One ended up with mixed feelings after watching the first episode of Kahin na Kahin Koi Hain, the new reality marriage show on Sony Entertainment Television.

The show was Madhuri Dixit Nene all the way. Her melodious voice which has taken on a lot of maturity in the form of grain, her captivating smile and her ada made for compulsive viewing. "Hai," was a viewer's spontaneous reaction, "She has not lost any of that charm, grace and energy that catapulted her to the No 1 slot at her peak."

The sets are lavish, and Madhuri is exquisitely clad and made up. The ambience is distinctly upper class, aspirational - straight out of a Hum Aapke Hain Koun or any other upper class family drama movie from the stables of Yash Johar or the Rajshris.

Sony's good fortune is that Madhuri is back in the public eye and has also regained her fans courtesy her scintillating performance in the Bhansali epic Devdas along with Aishwarya Rai. The timing of her show seems perfect. Madhuri being the star of the show is a positive, but it is also a negative. The reason: the wannabe groom, the bride, and their parents and relatives fade into insignificance. For any entertainment to work, there has to be interesting interaction, both positive and negative, in the form of agreement and conflict amongst the various actors in the piece of work. Or there has to be one actor who carries the entire piece on his/her shoulders through sheer histrionic brilliance or showmanship.

And Madhuri seemed to be doing that pretty well in yesterday's episode. She flirted with the boy and girl who are being matched and additionally flirted outrageously with the camera, the viewer. As she swayed on the swing with the prospective groom, several hearts must have wished they were with her, in place of the bespectacled Vinod Deshpande.

That's enough reason for people to want to tune in today, tomorrow, day after and for a while. Sadly, the show seemed to move at a leisurely pace, and it got over before you knew it. One expected more out of it and it appears as if not enough excitement has been built into the show, though the programming, marketing and ad sales teams have been working overtime to sell it to viewers and advertisers.

One expected plugs for the show in matrimonial classified columns in newspapers, posters in various marriage bureaus - but none of this was resorted to. Sony Entertainment Television did its bit to ensure that viewers did not tune out during the commercial break. Madhuri pleasantly popped up all of a sudden and exhorted viewers not to go away as they were watching Kahin Na Kahin Koi Hain. An interesting media innovation, no doubt. Advertisers must be pleased with that.

However, will Madhuri do for Sony what Amitabh Bachchan did for Star Plus with KBC? At first glance, it appears she well may. But she will have to come up with her best performance to date. And questions will then be asked - how long can she sustain the energy levels? At the outset, three to six months. After that, Sony would do well to yank it off and bring it back again later.

(These are indiantelevision.com's first episode views. We will keep adding to them as the show progresses over the next few episodes.)