Gaurav/Narayani: ARTICLE

Television Review

It's 2 much!

Nach Baliye 2 jodis seem to be competing for the worst-dressed couple title

Kausar Munir

Nach Baliye, the first time around, got the reality and entertainment equation right. A good line-up of star couples, an interesting panel of judges, a catchy title track, and the audiences were hooked. A few months down the line, the voting meters are ready again, but is the equation still right?

For starters, with the exception of a few couples, this is a second rung line-up of TV stars. In fact, some of the jodi partners are not even actors. So, to distract attention from the lacklustre line-up one would at least expect a bang-on opening - which was clearly missing.

Then, Sachin and Supriya, the anchor couple's blinding, ill-fitting outfits complimented those of the dancers perfectly. In fact, most of the couples seemed to be competing for the worst-dressed couple's title on TV. And what was the usually impeccably dressed Malaika Arora thinking? Her 'costume' was designed more for an item number rather than the judge's seat.

Speaking of judges, the 'oomph' factor of Malaika and 'oof' factor of Saroj Khan remain from the show's first outing. But the natural buoyancy of Farhan Akhtar has been replaced by Kunal Kohli. By the way, Kunal, before making digs at the work of other directors, we wonder if you could rewind to a film called Mujhse Dosti Karoge?

The show took off with Narayani Shastri and Gaurav Chopra. They were completely in sync on the dance floor. So far, so good. But then, Yash and Gauri Tonk came next. And things got suddenly bad. While Yash seemed to practice some obsolete kind of martial art on the dance floor, Gauri appeared to be wondering why she had agreed to trade the comfort of her living room for this.

However, Shweta Tiwari and her husband Raja hit the jackpot with ceetees and a perfect score. Meanwhile, Tanaaz and Bakhtyaar danced like their life depended on it and made you hope that there was provision for an ambulance in the event of an emergency.

Ketki and Rasik Dave got not-so-perfect scores. The fact that they made a great effort despite being the senior-most couple didn't help their cause too much. Nor did Gauri's illness make the judges' stand soft on her and her husband Hiten Tejwani.

Hussain and Tina shared good chemistry. And the 'cuteness' quotient of Keerti and Shard Kelkar did work reasonably well. Of course, the incorrigible Saroj Khan asked Keerti not to "open her legs too much while dancing". While she was at it, she could perhaps have asked Gurdip Kohli to keep her 'dhak dhak' in check.

That leaves us with Shweta Kawatra and Manav Gohil and the not-so-lean, mean Saroj Khan. Saroj felt Shweta's movements were too manly, her smile too wide and her physique too large… and left the girl in tears. But Shweta shouldn't worry, off screen saas-bahus are bound to root for her.