Serial Kicker
At last the clouds have gathered and rains are imminent. The last one week has been particularly bad. Power situation dipped to an all time low, and all we heard through the black outs were news of one or the other power-station tripping and packing up.
I have become a certified couch potato; or rather a ‘bed’ potato since my television is in the bedroom. After missing of television for more than a year, I took to watching it with a vengeance. But most viewing is restricted to movies and songs channels, with an occasional foray into news ones. To my horror I discovered that all the money spent on collecting DVD’s last year was sheer wastage since those movies keep repeating themselves ad nauseum. For example, I can puke now if someone so much as mentions the thought of watching No Entry – a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed earlier. Other than Sahara telecasting it alternatively on its both channels (Filmy and Sahara One) every other week, my cable-wallah has also gone overboard there. In fact, my cable-guy has a strange habit of showing those very same films a couple of days earlier that would in any case be shown on Max or Filmy the same week!
I have an aversion towards all currently running serials. Nay, I absolutely abhor the entire Zee-Sony-Star Plus nexus, with the hatred targeted more towards the last one, whom I hold responsible for starting the trend of those horrifying saas-bahu serials. I can’t stand any program on Star Plus – every one of them, even that supposedly ‘different’ game show Jodi Kamaal Ki, seems to have similar look with bright gaudy colors and heavily dressed up ladies ready to burst into copious tears at any given instant. Even though I am not a football freak, but honestly I can kick anyone from Star’s programming department with a force that can get me a place in the next World Cup!
The only good thing that ever came out from the Star-stable was The Great Indian Laughter Challenge Contest.. I had missed the first season, but was able to watch a large bulk of the second one. Opinions may differ on whether Rauf Lala deserved the crown or not, but I personally feel that the entire toppers lot including Khayali, Rajeev, Pratap Faujdar, the Pakistani jodi and, my personal favorite, Dr Tushhar were mindblowingly excellent! Together, they made Friday evenings funny and entertaining.
After lambasting serials, I have to sheepishly confess that I started watching one with great interest. But then, Akela doesn’t seem to be your usual fare. There is heavy inspiration from M Night Shayamalan’s The Sixth Sense where the basic premise is concerned, but otherwise it seems to be on a different track. The biggest relief? Any chances to slip into the saas-bahu syndrome were nipped in the bud with the mothers of both the hero and heroine dead in the first episode itself. Phew! I am keeping my fingers crossed that their ghosts will not start wearing outlandish bindis and scheming against each other to the tune of electronically generated swoosh-and-boom background score. Plus, the serial – like good ol’ days – will be aired once a week; that way, it’s easier to follow, and of course, it avoids overkill.
Sudhanshu (Band of Boys, Yakeen) Panday plays the protagonist. He may not be the greatest actor around, but his personality and physique suit the role. Plus, I have seen Yakeen and bits of Pehchaan: The Face of Truth, and I feel there is a raw honesty in his performances reminiscent of Jackie Shroff in his younger days.
Speaking of Jackie Shroff, what has he done to himself? Unlike his colleague Anil Kapoor, Jackie never exhibited the Machiavellian go-getter capacity. But at least he can take good care of his looks and locks! Since he never had the qualms to graduate to father roles, I am sure things wouldn’t be so hard up for him that he is forced to act in inane Z-grade flicks like Bhoot Unkle!
Well, the clouds have darkened further, and any moment the welcome pitter-patter of rains will be heard. My player has also propititiously moved to ‘Yeh mausam bheega bheega hai, hawa bhi kuchh zyada zyada hai’ from Dharti. And before we have another power cut, let me publish this.
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July 9th, 2006 at 11:14 am
Mein Aa Gaye
July 9th, 2006 at 11:20 am
ahaan….tv post
We still have to buy a Set Top Box …so as of now guzara kar rahe hai kuch 50 free channels se…half of them are tamil…telgu….ones…
but shukar hai Discovery T&L aata hai…n Zee music….
I loved Dr Tushar n Pratap Faujdaar in the Grt Indian Laffter Challenge Dwitiya…
So all ready to take part in the next World Cup in South Africa??
July 9th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Haha…i can understand about TV.
it really is so boring these days.
the most entertaining channel is Aaj Tak.
All their breaking news r so masaledar…( no news…just masala)
And i voted for Dr.Tushar too ….. he was good and subtle…
As for movies…havent seen a good Hindi one since long time..just catching onto all English ones. and that also…download..burn and watch….
July 9th, 2006 at 1:05 pm
The cablewallahs across the country follow this rule of showing 2-3 days before exactly the pictures that are gonna be played on any of the channels. They do the same with English movies too.
Good to know its finally raining in Delhi.
July 9th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
lol….aur deepak jee kaise ho? kya brother…bagal mein rehte ho par abhi tak no blogger’s meet!
kaun hai aapka cablewala….Sumit cable ya Cable Vision?:P
July 9th, 2006 at 8:48 pm
MEHAK - Gold aapka
Oh you need set top box there? Thank God we dont hv that rigmarole, there was some hue and cry about it earlier, but it died its natural death. Waise, u must be watching Jaya TV and Sun TV there 
Yeah both Faujdar and Dr Tushhar were great.
VICKY - He he , i know about Aaj Tak, but I think the best ‘tabloid’ one is still Star News
All work and no play? Not fair. See some movies - Krrish is pretty entertaining.
BHAGYA - Oh, toh yeh sab cablewalloh ki problem hai … yeah, it rained, but itni mariyal si rain hai ke its a dhabba on monsoons. Plus, its increased humidity multifold! Ok, ok, i shud stop cribbing now. Something is better than nothing :p
VAIBHAV - LOL, yeah, karrte hain meet jaldi hi. We have Sumit cable.
July 9th, 2006 at 8:52 pm
U r there watching Laughter Challenge “Dwitya” and here in UAE, the Star Plus is showing Season 1 of the same…
just saw the famous “Paichan Kon” aired last week.. have u heard that? It is Hilarious……..
Has it started raining there?
July 9th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
KJ Oh, Star Plus there is ancient
What’s ‘Paichon Kon’? Not heard of it. Yep, it drizzled the entire day today 
July 9th, 2006 at 9:19 pm
jaya & sun TV zindabad…zindabad…:P
July 9th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
MEHAK LOL!
July 9th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
Aha…well its a ritual at my place to hear the rona-dhona of K-serials…hear i say coz its the loud noise that comes from my parents room! Was there any doubt that you are NOT a couch/bed potato?…Well cable guys are known to ruin the movies…the same trend is followed by my cable guy. THe worst was that one day he was showing some shady bihari sorta movie
As of now Akela does seem to come across as something different from the regular stuff. Lets see for how long they keep it that way!
It rained n then its all sticky now!
The Laughter Challenge indeed was a welcome break n my personal favorites were Khayaali, the monkey guy(forgot his name) n lots others!
July 9th, 2006 at 9:39 pm
ANZ - Oh yes, same here. And what u know? My mom also keeps filling me on the storylines sometimes, so I know that Anurag (Kasauti Zindagi Ki) has solemnized yet another marriage! The way they keep rotating marrying and rotating their wives is amazing. And then they have these twenty year jumps, so by this time they should have become science fictions
LOL@shady Bihari movie. Waise, i can watch any type of movie
Yeah, Akela we have discussed offline.
Sticky? It’s horribly sticky. Reminds me Ultapulta Nitin’s FM prog (Radio Mirchi) on chip-chipa thingie…hehe…
July 9th, 2006 at 9:59 pm
No thankfully my mom knows im pretty aversive to all this stuff so she stays off it with me at least…but seriously they beat everything marrying n then remarrying n then remarrying the same person n still hating each other….WEIRDOS!!! n about those jumps by then they actually would belong to some prehistoric era!!!
Yea i am aware u can watch nething
ACtually wanted to say chip-chip only haha
July 9th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
ANZ - Arre u r lucky then. And chip chipa , LOL
July 10th, 2006 at 1:39 am
can relate to the ‘bed potato’ feeling.. since my broadbands gone cuckoo n im stuck with dialup, iv been watching quite a bit of tv.. nothin in particular, but alot of channel switching!
have fun!!
July 10th, 2006 at 10:04 am
mmm…moved to separate domain…its cool now….
Cheers!
:)
July 10th, 2006 at 10:49 am
lucky u to be able to escape sappy soaps and nasty news channels!
July 10th, 2006 at 11:57 am
Hey … I was hoping Dr. Tushar or Raja aur Rancho would win the Laughter… but they didn’t .Anyway I saw Akela and though I feel it is different I am not sure how these ppl will progress with the story.
July 10th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
So you are also a “K” lover
…
There were a ‘Serical Killer’ and a ‘Serial Kisser’ and now you tuned into a ‘Serial Kicker’ LOLz. If you wanna chance to kick the serials, I give you first direct penalty to kick the serial is KSBKBT, of Star and rest others “Kkkkkkkkkkkkk” would follow accordingly. Kyon Ki Baa is still alive, even she has seen five generations!!! Strange!!! How many generations she would see in her life ……Wondering….. She is still young (as same as when she was Dadi) whereas she became pardadi and par-pardadi (I don’t know what called in Hindi, but we called Jujubajai) My ignorance reminded me saying of my Maa - Teen nani main na jaani……
July 10th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
I can’t say about the ‘couch potato’ but hearing all about your love for TV
I’s sure about one thing and that’s ‘Punch Potato.” 
“Jodi Kamal kee” for that I’ve a post coming up on the second episode
.
After a long game Laughter Challenge Contest was really a good program in Star.
July 10th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
I was feeling relief hearing that finally it rained in Delhi
. When it was raining you should have sung the song…..’Megha re Megha mat pardes tu jaare ….” then might the rain would stay there and would not come here….:P… It’s raining here 
. (Making you jealous.)
What is this DJ you really have turned into DJ of Delhi from DJ of KTM. Koi dhang ka post nahin likh rahe ho… Tum bhee bas TV, TV ka hee raag alaap rahe ho…..News channalon kee tarah. TV ke alawa Delhi men aur bhee bahut kuch hai batane ko.
Hope next post will be something something something different…..
July 10th, 2006 at 4:28 pm
New post “DeewanoN ki baaten Deewana hi Jaane”
but after reading it don’t call me crazy gal
as you know how crazy I’m 
July 10th, 2006 at 7:04 pm
It rained & rained …weather a so pleasant here now .. that a few days back, I couldn’t even imagine that it could ever be so pleasant in Delhi…Read your post ..nice one .. but, I delibrately try not to watch TV..so can’t comment much on it ..
May the weather remain the same for a few more days atleast.. & we don’t have to face that scroching heat & intolerale humidity…atleast for a few more days ….
July 10th, 2006 at 11:44 pm
hey dj…couch potato?? sounds good…sigh. how are things?
July 11th, 2006 at 8:42 am
REEMA - Yeah channel surfing is the best
Hope u get ur broadband up and running soon.
VISHNU - Warm welcome to this space as well
ANKS - Seems u get forced to see them
Hope u not learning anything nasty from them 
AINDRILA - A very very warm welcome to my blog. Hope you enjoy here and will be a regular. Yes, Dr Tushhar was my fav too. Let’s see how Akela progresses, today is the second ep.
SILKY MOON - Ha ha, Baa is still alive? Didnt know that, I heard Mom telling that her role will be over soon. No, I m not a ‘K’ lover, as I hvnt till now consulted any numerologist
Yep, its raining here now 
And, will be there at your blog soon.
NAVJOT - Yep it did. And it was such a relief! Now I also pray that it carries on for a few more days. Arre bhai, kabhi kabhi tv dekh liya karo, making fun of it is entertainment in itself
RS - He he he, yeah I just hope not to get the shape of a potato
Otherwise, things are status quo!
July 11th, 2006 at 10:19 am
hey sirji, so the only thing that is progressing is your waistline but inspite of this side-effect I really envy you. the laughter challenge is one show that I watch and love Dr. Tushhar irrespective of the gujju connection. Actually with my in-laws i am witness to the various kasautis that ekta forces in Kasauti zindagi ki and another show virasat which follows it. They are pathetic but I enjoy the total senselessness of both. i might try to catch up Akela tonite, i like the guy sudhaanshu pandey, looks good on screen and even better in person.
waise what happened to the scandal, I am waiting. from my side i will hopefully be sending you an email today. aur batao, dilli must be plesant now, its pretty nice here too.
July 11th, 2006 at 11:52 am
I don’t watch but while flickering the channels I came to know that kids of Gautam, Karan and Sahil’s now no more milktotlers but became beer-tootlers. I mean they have joined colleges but Baa is still there!!! Oh so now Baa ke din pure ho rahe hain. Toh phir rona-dhona ke scene anewale hai. LOL.
You know that I do not watch the serials but now I stopped watching TV too. I think I’m bored by surfing the channels.
July 11th, 2006 at 12:47 pm
tv serial dekhe to jaise sadiyan beet gayi.
July 11th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
PRIYANGINI - Actually no, the waistline is not increasing as i m doing brisk walks daily
LOL@ur own kasautiis. And you actually watch Virasat! The promos , with a sneering and snarling Aman Verma, were pretty off putting. Poonam Saxena, who does the TV review every Sat at HT, was pretty amusing when she wrote that if only Aman could wear noodle straps and heavy bindis, he wud merge with the Komolikas of the tv world so well 
Plus, I cant stand that female Sangita Ghosh. So u hv met/seen Sudhanshu Panday? Scandal, abhi ghisat ghisat ke chal raha hai. Wrote a page today. Yep, Dilli is pleasant and nice.
SM -
I cant stop watching tv, coz i luv watching films there.
RED - Dont worry u r nt missing anything great as such
And welcome to this space. Good to see you back. Kya haal hain? Kahan rahe itne din?
February 19th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
its all abt the customers demand whatthey wan & what we r providing to them
October 27th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Hi this is Anil Kumar from karachi Pakistan this program is mine favirote.