At a time when Bollywood celebrities are descending on the small screen, the coming months promise to be a star studded bonanza – especially with ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’ on Colors, and ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony Entertainment Television. Singing and dancing are back with a bang!
‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’, the Indian version of BBC’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and ABC’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’, is back with its fifth season – and the excitement continues unabated. With the exception of Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya, the other contestants belong to the entertainment industry.
The list of contestants includes Darsheel Safary (of Taare Zameen Par), Isha Sharvani and Ravi Kissen from the Hindi film industry. Television actors who are on the list include Gurmeet Choudhry (Punar Vivah), Karan Grover (Yahaan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli), Giaa Manek (Saath Nibhana Saathiya), Meghna Malik (Na Aana Is Des Laado), Pratyusha Banerjee (Balika Vadhu) and Bharti Singh (Comedy Circus). The fifth season of ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’ will see actress Pratyusha Banerjee, known for playing Anandi in ‘Balika Vadhu’, transform from a typical bahu to a glam diva. Apart from Bollywood’s dancing queen Madhuri Dixit, and choreographer-turned-director Remo D’Souza, filmmaker Karan Johar will be the third judge. What does Karan know about dancing, you ask? Well, I am equally clueless!
Meanwhile, ‘Indian Idol’ has roped in Asha Bhonsle as the fourth judge of the popular singing reality show. In the first two episodes, Sunidhi Chauhan, who recently got hitched to music composer Hitesh Sonik, looked charming, and music director Salim Merchant was relatively silent. The relief from Anu Malik’s pedestrian ‘shayari’ was short lived. In the second episode itself, the inimitable Anu Malik and his ‘impromptu couplets’ were back to torment
the viewers.
It seems that sob stories, and tales of courage of the common man, have become a staple on reality shows. ‘Indian Idol 6’ is cashing in on the fact that Indians love emotional stories of struggles endured by small town contestants. As a result, we have a heart-rending tale of a divorcee trying to make it big, a barber’s son dreaming of becoming a famous singer, and a small town businessman struggling to make ends meet while his daughter realises her dream. If highlighting miseries is the new mantra to push TRP’s, brace yourself for more – whether you maango or not!
Finally, how can we not talk about the much discussed leap in ‘Bade Ache Lagte Hai’ on Sony? News is that the show’s storyline will take a leap of about five years, and see both Ram Kapoor and Priya Sharma Kapoor married to other people. Worse, Ram’s second wife will be Priya’s sister Ayesha! Surprised? Well, it is an Ekta Kapoor show after all. If dead men can turn up alive, and grandmothers can outlive the oldest person in the country, then the hero marrying his ex-sister-in-law is hardly surprising.
Apparently, Ram’s stepbrother Siddhant gets Ayesha pregnant, and then breaks off his relationship with her. Ram, being ‘Ram’, does the right thing and marries Ayesha. Do they live happily ever after?
When Ekta launched the show last year, it promised to be a different, ‘mature love story’. It is now a fascimile of any other saas-bahu serial.
Read More...