First newspapers and now TV channels. Zing TV of the Zee Network plagiarizes from India’s fashion blog, High Heel Confidential [hat tip: Naina Kataria].

Tsk tsk…now that’s fugly.

Even the whole premise of the show is not that interesting. Basically it is family and friends playing Alok Nath & Reema Lagoo from multiple Sooraj Barjatya movies finding a suitable jeevan-sathi for the single person in question. The couple marries and then allows CBS to make money off of their arguments on who gets to take the trash out or what color the walls should be.

The Desk Jockey finds much in common between the new reality show on CBS and aspirations of the Ram Sena. Stimulus-vimulus; St.Valentine can singlehandedly bring us out of the recession – creating nutjobs.

The other soap opera was halfway between hippie and lala. Like I said, these things are intersecting stereotypes on a Venn Diagram rather than properly mutually-exclusive-collective-exhaustive categories. So anyway this one is about a star kid who’s being launched by his bigger movie star (or maybe director or producer) dad. Now being a movie star is as hippie as it gets, but if you’re being launched by your dad than lala fundaes come into play again.

With India getting a healthy dose of liberalization, you would expect some corresponding change in television programming, no? Alas! Aadisht finds scant evidence of yuppie (young urban professionals, if you must ask) offerings on Indian television.

Rashmi is sickened by the serial Ballika Vadhu which airs on Viacom 18’s Colors. A cutesy story about child marriage? Revolting indeed!

The show is essential about Anandi, an 8 year old girl who is married (yes, MARRIED) and enters her sasural. The episode I caught was all about how her ‘husband’ (a little boy called Jagdish) wants to send her back home because his mother and everyone else seems to love her more than him now.

While sasuma puts Anandi to sleep by telling her stories about rajkumars, Jagdish goes to his terrace in search of a falling star. Because he has heard that if you see one, your wish comes true. And his wish is ki woh chuhiya ghar wapas chali jaaye.

The reality show Splitsville falls from grace as it starts packaging sleaze and viciousness to grab TRPs.

The only possible explanation I can think of is that viewers of such kinds crave for two things – humiliation (of others) and skin show. And Splitsvilla happens to suffice both these urges. 20 something girls going all the way – from dressing low to flashing their bulbs assets, from back stabbing to in-front of the camera ridiculing one another, from belly dancing to bathroom tub caressing – they are letting nothing hold them back.

RGV ki Sholay jo Aag se Badhkay
A “making of” show which provides a behind-the-scenes look at each new re-make of Sholay Ram Gopal Varma produces and directs

If Ekkkkta Kkkkapoor’s Mahabharat can go on air then as Overated Outcast suggests, there is hope for plenty more [hat tip: Book Buddha].

Jai Arjun is in top form as he reviews the first episode of Ekta Kapoor’s Mahabharata.

Most of the script is in shudh Hindi [...] but pronunciation definitely needs to be worked on. For instance, someone must quickly inform the actor playing Duryodhana that it’s “gadaa-dhaari Bhima”, not “gadha-dhaari Bhima”. The former means “mighty Bhima, wielder of maces”, which sounds very grand, but the latter translates into the much less impressive “mighty Bhima, carrier of donkeys”. This has the effect of further diminishing the dignity of a character who doesn’t have a huge amount of it in the first place.

Hilarious stuff for most part, and he promises us that he’ll attempt to review future episodes from time to time.

The movie begins with a classic shot which quickly establishes the age old power struggle between a Saas and Bahu. The Bahu (Asha Parekh) with a sulken gloomy depressed oppressed face is just about to begin eating that her overweight Saas storms by in the kitchen, kicks her plate, twists her arms uttering “Kyon Kamini maine khaane ke liye kaha tumhe?” and then pushes her to the ground.

Suyog finally discovers the movie that is said to be the inspiring force behind her K-serials, complete with a Bahu who is a Trekkie wannabe. All hail Saas – Bahu dynamics!

DesiPundit readers are invited to help name a TV show in the United States for desi audiences. Currently the show is in pre-production stages and slated to be a local show for Indians living in Cleveland, Ohio.

Hosted by Simran Sethi, the TV show is aimed at the Indian community in the US and will have news, event updates, spotlight on desi life in the US that aims to incorporate the Indian and American elements of the social and cultural life of the diaspora. However, the show also hopes to attract the mainstream American audience who is casually flipping channels looking for something new and interesting.

Prize for the winning entry – $50 payable through PayPal or an Amazon gift voucher. The name should be upbeat, reflective of the vibrant Indian culture, and preferably devoid of any stereotypes or cliches. Post your suggestions in the comments section below with your name and email ID (do not email them in). You can post as many suggestions as you want. Deadline – June 23rd, 2008 midnight CST.

Update: The contest is closed. Unfortunately no entry was found to be worthy of a prize. But thanks for participating.

About a week back Tata Sky announced that they are reducing the monthly charges and providing the Sports Channels (ESPN-STAR bouquet, Ten Sports) and the BBC add-ons at the same cost but as optional components. While this is a welcome change I had two issues with it. Bad implementation and incorrect information.

Goyal is not too impressed with the otherwise-impeccable Tata Sky’s new pricing and policy changes and advises you to switch to DishTV [hat tip: Ojas].