TV This Fortnight
Still following ...
Ek Boond Ishq
Gustakh Dil
Khelti Hai Zindagi Aankh Micholi
Also watching (more erratically)
Jodha Akbar
Anyone watching KBC, 24 and Comedy with Kapil? I'm watching KBC as often as I can ... always love quiz shows. I caught the KBC episode with Kajol, my favorite actress and enjoyed it thoroughly. She retains her spunk and zest for life, and is as bindaas as she was ... no one else could ask Amitabh Bacchhan if they can change their answer after they've locked it! Also I admire this lady ... after her retirement, she's doing something useful and trying to give back to society, with her association with the Lifebuoy campaign.
24 is going well ... a very good adaptation for Indian TV. I especially enjoy the political scenario here, well adapted and very easily recognizable! :))) Anil Kapoor is doing well, so is Mandira Bedi and the rest. Interesting to see Shabana Azmi here in a meaty role ... the lines between BW and TV have really blurred, and more and more BW actors seem to be crossing over to the other side. Saw a clip in SBS about Jaya Bachhan also coming in a fiction show soon. Amitabh Bacchhan is already doing one on Sony. ANd of course, so many TV actors crossing over to BW this year and doing quite well.
Comedy with Kapil is enjoyable as always.
Still following ...
Ek Boond Ishq
Gustakh Dil
Khelti Hai Zindagi Aankh Micholi
Also watching (more erratically)
Jodha Akbar
Anyone watching KBC, 24 and Comedy with Kapil? I'm watching KBC as often as I can ... always love quiz shows. I caught the KBC episode with Kajol, my favorite actress and enjoyed it thoroughly. She retains her spunk and zest for life, and is as bindaas as she was ... no one else could ask Amitabh Bacchhan if they can change their answer after they've locked it! Also I admire this lady ... after her retirement, she's doing something useful and trying to give back to society, with her association with the Lifebuoy campaign.
24 is going well ... a very good adaptation for Indian TV. I especially enjoy the political scenario here, well adapted and very easily recognizable! :))) Anil Kapoor is doing well, so is Mandira Bedi and the rest. Interesting to see Shabana Azmi here in a meaty role ... the lines between BW and TV have really blurred, and more and more BW actors seem to be crossing over to the other side. Saw a clip in SBS about Jaya Bachhan also coming in a fiction show soon. Amitabh Bacchhan is already doing one on Sony. ANd of course, so many TV actors crossing over to BW this year and doing quite well.
Comedy with Kapil is enjoyable as always.
Enjoyed Gustakh Dil last night ... for the first time, I liked Ayesha. Her expressions of mingled guilt, regret and silent apology to Lajjo were very good, also liked the way she is not shown to become Lajjo's champion straight away, but will probably change slowly in her attitude. Also like the way Lajjo looked at Ayesha ... the actress is good, and impresses me every time I watch her. Nikhil's character is sweet, and the actor is decent too. Altogether a very likeable couple. The makers are slowly turning Ishaana more and more grey. Nikhil's parents are also well written ... I liked the way they both noticed that Ayesha was not her normal self, and her mom went to her to try to find out what was wrong.
ReplyDeleteI still find Tara very annoying ... although the makers are trying to justify her 'revenge' on Mrityunjay by showing flashbacks of all the times he harassed her, yet somehow she is coming across as very petty. Or maybe the actress is not able to convey more ... it really is not easy to portray bubbly without coming across as silly. Tara obviously has an underlying subconscious trust in MJ, now that she knows he is not only her husband, whom she suspected of trying to kill her, but also is her friend who saved her every time. So she subconsciously knows that he will never really harm her, which is why she now feels so confident in playing all these silly games with him. But that is not coming across. Instead she is coming across as childish and petty. Don't know whether it is the actress or the screenplay and the use of flashbacks which is at fault.
ReplyDeleteWatched Tumhari Pakhi ... the girl looks really old! Also find her character very badly written ... a small town girl is so poised and confident that she can slip easily into a high society gathering and not turn a hair? Seemed pretty unbelievable to me ... she will obviously be the perfect SP bahu from the very start of the show. No layers to her character at all.
ReplyDeleteThe guy, Anshuman on the other hand is interesting ... a rather slippery character, who likes to put on a mask of being good, while inside he is very different. Double faced fellow ... so the story seems pretty predictable as of now, Pakhi will slowly win over everyone, and finally her husband ... maybe not too slowly, as she is already pretty perfect.
Though I did like Anshuman's brother-in-law, he's cute and obviously knows the two-faced and rather superficial nature of both his wife and his BIL.
Pathetic Make Up! There is something with the Life OK transmission...the clarity is very poor- even HD looks bad. And Paakhi's Make Up is the worst I have seen so far on any of the shows.
DeletePaakhi is a tourist Guide and has interacted with all kinds of people...so I found the society part acceptable. So far I have liked the BIL the most. Iqbal Khan is so so...
If this is from the PV team, the love story will be just superficial...the side characters are always more interesting. Liked the layers in the male lead, as you pointed out, Dia. The story still looks interesting.
yes, the heroine looks old.. that is because she is old. kinda reminds me of juhi chawla in phir bhi dil hai hudustani.
DeleteHey, Juhi Chawla is much prettier!!! She's so cute ... I love that ever-present twinkle in her eye! This girl is nowhere near her! :)))
DeleteSmall town guides are not used to interacting with high society. If she had been working in a five star hotel in a small town, I would have found it easier to swallow! I found the way she was totally confident in such a different milieu, very unbelievable ... a new bride, surrounded by strangers in a new city, and pitchforked into the limelight ... however confident the girl, a trace of nervousness, a touch of uncertainty in a new place, would have been much more believable. Maybe she couldn't convey that well enough.
But yes ... worth a watch for now ... let's see how it goes. PV was pretty much same old stuff, a girl slowly winning over her in-laws family, complete with the scheming vampish bua and MIL. I guess this will go the same way.
DeleteI liked Kritika there though ... whatever little I saw of that, and the kids were cute. Here the BIL is cute ... and Anshuman is interesting. I've seen the sister somewhere earlier ... anyone has any clue?
Kuch toh log kahenge, Dia. Does that ring a bell :-)
DeleteI am a tubelight!!! Yes, of course, Kuch Toh Log Kahenge! Sh wasn't that great there, whatever little I saw ... she isn't that great here too.
DeleteWhen Ekta Kapoor decides to do it well, she simply does so with style...
ReplyDeleteIf U can look beyond all the silly time leaps....when she gets to tell a story, she does it well...until they get married, and confess their love to each other, that is...
Enjoying the new love story in Pavitra Rishta- Archana's grand daughter offered a marriage of convenience with her Autistic Boss....a track written well so far.
JA: Fell flat with Jodha's pseudo pregnancy track.
I noticed one thing. None of us are discussing any of the SP shows!
Caught a promo of Mahabharat: Arjun looks OK compared to the other actors so far...Navya's Anant? Their promos are so good. I wonder how the actual serial is...I watched an episode of Gandhari...was not impressed. BR Chopra's take had such an awesome cast.
Completely unrelated but really heartwarming, keep tissues handy:)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHGDN9-oFJE
yeah.. this has been viral across my fb wall for a few weeks now.
Deletecan we just take a moment and notice the fact that it is the granddaughter who takes the initiative from india? gender roles,and female freedom, have improved a lot in india(as a result of freely available education, i guess).. and i feel google salutes that. kudos.
Yep, I've seen this too ... kudos to the makers.
DeleteOn a different note, but equally enjoyable ... SRK and his wit. A bit long, if you're in the mood for a good read.
http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/column-shah-rukh-khan-sheds-some-light-on-the-mysteries-behind-scorpions-and-scorpios-1920734
roflmao that was seriously the funniest thing i've read this week.. maybe the scorpio in me identifies with his pov.
Deletethanks for sharing, dia!!
i was watching DDEJ by chance one evening.. and what happened? antara marries our akaash bitwa to take revenge on raghu(after knowing that raghu killed her father)... and Satya tells her on the wedding night... (yeah, yeah) "i wont touch you, i'll sleep on that sofa, but outside this room, we will act as a happily married couple. " gosh the twinkle in akshay's eye when he says that dialogue... i could smell the ipk prankster's tribute to his old show! anyway, did not catch the rest of it, but i have to say, akshay is in his element, as an antihero!
ReplyDeleteEBI ... currently feel like slapping Tara .... the writers need to get her character sorted out before it's butchered completely. Is she just out for petty revenge ? Has she not stopped to think that she thought her husband was bent on killing her, but her 'friend' saved her every time, and they are both the same person, so she needs to find out why? Does she subconsciously know now that MJ will never really hurt her, so she can be as petty as she likes?
ReplyDeleteAt one time, she says she wants him to suffer the way she did, at another moment, she says she wants the truth ... did she ever try to talk to him, to ask him why he played the double role?
The writers need to sort out her character ... if viewers can't sympathise with the female lead, the show can't connect.
GD is going well ... the lead pair is cute, and the actors are all decent. Liked Ayesha and even Ishaana yesterday ... I thought Ishaana was going the vamp way, but it seems she might turn out to be more like IPK Lavanya. Which will be really nice.
ReplyDeleteDon't like the new housekeeper, Sheila. The earlier actress was better. This one is comic.
Pakhi starting to go pretty much saas bahu way ... household against Pakhi, husband spineless, Pakhi picture perfect. Only difference is that Pakhi is somewhat like Chhanchhan ... confident and not fazed easily, and also well educated and internet savvy. Chhanchhan was a city girl, so that was to be expected ... am still wondering how Pakhi, a supposedly small town girl, is so cool in her new surroundings, she looks like she has been married for years.
ReplyDeleteDidn't see much of it, it's not really riveting as of now.
Didn't catch much of Paakhi...except for the promo...
ReplyDeletePaakhi had taken a foreign tourist's snap on her phone/ cam and had promised to email it...the guy had expressed surprise that a small town girl would know all this, and she had enlightened him that in India, every town is internet savvy...
The promo left me wondering where they were going with all this...just not in the mood for a saas bahu drama now.
Mohit joining QH....as a new character...Vikrant could be quitting for a movie....memories of IPK times...thankfully, not the leads this time...
I am really happy for Mohit...if he gets paired opposite Archana it will be fun to watch two couples pitted against each other in two channels...lol. Won't happen, I guess...apparently, he could be for Humeira.
Happier for San that her boy friend is not sitting jobless. The role is supposed to be good.
ohh...happy for Mohit!! :) :) actually I am glad Mohit-San are not paired together...I am very superstitious abt the fact that off-screen couples cannot create a good chemistry on-screen... maybe I am wrong abt this, but I guess this has been a pretty consistent observation...
DeleteMJHT was different, they hadn't really officially gotten together, so IMO, most of the chemistry that was created was their personal feelings towards each other..esp in the second season.. now, things re different..
anyway, glad that he got something.. :) hope the Mohit fans will divert their attention from Sanaya's success and leave her alone.. now concentrate on his success instead.. :)
and the character sounds interesting too... :) will def catch up to see how he manages to pull it off... :) I really hope success goes his way...he is such a nice human being..he deserves this! :)
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqZVjTcNFyI&feature=youtube_gdata
DeleteMohit's interview about his character... :) I personally feel he has matured a lot.. he was always very careful in choosing his words, but now he has matured a lot...and I like his long hair.. :P I think he looks much older in this and not the choclate boy that he was.. :P
here's hoping that both of them get their individual success... :) :) *keeping fingers crossed*
Mohit speaks well, he sounds grounded ... haven't seen this iv, but I did see some byte on SBS, I think. I'm glad he finally stopped waiting for a lead role and took something smaller ... it's much better to be part of a hit show, even if second lead, than sit waiting jobless for that big break that never comes. Plus he really is not a good enough actor to carry a show as solo lead. And he needs to brush up his acting skills too, which he won't do by sitting at home. Akshay was basically a wallflower in IPK, and he is doing so much better in DDEJ, though even he is not that great an actor ... but just by being part of a hit show, he landed himself some good roles. Hopefully Mohit will do the same ... at least, he can be sure QH won't go off air within three months, so he will be seen on screen, even if he doesn't have much screen space. Though if Vikrant Massey leaves, then Mohit's role will become bigger ... which will be good for him!
DeleteBut I don't like his long hair!!!!
Hello all,
ReplyDeleteHow is everybody? Well, I have been really busy these days with work and lots happening on personal front as well... I am getting married in about a month and half's time... (well since I am not in India, I can't do much abt it now, but still.. :P) and so, will be MIA for a long time...
anyway, for all those who are interested, star has uploaded all the old shows of starone when it was first launched like "hotel kingston", "special squad", "guns and roses"...in their channel on youtube "star classics" ... :) :) its soo fun to see all of them again... they were truely unique in concept, each one of them and has nice actors... esp Hotel Kingston...
do catch them when you get the time, if you haven't watched them, I strongly recommend them... :)
Hey madsssss ... *hugsssss*
DeleteCongratulations!!! When is the big day?! When are you coming to India? I'm in Mumbai now, let's try to meet ... although I know you will be REALLY busy!!!! Will you be going back to Germany after marriage?
I remember watching Hotel Kingston on Star Utsav ... it was quite an interesting show. Don't have the time to catch up on any of the old shows now ... I barely manage to watch 2-3 shows on TV these days ... don't know where the time goes!
Take care and message me your plans! All the best with the planning and the wedding!
Enjoying GD ... the lead actors are very cute, especially the girl ... I always have to like a heroine if I latch on to a show, and I like Lajjo, both the character and the actress. Lajjo doesn't sit moping and crying in a corner, she is cheerful and gets on with life, whatever lemons it throws at her.
ReplyDeleteAlso I was happy the way they showed how she knew to give sublingual NG to Samrat chacha ... because she had worked with a doctor in a dispensary ... for once, the medical facts were more or less in place.
Nikhil is slowly beginning to enjoy her uncomplicated smiling company and her incessant chatter, even though he gets fed up with it, but he can tell her that to her face without being worried she will go into a fit of the sulks, or worse, make him apologise and make amends like Ishaana does.
Ishana on the other hand, is slowly beginning to see more than Nikhil does ... see that Nikhil takes his responsibility towards Lajjo very seriously, and more, that he doesn't seem to mind doing so, or feel in the least resentful about it.
Liked Ayesha lashing out at her mom and Nani ... she hasn't told them the truth about her escapade and Lajjo's role in it, but she is also conscious of the fact that it was Lajjo who saved her. Glad they're taking that change of heart very slowly ... it's interesting to watch.
Another interesting byplay today was between Barkha's brother and his wife.
Lajjo's mother ... don't know what her husband and kids felt, but she drove me nuts with her constant grumbling and shrieking throughout her scenes!
EBI ... getting interesting again now that some secrets are starting to emerge ... although Tara is the weak link in the acting department. The actress is not conveying any depth in her scenes at all. Compared to Viraf, she falls flat in most, and her character is not very well written either, it vacillates between inane and silly on one hand, and regular soap heroine on the other.
ReplyDeleteViraf continues to impress, especially in his silent scenes. VP is as usual excellent and Kalavati is completely hateful.