Shoddy start to a shaadi saga

After being in the pipeline for nearly two years, one would have assumed that Star Plus' newest baby would have had time to perfect itself.

Sadly, Shanno Ki Shaadi doesn't seem to have done that. The UTV production, that debuted after the sparkling Ba, Bahu Aur Baby (which too is an infant production on the channel) on Sunday night is spirited enough. But the effervescence itself comes out a little forced.

The first episode introduced the viewers to the Shaadilal Halwai family, and protagonist Shanno herself. Kulbhushan Kharbanda is the amiable Shaadilal and Shoma Anand (with jwellery that could well be enough for Shanno's dowry) carries her original Hum Paanch persona over to this show as Shanno's mother, perpetually plotting her daughter's wedding. Kamini Kaushal, who is quite deadpan in LOC, also on Star Plus, is much warmer and likeable here as the grandma constanly worrying about her granddaughter's shaadi.

But the family's fixation on Shanno's shaadi is a trifle disconcerting. All the family members, including Shanno, spent the first episode agonising over a wedding that just wasn't happening. Maybe Shanno needs the patience of a Jassi to keep waiting for a shaadi that's just round the corner but never materialises!

Divya Dutta is a competent Shanno, with mannerisms that befit an awkward unmarried girl,

efficiently churning out the parathas at her father's 'hatti'. But while Dekho Magar Pyar Se's Niki was tastefully padded up with sponge- lined clothes, Shanno's wardrobe falls woefully inadequate. She's obviously decked out with clothes that sit like a sack on her, while her delicately angled face stands out in stark disproportion.

The characters are endearing enough, but the Punjabi milieu seems a little over the top. Some questions too linger - why is one daughter educated to college level, and the other made to roll out parathas while still in school? Why is one educated in the wiles of being a woman, and Shanno left out completely? Just because she didn't do college??

Though we would love to welcome a show whose lead protagonist is a plain Jane pudding, rather than a dressed up doll, Shanno.... didn't grip enough in the first episode. Coming on the heels of the brilliant Ba, Bahu makes its task doubly difficult. But UTV, makers of the pacy Shararat and the gripping Family Business, seem unsure of their footing on this one.

Divya, Kulbhushan and the rest should be able to carry the show on their acting abilities. But will the script keep pace?