She's back. Where she always belonged, to reclaim the character rightfully hers since the first time she stepped forward and beckoned us into Shantiniketan—a most inappropriately named house, by the way.
We should have known Smriti 'Tulsi' Irani was shortly to regain her position in the Virani household. The tell-ale signs were all there, last week: mad and maddening Mandira (no, not Bedi) had been recalled to entice Mihir into the web of her wiles; measly Mihir went willingly enough wearing a hair-dye of the colour brown that made him seem curiously older than he did when he upset the salt and pepper cellars on his head. Karan, Nandini and Ganga had suddenly "youngered" (as opposed to aged). Everything was set for Smriti and Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi to rewind to that loveless triangle (what was it, five years ago?) of Tulsi, Mihir and Mandira before the children were grown-up and interfering to make matters worse.
That Smriti Irani has returned within a year of her departure is (perhaps) inconsequential: actors change all the time. However, we can read some things into her return: she was sorely missed (by her family and us); her other serials (Sony's Thodi Si Zameen, Thoda Sa Aasmaan and her fling with Mere Apne Vinod Khanna on 9x ) have not lived up to expectations; Kyunki without her, had not lived, period; and finally, producers can change actors, kill characters, give them rebirth and introduce new ones but whatever else they do, they must never change the actor for the lead character. Otherwise why are Brooke and Ridge still played by the same actors who've played them since The Bold And The Beautiful went on air in 1987?.
Tulsi and most lead characters of soaps are older than the TV target audience of 15-35 year olds.
Question: can her ponderous ways compete with the youthful legs on reality shows? If this were KBC we'd answer that question for Rs 2 crore. As it is....
Reality TV: Ours. Theirs. Ours sing and dance with the exception of MTV Roadies, who do everything other shows do but sing and dance — strange since it's on a music and dance youth channel.
Theirs do things ours have never imagined doing. Apart from cooking their own goose on cookery contests, ramping up the and down the catwalk, directing films, marrying millionaires, there are the more unusual variety of shows such as Monster Garage and How To Find A Husband (Travel & Living).
Reality TV on Indian television is a talent hunt. Elsewhere, it's about anything and anyone: the denizens of Monster Garage, looking more like roadies than the Roadies with their mobike jackets, spiked headgear and tattoos, spend an entire episode redesigning stuff: like dismantling a lawn mower and crafting it into a Jaguar. Vroom.
Meanwhile a 37-year-old, professional, single woman is trying every conceivable artifice to lock herself into marriage and lose the key. Problem is, it's a number lock and her figures don't add up. No, seriously, it's fun show with useful tips on what you can do in case your (male!) arithmetic is superior to hers.
Does everyone watch Tonight With Jay Leno (Zee Caf?). Should. We're watching episodes a night after they're telecast in USA. It's therefore topical and we get the jokes. When Jay talks about 'sniper lapses' we guffaw at Hillary Clinton's memory malfunction. Clinton was on last Friday night's show, the first time many of us, here, have seen her on a late night talk show. She's too serious for it: anyone who can make Leno, in all earnestness, ask about the implications of the vote in Florida and Michigan, deserves to be any place but with Leno.
Interviews: Last week, we had a good L K Advani interview on NDTV 24x7 (soap queens, learn to cry without glycerine from him), an interesting Nawaz Sharif guftagu on Seedhi Baat (Aaj Tak), a provocative chat with Salman Rushdie (NDTV 24x7) and Shoaib Akhtar on Aaj Tak, courtesy Geo TV, where the anchor asked the bowler what he thought of Harbhajan's badtameezi in Australia. Anchors should be the first to mind their language.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Udne Ki Aasha
