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In truth it was designed exactly like one of the main sets in Black. And the three guests…they seemed so comfortable sharing recollections that were so obviously so precious to them all. At the end AB even said ‘We love you’ to his director in sign language. The footage from the film was mesmerizing an absolute dream come true. The only channel that telecast Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee’s press conference in Delhi was India TV. The channel does tend to stretch things a bit(for example, Parveen Babi’s funeral). But this was one occasion when I loved the elaborate telecast. Faced with a volley of queries Mr Bachchan moved with effortless fluency from English to Hindi and even took a break to warn a noisy group in a corner to quieten down. Rani was just there, enjoying being in the shadows as the Big Man dominated the show.

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The exceptionally bright presence of Shobha De and Shabana Azmi on Star World’s Koffee With Karan gave the show a certain weightiness. God know, they are both heavyweights in their fields. What I found lacking between the two was a certain camaraderie, or chemistry if you will. Shabana did try to reach out a bit more , though not as much as she generally does. I certainly enjoyed watching Shabana talk a lot more than her colleague for the evening. Just goes to prove my point. Print journalists should be read, not seen.

What I specially enjoyed on the Azmi-De tete-a-tete was the cross-section of views provided exclusively by female watchers of the dynamic duo, from Tabu to Kajol to Ekta Kapoor . Malavika Sanghvi said something rather strange about her fellow-journalist to the effect that she likes to re-invent herself every five years, with a new hairstyle or husband, or whatever.

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Come on, Ms Sanghvi. Ms De doesn’t change spouses . But with her looks poise and control she sure can make lots of male spouses want to do that.

I am thoroughly confused about NDTV’s Walk That Talk and Mumbai Live. I see the anchors doing the walk-interview with celebrities on both shows. Maybe they want to prove they are a channel on the move? Whatever the motives for their mobility I loved Sreenivas Jain’s walk-talk with Naseeruddin Shah. Very well-informed and deeply illuminating, the conversation moved as briskly as the two walkers.

I loved Shah’s wry comments on Paki-bashing in our films, and how the two countries have now moved to the other extreme—right values, etc. Oh dear.

Incidentally Naseer singled out Hrithik Roshan as the most watchable actor in today’s generation. This came during the same week when Shobha De opined on Koffee With Karan that Aamir Khan was ‘over-rated’. To each his own.

And while we’re on celeb talk- shows Manish Malhotra’s show on Zoom seems highly influenced by his friend Karan Johar’s counterpart, down to the rapidfire questions. I liked his chat with Lara Dutta where she came up with the startling confession that she owned 900 pairs of shoes.

Shoe’d be a crowded closet.

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Turning to the soaps, Mum’s the word for Mihir, in more ways than one. Ronit Roy came back to Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi looking years younger. While the soap prepares to go into a new generation, the actors seem to want to look younger and younger. Both Ronit Roy and Apara Mehta who play son and mom, sport jet-black hair and designer accessories.

On Thursday Mehta harangued ‘Mihir’ Ronit on his duties as a son while the camera waltzed around them like cat on hot tin roof. The return of Mihir was also heralded by loaded references Ram and Sita in the Ramayan.

Another soap in the makeover mood is Sony’s Yeh Meri Life Hai . Gone is the campus climate and so is the protagonist Pooja’s thick Gujarati accent. In fact the frumpy middleclass heroine is on the way out. Even Jassi who patented that look is shedding plumes, though not as rapidly as Pooja on Yeh Meri Life Hai which can now easily be titled ‘Pati Patni Aur Woe’….

…Or woe-tever!

(The views expressed here are those of the author and indiantelevision.com need not necessarily subscribe to the same)