Jassi didn’t get married after all. But Kaun Banega Crorepati was off to an incredibly auspicious start. The host-with-the-most returned in a dapper avataar, took stock of the situation, and immediately plunged into his job. The contestants were often nervous, and almost always in awe of Mr Bachchan. He’s seen making amazing attempts to make his contestants feel at home. When one of them answered a question on Sholay, the Big B added, “I had a small role in the film.” Another contestant’s phone-a-friend screaming out compliments strung together in the form of his films and then finally not being able to answer the question ?“Please introduce me to this gentleman later,” His Wryness told the contestant.
After the deluge, they decided to stay away from the rouge?Zee’s prestigious Kabhi Alvida Na Kehnaa got swept away by the tidal rains in Mumbai. They had to retelecast the premier episode. The second episode that came on a week later had us all confused. The protagonist Veera is so arrogant she makes Scarlett ’Hara look like Shirley Temple. Veera frowns, flares her nostrils, rolls her eyes and sneers at everyone. The guy, Vivan, stands in the pouring Mumbai rain, gives her flowers, fixes her electricity only to have her blow her fuse on him at his birthday party.
A Hindi news channel actually followed Aamir Khan to Locarno for the screening of Mangal Pandey. But the correspondent seemed at a loss about what to ask. Some of the locals, struggling with the English, said more penetrating things about the film than they weren’t really asked.
Star’s shanno Ki Shaadi looks far less shambolic. We’re happy to see the ultra-gifted Divya Dutta back on the medium. She has a way of lighting up the medium. This ugly duckling-turns-a-swan tale will take time to grow on us. But is Shanno supposed to be funny or partially poignant?
It took a while to figure out that the purported mirth of LOC isn’t always funny. The two principal actors, Manoj Pawa and Sanjay Mishra, playing the Indian and Pakistani are uniformly watchable, though their respective spouses need to get themselves new costumes and attitudes to match.
