Something to dance about! By: A hitList Correspondent September 27, 2006
Narayani Shastri and Gaurav Chopraa
Nach Baliye 2 was aired on Monday night. Did it live up to expectations? Was it better than season one? How was director Kunal Kohli, who replaced the oh-so-articulate Farhan Akhtar? Who got the ceetees from Saroj Khan? What did the contestants wear? More importantly, what did Malaika wear? Read on for the HiTLIST review…
The judges
We missed Farhan Akhtar and his keen analyses. Kunal Kohli needs to add more words to his vocabulary besides 'energy' and 'chemistry'.
Malaika sizzled. She looked drop dead gorgeous and her outfit deserved a ceetee. Saroj Khan was honest and to-the-point. She clapped, she whistled and dove into her purse and came out with two 100 rupees notes for Shweta Tiwari and Raja and Bakhtyaar Irani and Tanaz Lal.
The hosts
Sachin and Supriya were dressed tackily. The clothes suited neither their personalities nor their body. Agreed, they were not being judged in the second season, but there's no excuse for ghastly garbs.
Sachinji, it's bad enough we have to put up with your toupee, but now you've gone and gotten your eyebrows threaded too? Next time you want to try something new, try Botox. Supriya's outfit made her look like Huma Khan. But as a hostess, she was just perfect.
The contestants
Though the couples wore synchronised outfits, it looked like they were screaming for attention. Malaika may have loved the colours on Arjun Punjj and Gurdip Kohli's costumes, but most looked like they were pulled out from the closet of a film' s extra — the kind that even the extra wouldn't wear!
Supporters
The inseparables, Riva Bubber and Rakshanda Khan. We assume they were cheering for good friends Hiten Tejwani and Gauri Pradhan. Rakshanda couldn't stop clapping when the duo arrived and their poor scores surely dampened her enthusiasm.
The moments
We liked Narayani Shastri and Gaurav Chopra's reaction to their high scores. There was none of that over-enthusiastic screaming and yelling. Stoic indeed. Tanaz and Bakhtyaar, please take note. Shweta Tiwari began crying as soon as her act was over. Kasautii hangover?
She's so used to crying all the time on the show, but the tears flowed relentlessly on this show too. It's about dance baby, not drama. Tattlers may accuse her of trying to garner sympathy votes, but it all looked genuine. And she did rock. Gurdip Kohli rocked too. But like Saroj Khan pointed out, she overdid the mouth movements a bit.
Shweta Kawaatra, we look forward to seeing a feminine performance the second time around. Yash Tonkk was looking for his better half in the crowd when she was dancing right next to him. Manav and Arjun too were guilty of the same.
A few observations
Vickey Lalwani vickey.lalwani@mid-day.com
While Saroj Khan drove Shweta Kawaatra to tears, she failed to do an encore with Gauri Pradhan. Despite Gauri feeling low that day, she looked visibly irritated with Khan's comments.
Kunal Kohli may not be Farhan Akhtar, but we wonder why Khan cut his gyaan short at least twice?
Malaika Arora's "main aur kitni taiyari karoon?" pirouetting in her hot sexy dress was one of the best moments on the show The Pilgaonkars did a good job. Sorry, we didn't miss Shabbir and Sangeeta.
Manav Gohil and Rasik Dave's act may have left the judges cold, but don't be surprised if the pair finds themselves in the running week after week as far as votes go. The Gujarati community will ensure that. Aa ra ra!
Shweta Tiwari and Gurdip Kohli were amazing, but the couples of the evening were Hussain-Tina and Bakhtyaar-Tanaaz. Raja Chaudhary and Arjun Punjj, please note.