Come Fall in Love with Just Dance!

So our certified heartthrob has again made me wonder how he can be so perfect with his dance steps. Yes, I am talking about Hrithik Roshan, whom I just spotted on the Star Plus website in the exclusive music video premiere. The song is called “Come Fall in Love with Just Dance”.

He is rightly called as the synonym for dance moves. His mesmerizing moves is surely to keep you glued to your screen till the video ends. The one and a half minute video is all packed with pulsating rhythms, red-hot dance steps and moves which you dare not miss. His smooth, fluid dance moves has already stolen millions of hearts and this video is just an addition to that list.

It feels proud to see the small screen showcasing hip-hop, jazz, locking-popping and other contemporary dance moves which are completely different from typical bollywood jhatka-matka and pelvic thrusts which we see on a regular basis sitting in the living rooms. 

Not just that the dance moves are awesome but the way the sets,costumes,lights and choreography is done is amazing and makes you feel special watching it in a TV set. The song is supposedly to be composed by Salim-Sulaiman and is a soft romantic number.

So, what are you waiting for? Tune in and watch Hrithik’s passion for dancing in the exclusive video and get absorbed all over again in his charm and awesome dance moves. He has surely matched up to the saying- “Sab Kuch Bhula Ke JUST DANCE” :) 

(See video embedded below)

Back with a Bang!

Yes, I am back with a bang and what banged me to come back was a bang from none other than the renowned name Dr. Kiran Bedi. Last weekend a complete different image of Star Plus was registered in my mind. A picture which is way different from what most people have about the channel. A truly amazing show with a very simple set up and a concept which trust me does not reflect any of the other shows which are on air right now. I am talking about the show “Aap Ki Kachehri” hosted and judged by none other than Dr. Kiran Bedi.

This show is all about real people, real emotions, real issues faced by them with real practical solutions. “Aap Ki Kachehri” is a kind of show which brings forth civil issues which are generally property, family, marital disputes be it related to personal life or property completely mediated and arbitrated by Dr. Kiran Bedi.

The show allows disputants come forward and bring forth their grievances or complaints and present them in the kachehri. Both the parties are allowed to present their stories. The show allows them to fight for justice with reasoning, open discussions, and arguments which ultimately ends in a good note. I seriously felt the cases which are brought in the kachehri would really help people to be able to draw some knowledge and apply them in their own life.

Also the way Dr. Kiran Bedi handles each and every case, dealing with people’s emotions, there restlessness during the proceedings is a whole new experience for the viewers.  She acts as counselor and at the same time as a questioner and arbiter.

What kept me hooked to the show are the real issues faced by the common people around us.  The people who generally come for help here are those who are living below the poverty line and cannot afford a lawyers fee. I think this a very noble attempt made by the channel to come forward and cater to the need of the people who really need help. There is something appealing about the show which would make you come back to the show again and again.

As for example the other day I was made aware of what the term Halala means. A muslim man ___ divorces his wife of 12 years marriage ___ by pronouncing ‘talaak’ thrice in fit of rage.  According to muslim law if a divorced woman has to return to her divorced husband, she to go through a process called - halala, which essentially means – she has to be married to another man, consummate her marriage with him, get divorced by him, and then she can return to her first marriage!!! After 12 years of marriage, one small reaction needs a woman to go through this extraordinary ordeal for no fault of hers.. Sad right, what do you think?

The whole incident focused making us aware on the concept of Halala and how the couple’s problems were solved by Dr. Kiran Bedi.

There was also one episode where Bharti has brought her husband Dheeraj to court accusing him of his feminine behavior. She is not happy with her husband dressing up as a woman for his profession. But then Dheeraj has his own problem and does it to earn money to support his family. He is a dancer by profession and Bharti accuses Dheeraj’s family of lying to her about his profession when the marriage was fixed.  Bharti also has problems with her husband spending more time with a guy and accuses Dheeraj of having an affair with another man. The case was closed on a good note where the court offered money to Bharti so that she can start her own parlour and start earning for the family. While Dheeraj listens to Dr. Kiran Bedi’s verdict and agrees to stay away from the man stay away whom Bharti does not like.

On a serious note I think this show would definitely make a change in the society. Forget about the saas-bahu sagas and all the melodramas which you watch on TV, just sit back and watch what the society is going through and how you can come forward and help the needy and get enlighten. I am sure this show has the capability to help viewers draw a line and use the knowledge in their own lives.

Gay-laxy in your living room

So the scripting team of the popular hindi serial “Maryaada” is talking a step forward and is daring to show something which has never been done for the general TV audience. The show continues to take an interesting turn with the gay track. Yes you heard it right, gay track in a hindi GEC is something which is the talk of the town recently. Well I can’t stop myself from bringing this to your notice as soon as my mother called me up and asked – “Aisa bhi hota hai kya???”. I am sure most of the mothers and the other members of the Indian family would be enlightened sitting in their living rooms on what is going on across the globe and most of them are sure to get more protective for their kids then they were before.

The truth is now out that Gaurav is a gay. It will be an interesting track to watch how a rustic lady like Vidya (Gaurav’s wife) reacts to this. Because a women can fight for her rights and emotions when there is another lady in her husbands life but to understand the fact that one’s husbands is not straight and that for an illiterate women like Vidya would be a different story. If you are getting gripped with this track then I would suggest you to read my first post Bitten by the TV bug and understand a little about the show and its key characters.

What I liked about the show is that it’s trying to establish the concept of homosexuality in a way completely different from how it is treated in most of the Bollywood movies or in most of the hindi serials. It’s not the kind where a gay is depicted as funny and always looked down upon with his cheesy dialogues or behavior.  Here the characters are handled sensitively thereby exploring the emotional aspect of the characters rather then the physical relationship and how they dress up and all. It’s really surprising to watch how a man can emotionally be connected to another man.  See the clip embedded to find how its portrayal is different. 

One can’t deny the fact that homosexuality is still considered a taboo in most part of our country. People still hesitate to confess openly that he/she is gay as they are afraid that they would be out casted and would bring shame to their family. The same is happening in the show where the mother- Devyani is trying hard to cover her son Gaurav’s relationship with Karan. She is leaving no stone unturned to convince Gaurav to come out of the relationship. First she gets Gaurav married to Vidya and then again she threatens to kill herself. But all these do not stop Gaurav from coming back to Karan. It’s who he is!

So its time to break away all the norms and give men a chance to show up their talent. Gone are the days when we used to have only women centric shows and men being shown as puppets in the hands of their mothers and wives. I am sure Maryaada would get a decent number of male fan followings with its present track. Not only the show has brought about a change in the audience but it’s also a welcoming change from the usual episodes of all the back biting women’s which men were always complaining about. The most important aspect of it being we surely hope for changed perceptions among the masses. This is surely a step-up in the portrayal of gay characters on the small and big screen. Star Plus… This is really a nayi soch on the TV platform. Hats off to the brains behind the channel!!!

Kudos for this!

Dancing to glory, 1 day to go!



So finally the stage is all set to dazzle tomorrow night as the "God of Dance" himself steps on it. Yes the wait is finally over but I can’t wait to see Hrithik mesmerizing audiences with his bone-bending dance steps. We’ve all been watching the teasers across the web and TV and now’s the time when we can finally watch the show.

The show is making lots of efforts to keep the audiences hooked. Recently the Just Dance team has been indulging in innovative campaigns to keep the interest levels at par with the Greek god’s dance steps. Recently I spotted the channel conducting a promotion with something called the “Augmented Reality” which was run on big LED’s at malls. Here the members of the audience were invited on stage and asked to match steps with a virtual Hrithik Roshan. Though I didn’t dare to be in sync with the virtual Hrtithik, it was fun to see the overwhelming response of the audience, especially the kids. The set up was made in such a way that you can see virtual Hrithik interacting with real people.  The best addition to this campaign was the gestures incorporated in the virtual Hrithik. If a particular contestant performed well the virtual actor gave a thumbs up and applauded and if not then it wished them better luck in the future. It was truly a nice way to get the audience engaged in such a phenomena where when they can match up steps with the living legend. It amazed me to see not only the kids and youngsters but also the moms participating in it whole heartedly. Thumbs-up for this!

Check out the click embedded.

OK… people get ready for some amazing dance moves, more of head spins, hand glide, 6-moves, top-rock and there’s many more on the platter. The promos have made me more inquisitive and mesmerized me completely where the dancers belted out some of the funkiest dance moves. I could actually enjoy a great evening watching them without having to go out in the rains for sure. Obviously I win nothing. Sigh!

Well jokes apart, just enjoy the show and have a great weekend. Hrithik surely won’t let you down.

Cheers!









Is Television equal to WOMEN minus MEN?

Are you also the one who think men should also be treated equally just like their female counterparts? Be it Armaan in ‘Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi ‘, ‘Sujal in Kahin Toh Hoga’ or Sushant in ‘Pavitra Rishta’ don’t you think the female protagonists totally overshadowed them?

The focus has never been on the men on television.  They have always been the scapegoat and are shown as criminals or oppressors just for the sake of portraying women as innocent and potentially better then them.  I am sure the women love to see this, don’t we? But before I get deeper into this there’s one exception which I have noticed recently. The trend has been changing with Sajjan Singh’s arrival in the popular TV serial “Pratigya” aired on Star Plus. This man has made some changes recently in TV viewing with his electrifying dialogues and accent.  Not only Sajjan Singh but Brahmanand from “Maryaada” has been grabbing attention from all the male audience for a change.

Now lets again jump back to what we were discussing leaving Sajjan Singh’wa behind J

All the women centric soaps depict pretty much the same stuff. A target is defined and a root cause analysis of the target is done. By target, don’t think that I am talking about the target audience here, by target I mean that part of the society which the script writer is targeting to destroy and wants people to have pity. Well we can’t deny the fact that to focus on the women and to show their goodness, males are victimized and degraded as always.  This has always been the win- win formula for the script writers.

Poor men… sorry to say but the damage already been done. This one is the tested formula and can’t go wrong anytime.

Men have always been neglected on television for some reason.   Have you ever seen a single man in any of the show posters? Umm… think think! Well, very few of them, right? I remember seeing Anurag (Harshad Chopra) in ‘Tere Liye’ posters along with Taani (Anupriya Kapoor) and that’s only because he is awesome and can’t escape my attention even though Taani is occupying a major portion of the frame.

Very few of the men (except Sajjan and Brahmanand) have the privilege of getting attention from all the aunts and didi’s. No doubt, not a single show can work without a man but they still don’t fit in the frame/posters in any of the show.  Have you ever seen any of the three Mihir’s in ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Bahu Thi’ in any of the Kyunki posters apart from Tulsi? Be it Gulaal in ‘Gulaal’ or Ammaji and Sia in ‘Na Aana iss Desh Meri Laado’ the promos always begins and ends with the face of the females for sure.

As a viewer I would surely like to see some men oriented programs on TV just to see how men react to this. I am really excited to think if they would be glued to the TV set just the way they do when they watch the late night’s soccer matches.

I know guys who are mad about watching a few of the international shows like ‘Two and a Half Men’, ‘Prison Break’, ‘How I Met Your Mothe’r, ‘Dexter’ or F.R.I.E.N.D.S’ but the hindi GEC’s are still lagging behind to cater to their needs. Well… no wait, there’s one show which I remember guys were crazy about. Remember the show ‘Remix’ which used to come on Star One. But then it was again more inclined towards the teenagers.

So right now if we forget about the reality shows for sometime then there’s nothing for the male audience which would interest them.  

Hope the productions houses are reading this. 

Saas…Bahu…Beti...Behen!

While our beloved TV channels have been striving hard to improve the status of women in the society, the government is slowly waking up to reality. Women today rule many things in a way and our position is not at all inferior, not any longer fellas!

Switch on the TV set you will find out that I am not kidding. All thanks to the umpteen number of TV Channel which are airing endless numbers of women centric shows day in day out. The term Saas-Bahu has become so familiar that this has become synonymous with Tom & Jerry, Ram & Laxman or Laila & Majnu.

If we divert our focus for sometime from the fiction to non-fiction shows then we witness the same thing. You say "Big Boss" and you remember Veena Malik or Dolly Bindra more then you remember Khali or Bindu. You say "SplitsVilla" and you remember Sakshi, Pavitra or Joanna more then you remember Mohit or Siddhartha. We women rule baby!

No one can deny the fact that women rule the small screen kingdom. As soon as you switch on the TV set you enter into a world of saas, bahu, beti, maa, behen, baby, chachi and the list continues. The number of women centric shows on TV is astounding. Do you remember any of the shows which are or were based on men? I seriously don’t remember any and now I am forced to think as why till now there aren’t any public objections for slandering all men on television. Well… don’t you think it’s an insult to the mankind? Now that we have brands selling out men soap and talc why can’t we have a show on TV based on their life? Just think about it.


Anyways, although the woman portrays various roles on TV, they all have almost the same duties and responsibilities in all the show. As a wife/bahu/maa a female is portrayed as being loving, caring and submissive; as a beti/behen she is shown as lively, full of life and restricting herself from any kinda night outs because her family is too conservative or protective. Yeah! I don’t remember whether I have witnessed a single scene in any of the shows (since the time I have became a TV addict) where the daughter of the house goes out for night outs, and parents are cool about it… Most of our urban parents are today cool about daughters going out for parties… Actually, the protagonists’ parents aren’t cool, her friends’ parents are!

Now let’s focus on the sasu maa’s.  Well all the saas of the present day shows have undergone a major transformation. They are not acting like the typical saas all of a sudden. By transformation I don’t mean a full transformation but saasu maa’s are suddenly behaving a lot better then what they used to be in the past (atleast on TV).  So suddenly we see the saas helping out her bahus in the kitchen in the morning rather than expecting her to prepare a full course breakfast for the entire janta at home. She also accompanies the bahu to the beauty parlour and enjoys having pani-puri with her. The bahus too have stopped nagging against their saasu maa’ and have closed playing the blame game and exaggerating and complaining to their hubby’s about his mother’s behavior.

Remember the days when the female protagonists used wake up with untouched heavy makeup and jewelries. Well I always used to make fun of my mother for watching such unbearable stuff on TV.  But this trend has changed all of a sudden. The ladies have started wearing night suits or at least if they are not wearing one then they are minus their lipstick and jewelries, which is acceptable to me as a viewer.

A woman is portrayed differently on TV today. Gone are the days when you used to see women in saree and salwar suits only. If we look at programs like "Gulaal", "Na Aana Iss Desh Meri Laado" or "Balika Vadhu" you will notice a sudden switch from an urbanized look to a more rural one. It’s good to see a change in trend and get away from the monotony. And the best part is we in the cities have taken to wear clothes like our rustic sisters in our shows like "Gulaal". And how proud my grandmom feels when she sees me fully clad… Priceless moment (Psst, little does she know my influence is my new friend TV, and not so much her conservative thought)

But then, having said that - something which concerned me was that all these series speak of many causes. Like for example Balika Vadhu is all about child marriage and Gulaal is about a woman marrying her l’il ten year old dewar. Well… yes, I know what you must be thinking. Are these evil things still practiced in our country? Or is it right to show such content on television? We will talk about this soon in the upcoming blogs for sure.

So it’s the power puff girls everywhere who are stealing the limelight. The females are driving the small screen in India, no doubt about it. I will throw some more light on it on my next blog.

But for now women rule the small screen, for sure!

Until then!
Chalios

It’s not just dance it’s JUST DANCE…

Tap to Tango… Ballet to Break… Hip-Hop to Rock Ballet… Passa Doble or Jazz or anything unique that has never been seen before, I am getting ready for it, are you?  Dance shows have always fascinated me since my childhood. I still remember getting glued to the TV and watching Boogie Woogie. This was an undisputed good dance show and has been much adored on television. I used to fool my mother to watch the show. I know that’s not a good thing to do but then c’mon we all have our mischievous side.

However, Boogie Woogie was a sole show on the TV then and now there are many more shows that bring a lot more to TV. So just like I had (or rather still have) a mischievous side to me there are many more out there that have a much talented side to themselves. And the latest show that will help me feast my eyes on a new talent every day is ‘Just Dance’. Just saw the promos on TV, watched them over and over again on the web and wondered who was dancing – Yes, he the king of hearts, the Greek God…. Gotcha? Yeah! none other than Hrithik Roshan. Words fall short for trying to describe the look Hrithik adorns.

If I am not wrong this is the very first time that he is making an appearance on TV. Well I am sure it will fun watching the dancers dance in front of the God of (JUST!) DANCE himself.  I’m someone who has always been gripped by dance shows and the Hrithik factor is definitely going to hook me to the TV set once the show starts. 

This is definitely going to be a relief from the regular daily shows. It brings us closer not just to the talent but the sheer plethora of it. Be it conventional or unconventional dance Just Dance is a platform for it.

I love dancing in the bathroom as my dance is worth just my audience but it enthralls me to watch young and youthful alike to display such exuberance and novelty in front of millions and in front of the men himself.  So all you dance lovers get ready not to Just Dance but also to get charmed by duggu and if luck favours you then to woo the man himself. You can check out the official Just Dance show page on FB to get yourself updated.

So long then… I will continue to Just Dance in my bathroom while we wait for the real dancers to dawn on this show.

Cheers!