Downton Abbey ... I missed a few episodes, and am struggling to catch up. Didn't watch this season properly earlier, so have a very hazy idea of the story.
Edith is pregnant, her boyfriend Mr Gregson has disappeared, her aunt decides to take her to France for a few months to have the baby and give it away. Dowager Lady Grantham discovers the truth ... but of course. Nothing much escapes that old lady's eagle eye.
Mary has a surfeit of suitors. Lord Gillingham's valet raped Anna ... and Mary knows. Bates doesn't.
Who is Charles ... need to catch up on that.
Who is the new girl in Tom's life ... need to catch up on that too.
Ganga ... continues to be interesting, as long as the child actors are there, they are both so good! The little girl is excellent, and Sagar is becoming much more likeable. And I'm liking Hiten more and more ... I can understand why he has such a huge fan following.
Will Prabha mami succeed in sending Ganga away for good? Hope not. Is Sagar's dadi having second thoughts about trusting Prabha?
Begusarai ... the interactions and the characters are interesting ... Rekha, the younger brother Bhushan's wife, is very stereotyped, but all the rest, Dadi, her sister, Phulan Thakur and his sons, are not. Neither is Lakhan ... either he is quietly and intensely in love with Poonam, or maybe he is just a product of his upbringing and his society, and is merely possessive. However he is not as backward as his mother, he seems to be more like Phulan Thakur's family, and is agreeable to Poonam attending college ... but under his protection ... and he makes sure the entire college knows that.
Will Poonam rebel because his protection prevents her having a normal college life, making friends etc.? Or will she passively accept the situation, much as she passively accepts most things in her life?
Manjeeta is fiercely loyal to Phulan Thakur ... and Phulan confides to his mother that his success is more due to Manjeeta than to his brother ... hence the gift of 10%. But Manjeeta is mired in the Bihar of old, a society that frowns on wives and daughters - and all girls - having any voice. They are to be seen and not heard ... and seen rarely at that. Phulan Thakur's family is more progressive than Manjeeta, so Poonam, along with her friend Guddi, gets to study.
Rekha will be a stereotypical wicked saas ... if Poonam marries Lakhan at all. Of all the actors, Poonam and Lakhan are the weak ones ... the rest are all good.
Edith is pregnant, her boyfriend Mr Gregson has disappeared, her aunt decides to take her to France for a few months to have the baby and give it away. Dowager Lady Grantham discovers the truth ... but of course. Nothing much escapes that old lady's eagle eye.
Mary has a surfeit of suitors. Lord Gillingham's valet raped Anna ... and Mary knows. Bates doesn't.
Who is Charles ... need to catch up on that.
Who is the new girl in Tom's life ... need to catch up on that too.
Ganga ... continues to be interesting, as long as the child actors are there, they are both so good! The little girl is excellent, and Sagar is becoming much more likeable. And I'm liking Hiten more and more ... I can understand why he has such a huge fan following.
Will Prabha mami succeed in sending Ganga away for good? Hope not. Is Sagar's dadi having second thoughts about trusting Prabha?
Begusarai ... the interactions and the characters are interesting ... Rekha, the younger brother Bhushan's wife, is very stereotyped, but all the rest, Dadi, her sister, Phulan Thakur and his sons, are not. Neither is Lakhan ... either he is quietly and intensely in love with Poonam, or maybe he is just a product of his upbringing and his society, and is merely possessive. However he is not as backward as his mother, he seems to be more like Phulan Thakur's family, and is agreeable to Poonam attending college ... but under his protection ... and he makes sure the entire college knows that.
Will Poonam rebel because his protection prevents her having a normal college life, making friends etc.? Or will she passively accept the situation, much as she passively accepts most things in her life?
Manjeeta is fiercely loyal to Phulan Thakur ... and Phulan confides to his mother that his success is more due to Manjeeta than to his brother ... hence the gift of 10%. But Manjeeta is mired in the Bihar of old, a society that frowns on wives and daughters - and all girls - having any voice. They are to be seen and not heard ... and seen rarely at that. Phulan Thakur's family is more progressive than Manjeeta, so Poonam, along with her friend Guddi, gets to study.
Rekha will be a stereotypical wicked saas ... if Poonam marries Lakhan at all. Of all the actors, Poonam and Lakhan are the weak ones ... the rest are all good.
Dia,
ReplyDeleteFirstly I have to apologise that I cannot share my views on the series mentioned above, its just that I don't watch English series and &TV is not available, I think u already know this.
So can I discuss something else with ur permission,ofcourse.
Let's start with serials right.OK,so I'm basically fed up of all shows that I have been watching.
Asoka-its boring now.hide and seek with dharma continues
I dunno when will it end.only acharya chanakya is good.
YHM-i hate it now.it has become unbearable with ishitas mahaanta.Raman and toshijis ghar ka chirag rant.they are seriously giving out a regressive social msg.and to top it all,the off screen drama of karan and ankita wedding in IF seriously ,can't these people give it a rest?
IKNMP- one big problem,why are the CVS over projecting ronit Roy as some ultimate superhero or something? And that too to people who have seen best of romantic leads like gurmeet,barun,VD,HC and so on.
Some shows that I find currently good are SNS(no head desk pls),gopi vahu is no more the meek one, she can shout, yell,and negotiate with her ahemji,must say devoleena is loads better than gia.
YRKKH,always a pleasure to watch,swaragini,dream girl(to an extent actually, I like shradha arya.)
Now, I was reading YB's ff that u suggested, and I wonder, where's she taking the story?there are very few chances of an arshi Jodi yet.
on starting reading,i didn't like the setting much,poor khushi in the middle of a high class setup.but.its a realistic ff.I like anjali di and jun jeeju there.like said.the surroundings, setup and the characters are difficult to connect with as a reader.in that aspect.I like smitars stories a lot,lovely stories each one of them are.I especially like keeping khushi(although she made a mini YRKKH out of it,still its a beautiful story).do u know any such good arhi ffs like that?
OK,enough of my rant.hope u will giv e a looong reply!
Do share ur views.
Ratna.
Ratna, thanks as always for replying here ... good to see your views.
DeleteDownton Abbey is showing on Star World ... I've watched Seasons 1-4 earlier, but I watched S4 very haphazardly, so I'm now trying to get the hang of the story all over again. A lot of the old characters left, a lot of new ones have come in ... despite limited episodes, weekly episodes and season breaks, the western TV serials seem to have the same issues as the Indian ones :) I like the British dramas much better than the American ones ... American shows have far too much sex and violence and the American writers seem constitutionally incapable of writing dialogues without foul words in every single sentence!!!
I never got to watching Asoka ... I've dropped YHM for the same reason as you, also I hate the negativity and the joke they've made of custody of children ... passing them to each other like ping pong balls. It's ridiculous!!!
Agree with you about Ronit Roy ... he looks so old in the flashbacks, to make him out to be some sort of playboy Casanova is really stupid! He looks quite old in the current day story as well, but he's supposed to be that old, so that's ok ... he has maintained himself well for a 50 year old, but he's nowhere as dashing and smart as they're trying to portray him. And the whole hospital scenario with smuggling Suhani out was ridiculous! I'm watching just for the Suhani story to emerge ... the love story between Ragini and Neil is really not that interesting. They're good actors, Ronit more than Pallavi ... but the kind of chemistry we saw with Arshi or Parud is just not there.
Have stopped YRKKH completely ... I haven't watched it for years. Haven't tried either Swaragini or Dream Girl ... I was put off by the promos of Dream Girl ... don't intend to watch it either.
I read Smitar's stories off and on ... she makes Khushi too dumb and childish for my liking ... but they're usually a pleasant read.
DeleteI liked YB's story to start with but she updates very erratically so am losing interest there. I need stories to be well written ... and she writes well, which was why I started it at all.
Recently found Expel's index ... and will start on her stories ... I prefer reading the complete ones, because most authors update so irregularly that it's difficult to keep the interest up. That's anther reason I like Smitar ... she updates very regularly.
Dia,
DeleteThanks a ton for finding time to reply!
I really never knew the difference between British and American dramas,for me all were just English series!now,that's some sort of enlightenment, I guess.so that means star world airs all British dramas?so where are American ones?on AXN?
Swaragini is a decent watch,much better than dreamgirl.(if u can tolerate Pam's yelling/shagun's screeches, u can definitely sit through the maarwari daadi's sound show),background is Kolkata, the girl playing swara and her mom too are good.u watch TSM,right.the dad there is the dad here too,but of course without a spine,afterall its a rashmi sharma show!
I watch dreamgirl off and on.the lead guy is surprisingly OK,the girl is too OTT.shradha proves that she can do any role ,she managed to break her good girl image and now plays the role of a superstar with grey shades.the show is just OK.
Quite regular with saathiya these days.though there is a generation leap.all the old faces get lion's share of the screen space.and ofc,ahem dikra these days get bagful of dialogues,gone are his monosyllabic episodes. Devoleena is always impressive.though the show still misses rashi.the cast are doing a fine job.I suggest u should watch that episode where gopi reprimands ahem for their daughters' behaviour, u will see how much the old gopi vahu has changed, in fact,with each leap she is becoming more strong. I think it was aired last week.
Who can watch YRKKH regularly?? I dunno.just meant that whenever I catch it.its always a pleasant watch.
I know smitar always makes khushi funny and dumb.but I think khushi was a much stronger character in her ff keeping khushi.u never read it?
Waisey,thanks for suggesting expels ff.will try it.YBs ff,I assume she will take more than 10 years to get arshi married in her ff,if something like that ever happens in her ff.I also like reading complete ffs.
Also an out of the box question,something that I found in Bollywood forum in IF,are starkids(say,like alia,arjun kapoor,ranbir,sonam,sonakshi,varun)really good actors and deserve all awards they get?also,did u ever watch magadheera( in Hindi).do share ur views if u ever watched it.I sort of liked that movie.
OK,more later.waiting for ur reply.
Ratna.
Ratna,
DeleteBack home, and finally got time to reply to your questions :)
Re star kids ... I think opinions on good acting are quite subjective, there are very few actors whom one can say without doubt are excellent actors. Most are good or fair ... the current starkids don't really impress me much, in the sense that I haven't found the 'wow' factor in any of them ... the way I loved SRK or Kajol, and made it a point to follow their movies. If the movies are good, I watch, if they are bad, I don't ... that's it.
Do they deserve the awards they get ... in my opinion, not really ... but then, there is nobody who really does ... so it's a question of finding the best of the lot, I guess. i personally don't think much of Sonakshi at all, Sonam is awful, Alia is okay, Parineeti was good but is repetitive now ... of the guys, I like Ranbir. I'm not a fan of any actor currently ... none of them are good enough. I think the last actor I became a fan of, is Sanaya ... after that, no one else has the spark ... neither BW or TV.
Haven't watched magadheera ... haven't heard of it. What is it about?
Ganga broke my heart today ... so sweet, so accepting, so trusting of Niranjan's words. If he has decided something for her, it must be right. When Niranjan finds out the truth about the 'adoptive' parents, he will be furious ... I hope!
ReplyDeleteGanga today reminded me of Paro ... the same innocence, sweetness and utter trust in her father figure. While Paro's trust was completely unjustified, and Thakur betrayed it knowingly for his own interests, Niranjan is betraying Ganga's trust too, but unknowingly. But does that make things any better for Ganga? Maybe ... because there is a chance for redemption here ... when Niranjan finds out the truth ... as I hope he will soon. While Paro had to fight for herself, as she was completely alone in the world ... not counting mamisa, who wasn't of much help. Paro's 'husband' betrayed her knowingly ... Ganga's sasur left her defenseless and alone.
How important it is for women to be self-reliant!
Hi Dia
ReplyDeleteJust popped in to say hello to everyone.
Waiting for news of Sanaya.
Hope you are all well. Love to all
Lin xx
Hey Lin, good to see you here! Join the gang ... we're all waiting for news of Sanaya!
DeleteHope all is well with you.
Hi Dia et all,
ReplyDeleteHave only been glancing through some of the Hindi serials I watch online like, Kumkumbhagya ( Pragya should get a Nobel prize for her recent medical marvel- for those who don't know what I am talking about- she removed a bullet from her husband's chest, just like that, in a jungle,with a make shift knife type, I don't know what's that, because operation theater, x-rays are all so old fashioned technology you see!! ) Ekta! please you don't even have to be a doctor to figure out how ridiculous the plot that you dished out is..seriously it was tough to even ignore it as creative licence! GOD!!
I am watching Qubool hai too- why? even I can't figure it out!! Maybe to check how far one can destroy and mock her own creation, plus how long is Surabhi going to stick with this? Damn...that's some commitment. I actually applaud her.
Lastly I watch Meri Aashique tumse hi on colors, of course its Ekta's and she is ruining it too in her own style, plus the lead actress does not know to act period, no offence to her fans.
Therefore I am sticking to the few English shows that I like and they are watchable so far.
So Dia, Downtown Abbey has great reviews , I haven't watched any episodes so far nor do I know anything about the story-line, is it really worth a watch.
I was planning to tune in, especially since I heard that they are shooting their last season, so looks like its going to have an end too!
Its fun to read everybody's views here, take care ladies,
More later....
Hey MB, good to see you! Lol ... Ekta maiyya ki jai ... she can ruin the best of concepts ... I'm watching IKNMP and it's gone downhill already. She manages to destroy all her characters and stories sooner rather than later. I'm not surprised about the medical marvels in KB ... IKNMP has even worse ones!!! These people can re-write all the medical textbooks!
DeleteQH ... I haven't watched for ages ... not since the leap ... and I was watching very very erratically even before that. I admire Surbhi for sticking to it ... but sometimes I do feel bad .. if SP had let IPK stay on air, we might have had Sanaya still on screen now... she is equally committed and dedicated, and Gul had a good story planned out for post ASR's death. Oh well ... all water under the bridge now.
Downton Abbey is a great show ... I love period shows and books ... it's like watching my favorite books on screen. It has a huge cast, and stories about different social classes, and their interactions. All the characters are so well fleshed out, all are grey and have their idiosyncrasies ... it's a great watch!
What English shows are you watching? Indian tv is really not interesting without Sanaya ... give some recommendations for English shows please!
IKNMP ... So Ragini and Neil broke up over the stupidest of misunderstandings ... HE can't tell his wife about his ex-girlfriend's illegitimate child, but expects her to accept her baby ... SHE doesn't trust her husband enough to accept his word that the child is not his. So it's okay if Neil's sister and Rupali's sister know the truth, but Neil's wife, who would actually bring up the baby, should not know the truth.
ReplyDelete*Head Desk*!!!! I didn't think much of Neil and Ragini's great 'love' story after the rushed flashbacks ... and after the story of the MU, even less so! Both of them came out in the wrong ... Ragini should have more excuse, because Neil really ddn't have any business hiding the entire story from his wife ... but I don't know whether it was Pallavi's portrayal that was too harsh ... I felt less sympathy for her unreasonable jealousy and firm belief that Neil was the father of the baby, and refusal to trust Neil, even when he repeatedly told her it was not his child. And I don't blame Neil for being angry about Rupali's death and blaming it on Ragini.
Suhani-Neil-Pam scene was very touching ... felt so bad for poor Suhani, the child feeling so unwanted and guilty, that because of her, a marriage broke up. But from the fbs, the marriage wasn't based on a very solid foundation anyway ... so I think Suhani should not feel guilty about that.
dia,
DeleteAnd there goes all our guesses down the drain!thinking suhani as ragini's long lost child.and i found so many missing links in this fb of neil:
WHERE IS PAM in that fb????she had NO ROLE to play,then,why is she the antagonist?
ragini suspected neil JUST LIKE THAT!seems there is more to the story.[more than pallavi's portrayal,i think the fbs were very weakly written]
the so called love story looked so rushed and forced,it didnt look like a love story at all.
hope there is a detailed ragini's version of fb.
waisey,somebody on IF rightly called those fbs COMEDY NIGHTS WITH NIVEDITA BASU!
ratna.
ps:i know u'll be busy,but whenever u find time,do reply to the last 2 qns. posted in my previous comment.
Hi Dia,
ReplyDeleteHmm, looks like I will give Downtown Abbey a try.
As far as English shows I usually like procedural/cop/thrillers like Castle, Elementary, Forever, Person of Interest.
Well try tuning in to Forever , well the concept of a immortal person is far fetched, very imaginative/my husband calls it ridiculous but I feel the people in the west have a talent in pulling out with such plots pretty convincingly, or hey its interesting! ;-) Perhaps its because he is also a doctor in the show or my curiosity in it is doubled! ;-)
Copy pasted the synopsis for you below, in case it interests you.
Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) is a New York City medical examiner who studies the dead for criminal cases, and to solve the mystery of his own immortality. Since his first death 200 years ago while working as a doctor in the African slave trade, Morgan disappears almost immediately each time he dies, and returns to life naked in a nearby body of water. Having also stopped aging, Morgan's long life has given him broad knowledge and remarkable observation skills which impress most people he encounters, including NYPD Detective Jo Martinez (Alana de la Garza). Flashbacks depict events from Morgan's life, during which he has fought in wars and been married, dissected, and hanged for heresy; when he has been exposed, Morgan has fled to somewhere else in the world. Only antiquarian Abe (Judd Hirsch), whom Morgan and former wife Abigail found as a newborn in a German concentration camp during World War II, knows that he is immortal. Morgan is stalked by a murderer, "Adam", who has learned his secret, and claims to have had the same "curse" for 2,000 years.
The story is interwoven very well and you can feel the anxiousness with the main character when they show as though people may discover his secret, he is well know actor and proves his merit.
Also there is a new mini series ( its remake of a Australian series )starring Ryan Philippe among-st other notable actors called Secrets and lies, good story line so far and a minimum episode series which will end- that's good news to me now-a-days!
Living in the US and listening to all the conspiracy theories you know big brother watching us ( and no I am not talking about the TV series!;-)) ), my husband and me used to love watching Person of Interest, so check that out if sci-fi and artificial human intelligence is your kind, but the lately they are beginning to drag the plot and I am slowly loosing interest, I was cautious when I began to watch this show because they are from the same creators from a previous hit show called LOST, it went downhill, and they finally did end the show after few seasons with one the most bizarre ending and was totally disappointing....
The one show I enjoy the most with my husband to date is Amazing Race- a reality contest- show, simply love it 26th season going on right now and we are still watching it!
Also a singing contest called the Voice, I always watch the Blind auditions in the beginning and depending on whether I have few favorite contestants I continue to watch it, but not on a regular basis.
Then I watch Supernatural- love both the Winchester brothers ( the main characters) this show is not main stream but has cult following, but I somehow got attracted to the plot, have been watching it since season 1 when I was just a student in India till now- its on season 9 and haven't missed a single episode! Yup I am a big fan! ;-) If you like horror- ghosts, vampires, goblins, gins, demons, werewolf....anything you have heard of not heard off they are all there fighting it its like westernized Panchtantra or Vikram aur betaal styled tales! :-0
I will certainly let you know if I stumble across anything more interesting TV show wise!