Bandini has a desginer Nanaji : REVIEW

Tue, Jan 27 03:35 AM

The most moving moment at the Republic Day Parade was the stillness of the women who received the Ashok Chakras for their slain men. The other was Sachin Tendulkar with NSG commandos on CNN-IBN's special, a steal from NDTV's Jai Jawan. Now, now.

Last week began with O for Obama, went to O for the Oscars and ended with an H for heart. Spelling Bee spells that as 'Ooh'. Pretty much sums up the week.

Ooh, didn't CNN just gush like a river in flood, inundating the Obamas with adulation? By Wednesday morning the 'best political team on TV', as CNN refers to itself, was drowning in a sea of its own superlatives, describing Michelle Obama's ball gown like it was Cinderalla's and Mr and Mrs O's ordinary dancing like they were Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. And did you notice how CNN chose to call Obama an 'African-American' while BBC described him as a 'black President'? Time for a fairness cream commercial.

Onto our man of hearts, the prime minister. Even as he underwent bypass surgery, Sahara Samay split the PM down the longitudinal middle, extracted his heart from his thoracic cavity and left it hanging nowhere; India TV had a slim PM next to big fat heart, NDTV India showed a graphic graphic of the heart and then a thigh presumably waiting to be grafted; Aaj Tak went for a blue and red veined heart resembling a train/metro route map. Star News' dil acquired a life of its own, pumping dhuk-dhuk, dhuk-dhuk. With doctors explaining the intricacies of the PM's condition and the operation procedure, we're all heart specialists now. Suddenly, redo bypass is cool. Thank you, Dr Singh.

While on the anatomy, can't help but notice that Lord Ram has acquired quite the most magnificent muscles and isn't the least bit shy of displaying them on his chest (Ramayana, NDTV Imagine). Ooh.

And ooh, what's this? Ekta Kapoor has gone to village India and turned it into a crafts mela. Her new serial Bandini (NDTV Imagine) has a designer Nanaji with three granddaughters in the most colourful designer lehenga-cholis, growing up amidst beautifully designed pots. They visit, what else but a mela, where a city-clicking photographer takes a fancy to Santu and can't take his or his camera's eyes off her. Everything is idyllic in Dharampur, Gujarat - no blaring music, no camera pyrotechnics or special effects and, no saas-bahus - so long the hallmark of Kapoor's K khandaan. But wait on, there is a palatial mansion with an imposing staircase and at the bottom of it, why, if it isn't a grey Mr Bajaj playing the local 'maalik' businessman who will marry young Santu!

In her other new show, Kitani Mohabbat Hai (NDTV Imagine), she's gone to Shimla seeking inspiration for a middle class love story with Kaidi No 312. So far we have one principled music college principal, his four girls, a wicked brother along with a departing train and an outstretched male hand (Hindi film style). The two serials are far too slow and too artificial to be natural. Perhaps because Kapoor is out of her depth in villages and hill stations?

Zee TV's Monica Mogre Case Files has policewoman Monica with male colleagues who would make an MCP look like a feminist. Monica is chasing a serial killer who is chasing her and all working women. Very exciting except there was very little action. Mostly we ogled Monica from different camera angles.

Slumdog Millionaire's ten nominations came when the film had its India release with the entire cast and crew lining the red carpet so celebrations haven't stopped since on the news. CNN-IBN and NDTV 24x7 had highly entertaining encounters with them and it took Times Now to restore some semblance of balance by harping on the film slumming India. But tell you what, that Dev Patel? He's ooh