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I must say Indian television is developing a penchant for
over-statement. On Wednesday night I watched Tenaaz Currim
performing live at a Sony entertainment event. Did she really
think she could pull off the Gujju accent from the serial
Yeh Meri Life Hai for a full 15 minutes? There were
references to Tina Ambani and Anil Ambani which I thought
to be in bad taste.
When you do a skit about a specific community stay away
from specifics.
Now that the end is near Kamini-Damini has gathered
momentum. We've Pankaj Dheer, bedridden and ailing for ages,
suddenly recovering double-quick. But shhhh… we aren't
supposed to talk about his recovery. The cop on duty is
evil in his designs, and must be made to feel that Kamini's
hubby is still unwell.
…Just like big-budget soaps which go on pretending
they have a shelf life when the tamasha is long over for
them. Zee's Sarhadein is so thanda! Does anyone remember
it was meant to be the Veer-Zara of the small screen?
The Indian girl and the Pakistani boy seem to be submerged
in superficial characters, like a foreigner named Michelle
who's made herself comfortable in the heroine's home. Chances
are, she will walk into the sunset with him while the soap
walks into oblivion.
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DD1's un-missable Yaadein had a much-welcomed profile on
composers Laxmikant-Pyarelal. It was reassuring to see one-half
of the duo still alive and kicking. Because the way our film industry
tends to write off creative talent, one would think the surviving
half of a creative partnership perishes along with the dead one.
Good… but such precious products deserve to be on a much
more visible channel.
Sahara's Aa Bahen Chugli Karen is one of my favourite sitcoms,
mainly for the profusion of acting talent which includes such
acknowledged female maestros as Aneeta Kanwal, Himani Shivpuri
and Loveleen Mishra. In last week's episode they all bitched about
their husbands on the 'Nimmi Garewal Show' (ha, ha, Simi
should take that as a compliment) and then tried their best to
keep their respective spouses away from the television set during
the telecast of the hen session.
The writing in the sitcom is of a higher order than usual. I guess
this was the week of comedy because I also loved the guest appearance
by the whole Khichdi clan on StarOne's Sarabhai Versus
Sarabhai, specially since it pitched the two Pathak sisters
Ratna and Supriya directly against each other. One was suave and
snobbish, the other was stupid and earthly... Terrific comic timing,
this was a high point of humour on television.
Star
World's Koffee With Karan with Shahid Kapur and Esha Deol
was a bit of a damp squip. For once the two guests seemed to have
nothing much to say. The host tried hard to prod them into alertness.
But no show. If there was anything that interested us, it was
those sound-bytes from youngsters on the roads commenting on Shahid
and Kareena as a pair. Poor Esha didn't even have a boyfriend
to talk about.
Why not sound bytes from Esha's mom and Shahid's dad? At least
the show would have acquired the wazan of wisdom, if not the perkiness
of superstardom.
I
was appalled to see singer Udit Narayan bragging away so furiously
on ETC Bihar on May 7. "Even the superstars down South want
my voice… Yeh to bahut badi baat hai."
What? He thought he would get away with such brazen self congratulation
on a regional channel? In contrast there was Ajay Devgan on CNBC's
Trend Mill telling his hostess that he's basically a "lazy
actor."
True
confessions at prime time? We get a lot of that on television
these days. The most harrowing true-talk on television is invariably
about rape victims. Their faces video-doctored for non-identification,
they invariably cut a sorry picture, struggling to put forward
their struggle for self assertion in a society where women are
still treated like commodities to be exploited.
The semi-finals of Zee's Sa Re Ga Ma were a splendid showcase
of singing talent, the highpoint being the two girls at the end
singing Lataji's Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai. To the
one who lost, the judge Pandit Jasraj said, "Never be scared
of the sur."
Indian television wouldn't know about that. The fiction programming
is still swimming nervously in the bottom scales.
(The
views expressed here are those of the author and Indiantelevision.com
does not necessarily subscribe to the same)
Hema
Malini's pic by Vicky Ahuja
Or
maybe they just needed an excuse to shut down what was a bad idea
to begin with. Big screen stars in soaps are a strict no-no. The
sooner we realize it the better. Hema Malini's soapy sojourn would
qualify as a near-disaster, for no fault of hers. She gave the double
role all she had. And she certainly was more Seeta-Geeta than Mihir
Mishra whose double trouble in Hey Yehi To Hai Woh is nothing
but an exercise in creative vilification. And the less said about
the mental regression of the protagonist in her second avatar in
Piya Ka Ghar to a 7-year old joke… the better. 