Ketan Mehta

Band of copycats

Given the production quality and sheer amount of money that goes into film and TV in India, and the unquestionable talent of a few of our actors, perhaps it really is time that our most famous producer/directors stopped making blatant copies of incredibly popular Western shows. In very recent times, Ketan Mehta copied 24 almost frame-by-frame and ‘created’ the god-awful Time Bomb 9/11, and now Vinta Nanda wants to remake Desperate Housewives with an Indian cast. Don’t we have enough desperation among the innumerable housewives wailing inside and outside our TV sets? No, apparently, because Ektaa Kapoor, is ripping off the same show as well. It’s clearly time for an Indian TV show called Desperate Producers. An all-star cast is available.

Indira verma, star of kamasutra and Bride and Prejudice, looks international enough not to get offered exclusively Indian roles. She’s now playing Niobe, a wilful, powerful Roman princess in HBO’s new series, Rome.

Fact or fiction

The second part of the Mitrokhin Archives, chronicling Vasili Mitrokhin’s account of the KGB’s dealings in the Third World, has everyone in the country foaming at the mouth. But whether the book is spy fact or spy fiction, one thing’s for certain; it’s a very good read. Intrigues, gadgets, assassinations ? good stuff. There are two chapters on India, full of details like “The Indian embassy in Moscow was being penetrated by the KGB, using its usual varieties of the honey trap. The Indian diplomat PROKHOR was recruited?with the help of a female swallow, codenamed NEVEROVA” and stories of suitcases, full of money, but there’s a lot more as well ? Cuba, Africa, Pakistan. Read the book, and try not to take it personally ? it’s a huge window into the Cold War. It’s interesting, though, that no one complained about the accuracy of the information in the first part of the Archives.

Romanian Parliament

Tale from Romania

India finally has real competition in its favourite sport, ridiculous Parliament scenes. This week, Romanian MPs had to sit in Parliament with umbrellas after rain started leaking through the ceiling of the Palace of Parliament, famous monument to former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s megalomania. This calls for a joint session of Parliament to figure out our next stunt.

Bill’s bhangra

Tired of people screeching past you in cars playing bhangra music at full volume? Just be glad you’re not trapped inside Microsoft’s Project Gotham Racing, a game that will be launched with Xbox 360 this winter. The game will feature five bhangra tracks by British bhangra label Nachural. It’s the first time bhangra tracks have been used in a game, so there’s reason to be proud, I guess, and will certainly leave a lot of desi gamers unable to distinguish between art and life. What next? Rabbi playing the soundtrack of Sims 3? Doom 4 with Rabindra Sangeet?

AWARD OF THE WEEK

To Andy Flintoff, for claiming he got shot on the field in Delhi and said nothing, in an age where teams cancel tours on security grounds if people look at them strangely.