Indian Idol 10

Two new singers among the top 14 - or rather, two that I heard for the first time - Renu Naggar and Soumya Choudhry ... and another one - Vibhor. These three are to watch out for. As is Salman Ali. I like Avanti too. These are my top picks. As usual, am biased towards the classical singer, so Soumya is my pick for now. Krishnakali was okay, she has a very sweet voice, like Alka Yagnik/ Shreya Ghoshal, so I hope she picks up. Nilanjana was good too.

On a side note, I hadn't heard of most of the singers who came  as 'special guests'!!! Most seemed to be one song wonders - I could be wrong, as I haven't followed BW music closely for some time. 

BARC ratings - 26th July

Impressions

Urban

Colors 418591

Star Plus 373801

Zee TV 361820

SAB TV 341484

Sony TV 330386

Star Bharat 286070

Sony Pal 181321

Star Utsav 179341

Zee Anmol 156429

&TV 124069

Rural

Zee Anmol 559499

Star Utsav 405904

Sony Pal 405547

Rishtey 337599

Star Bharat 305763

Dangal TV 277635

Zee TV 250891

Colors 190110

Big Magic 185771

Star Plus 158828

In the urban area, Colors' Naagin 3 still rules the roost, followed by Zee TV's Kundali Bhagya and Kumkum Bhagya .

In the rural area, Kumkum Bhagya, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma, and Mahek are the most viewed shows.

Impressions

Urban

1.Colors' Naagin-3 9916

2.Zee TV's Kundali Bhagya 7788

3.Zee TV's Kumkum Bhagya 7252

4.SAB TV's Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma 6427

5.Colors' Dance Deewane 6412

6.STAR Plus' Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 6312

7.Zee TV's Ishq Subhan Allah 6001

8.STAR Plus' Kulfi Kumar Bajewala 5925

9.Colors' Shakti-Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki 5687

10.Colors' Roop Mard Ka Naya Swaroop 4634

11.Colors' Ishq Mein Marjawan 4402

12.STAR Plus' Krishna Chali London 4265

13.Colors' Bepanah 4130

14.STAR Plus' Qayamat Ki Raat 4089

15.Colors' Udaan 4077

16.Sony Entertainment Television's Indian Idol 3997

17.Colors' Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka 3541

18.Zee TV's Aapke Aa Jane Se 3513

19.STAR Plus' Ishqbaaz 3455

20.Zee TV's Piya Albela 3166

Rural

Zee Anmol's Kumkum Bhagya 8848

Sony Pal's Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma 6465

Zee Anmol's Mahek 6317

Colors' Naagin-3 5551

Zee TV's Kundali Bhagya 5451

Zee TV's Kumkum Bhagya 5047

Zee Anmol's Ganga 4822

Sony Pal's CID 4578

Sony Pal's Baalveer 4471

STAR Utsav's Rabba Ve 4369 

Rishtey's Bani Ishq Di Meher 4102

Zee TV's Ishq Subhan Allah 3572

Dangal TV's Mahima Shanidev Ki 3359

Colors' Dance Deewane 2948

STAR Bharat's Nimki Mukhiya 2918

STAR Bharat's Jiji Maa 2875

Zee Anmol's Bandhan Janam Janam Ka 2786

STAR Plus' Kulfi Kumar Bajewala 2742

Dangal TV's Dwarkadheesh Bhagwaan Shree Krishna 2692

STAR Utsav's Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai 2689

Salil's tweets 

#TVRising - #Top5 Shows (#Week29): 1. #Nagin3 2. #KundaliBhagya 3. #KumkumBhagya 4. #TMKOC / #YehRishtaKKH / #DanceDeewane 5. #IshqSubhanAllah / #Kullfi Kumarr Bajewala

#TVRising: #Week29 #ColorsTV 163, #StarPlus 145, #ZeeTV 141, #SabTV 133, #SonyTV 128, #StarBharat 111, #AndTV 48

#StarPlus: #SabseSmartKaun 0.8, #MariamKhan 0.9, #HarShaakhPeUlluBaithaaHai 0.7, #Kullfi Kumarr Bajewala 2.7, #KrishnaChaliLondon 1.9, #YehRishtaKKH 2.9, #Ishqbaaaz 1.6, #YeHaiMohabbatein 1.1, #QayamatKiRaat 1.8, #DilHaiHindustani2 0.9

#ColorsTV: #KasamTerePyaarKi 0.5, #SavitriDevi 0.7, #TuAshiqui 1.1, #IshqMeinMarjawan 2.0, #Shakti 2.6, #Udaan 1.8, #Bepannaah 1.9, #Roop 2.1, #SilsilaBadallteRishtonKa 1.6, #DanceDeewane 2.9, #Naagin3 4.5, #MahaKaali 0.9, #Dev2 0.6, #KaunHai 0.9

#ZeeTV: #WohApnaSa 0.4, #Kaleerein 0.8, #Mehek 1.1, #PiyaAlbela 1.4, #KumkumBhagya 3.3, #KundaliBhagya 3.5, #IshqSubhanAllah 2.7, #AapkeAaJaneSe 1.6, #JeetGayiTohPiyaaMorre 0.4, #FearFiles 0.9, #Juzbaat 0.4, #IndiasBestDramebaaz 1.1

#SonyTV: #MereSai 0.9, #VighnahartaGanesh 0.9, #Porus 0.9, #ZindagiKeCrossroads 0.4, #DusKaDum 0.7, #YehUnDinonKiBaatHai 0.6, #YehPyaarNahiTohKyaHai 0.2, #CrimePetrol 0.7, #CID 0.7, #DilHiTohHai 0.4, #IndianIdol Season 10 1.8

1. #StarBharat: #MayaviMaling 0.4, #JijiMaa 1.0, #KyaHaalMrPanchaal 1.0, #NimkiMukhiya 1.2, #SaamDaamDandBhed 0.8, #Musakaan 0.7, #Chandrashekhar 0.4

   2 replies3 retweets31 likes

    
2. #SabTV: #SSPS 0.2, #TenaliRama 0.6, #TMKOC 2.9, #SajanRePhirJhootMatBolo 0.9, #Partners 0.4, #JijajiChhatPerHain 0.7, #SaatPheroKiHeraPherie 0.3

   2 replies7 retweets49 likes

    
3. #AndTV: #BittiBusinessWali 0.1, #Agnifera 0.3, #ParamavatarShriKrishna 0.6, #SiddhiVinayak 0.3, #MitegiLakshmanrekha 0.1, #MeriHanikarakBiwi 0.3, #BhabhiJiGharPeHain 0.7, #HighFever 0.3, #LaalIshq 0.2

Indian Idol 10

Finally I have something to watch on TV ... my old favorite Indian Idol is back. Just caught up with last weekend's theater round where the top 30 were whittled down to top 14 contestants. It should have been top 12 but apparently the singers are so good this time that the judges decided to increase the number to 14. I'm not surprised ... in fact, am very glad ... the quality of singers this time is really good.

Haven't caught all the names yet, but will get them all going forward, and am sure will start developing my own favorites as well. The ones I watched and liked ... Krishnakali and Nilanjana among the girls, Sourabh and Nitin among the guys. A couple more are good too ... will get their names sorted over the next couple of weeks. There is a classical singer as well ... hope he goes further than Shravan did the last season. Indian Idol also gives me a chance to catch up on the new songs going around ... I really must listen to Saavn more often! Or just watch B4U music! 

Sanaya in Switzerland

Sanaya has taken off for a short (sponsored) break in Switzerland with Mohit ... in the middle of the Zindabad shoot. I was puzzled, why the break now ... till I saw the pics of the accompanying camera crew ... so they are doing some sort of promotion for Swiss tourism. I presume this must have been fixed well in advance, hence she had to take the time out. Not a bad deal ... 'taking time out' for a break in Switzerland is pretty cool ... heck, I'd do it any day!!! :)

Posting some pics of San in Switzerland ... she is looking gorgeous and has upped her wardrobe game considerably ... lots of new outfits and accessories. Me likes!

The good news is that Zindabad starts streaming on 26th August. More good news is that the shoot is not yet over ... only half done, according to a tweet from the PH. So it promises to be a fairly long show. Am so glad ... I can't wait to see Sanaya again on screen in a long show ... short films are just not enough!

From the pics and updates, it seems Sanaya is doing a promotion of Switzerland by train ... crisscrossing all over Switzerland by train, as well as doing the most popular tourist destinations. Wonder if she will visit the Lindt chocolate factory ... she did in Italy, and Switzerland is the home of  Lindt ... so banta hai!!! 

Sanju

Watched Sanju yesterday ... Spoilers ahead!

Thoughts on the movie - Ranbir Kapoor is absolutely fantastic as Sanju, he smashes it out of the park with his performance. Vicky Kaushal as his friend, is equally superb, in fact in a few scenes, he overshadows RK. The scene where he gets drunk to pluck up the courage to talk to Sunil Dutt to save Sanjay, is brilliant. Ranbir's acting in the drug scenes, in the scene where he breaks down at his movie premiere, pretty much all through the first half of the movie ... is also brilliant. he has gotten into the character of Sanjay Dutt, not just the physical resemblance, but also the mannerisms, the slouching walk, the dialogue delivery ... the change in body and physique ... amazing. His fear of his father, his struggle to live under his shadow, and the way he pretty much gave up and went haywire ... that would have made a movie of its own. The whole drug addiction phase and how he came out of it, is a good lesson for all youngsters who might be tempted to try drugs ... he was lucky that his father could afford a de-addiction program for him, but many people are not so lucky. But kudos to him that he came out of it, and went the opposite direction - into being a fitness freak.

Paresh Rawal as Sunil Dutt is okay ... I couldn't connect him with Sunil Dutt, but as a father worried about his son and wife, and torn between his son and his own moral compass, he was good. Sonam is bad as usual, her screechy showdown with Sanjay was awful. Dia Mirza as Maanyata was okay ... as I have no idea what Maanyata is like in real life ...  she was the supportive loving wife in the movie, and was okay, but unremarkable ... probably more a fault of the scripting, which didn't give her any opportunity to show much acting skills. Anushka was average as well .. don't know why an A lister actress was needed for the role. Manisha was sweet as Nargis, especially in the song Kar Fateh ... her resemblance to Nargis was strong in the song, not so much in the other scenes.

The second half was about the terrorism tag ... as a story it was good, but since it is based on real life, it felt like a major attempt to whitewash Sanjay Dutt. Apparently Sanjay Dutt was desperate to get rid of the 'terrorist' tag ... in the movie, Hirani made it all about wanting to protect his family, after the threats on Sunil Dutt and his sisters. Also made the contacts with the underworld more based on fear and wanting to keep on good terms with them and not antagonise them, rather than being buddies despite knowing their involvement in the Mumbai blasts, Was Sanjay Dutt really so naiive that he didn't know what they were involved in? The jail scenes were powerful, especially the scene with the overflowing toilet ... yuck!!! He lived in really bad conditions in the jail, especially when imprisoned under TADA ... when you feel bad for him momentarily, but then one really can't sympathise with terrorists and anti-nationals, and he was suspected of being both at the time. The movie tries to build sympathy for him all through the jail scenes, his fear of the underworld, his fear for his family ... as a fictional hero, he would walk away with the sympathy ... problem is, he is not fictional, and the whitewash gets quite blatant.

Just hope Hirani doesn't attempt a similar whitewash for Salman Khan!

But as a movie, Sanju is very good ... very well made, and brilliantly acted. Ranbir Kapoor, take a bow. Vicky Kaushal ... take several. Another movie where the main character has the author backed role, and VK walks away with major applause ... he was brilliant in Raazi, he was great in Lust Stories, and he is absolutely brilliant in Sanju.