wedding.
Maybe
he didn't want to miss Indian Idol. Or maybe the scriptwriter
needs a crash course in wedding etiquette. No matter how we look
at them, our soaps are turning bizarre by the week, if not the
day.
*****
Oh
goodie! India TV got their star-stinger Ruchika to appear in person.
The only thing was, her face remained darkened on screen because
she claimed her life was threatened.
Oh, come on! Who would want to threaten TV's resident Joan of
Arc. Ruchika was kind enough to that day solve vital questions
like did she take her shirt off with Shakti Kapoor.
Shirt up!
(The
views expressed here are those of the author and indiantelevision.com
does not necessarily subscribe to the same)
Amrita
Singh's pic from: www.telegraphindia.com
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