Telly Tadka: Punar Vivah May 28th review

MADHUBALA EK ISHQ EK JUNOON
EPISODE 1
5/28/12

The hybridization of a Bollywood movie into a Daily Soap has elevated the Hindi serial into a new genre of show never before seen in the history of Indian Television. Starting from the grand premiere, to the launching —- the promos, banners and ads etc. every single aspect of the show had been detailed out to perfection to create a suitable setting and anticipation for the "First Day First Show" in the minds of us viewers, who were waiting eagerly to see what all the hype was all about —I must say that we were not disappointed—–at least not I. The first episode of MBEIEJ was every bit what I had expected and more. What a pleasant jhatka I got upon seeing the names of the cast presented in the retro style( or should I say Kitch Bollywood style ?) , combined with the background music transported me back into the post seventies era —-an era where the super stars of today were but mere rising stars ! (very apt and symbolic I would think because the main protagonists Drashti and Vivian are also the rising stars of the telly industry). The very first scene had me suspended in time and a feeling of Dj vu engulfed me——the sight of Balraj Choudhary on his Vintage car surrounded by his henchmen—with a rifle in his hand target practicing with his own daughter , conveyed the extent of his psychological and mental brain-warp —-he looked every bit the heinous villain that we all love to hate in movies . Raj Zutshi's commendable portrayal of a psychotic Mommy's Boy was to perfection and the fact that he and his mother had managed to terrorize his wife Padmini to the extent of compelling her to run away for fear of her unborn daughter's life, seemed to be the story of so many women in our Sub-continent. Since female foetocide is a burning issue , with facts and figures being telecast on reality shows recently, I think Balraj and his mother's obsession with the male child is aptly portrayed albeit with dramatic emphasis, to convey the plight of those expectant mothers who have to face this till today. Shegufta's portrayal of a dangerously cool headed andtyrranical mother –in-law, breeding a psychotic son and pacifying him like a deranged beast is commendable . I liked Guruji's veiled words and his cryptic prophecy regarding Balraj's double edged fate related to his the gender of his progeny——the fact that neither Mother nor Son could decipher the inner meaning of his words means that the mother son duo are not as intelligent as they would like to think. Shushmita's portrayal of the belligerent but kind hearted Dai maa was superb and it was heart warming to watch her lie to the Choudhurys about the gender of Padmini's unborn child ,in order to buy some time for Padmini to escape was heart warming. The train station , the arrival in Mumbai the city of dreams, as well as getting caught up in the the Ganpati procession marked an auspicious beginning and were reminiscent of the Golden era of Cinema of Bollywood. All in all from the handling of the publicity campaign , the cinematography-like photography, the grand sets, the item number etc. in other words, the overall presentation was superbly handled by one and all. Kudos to team MBEIEJ for having the vision and courage to attempt at presenting us viewers a totally new experience on Indian Telly!

PUNAR VIVAAH

EPISODE 71

5/28/12

It was good to see the real Aarti rise from the ashes of her frayed and fragile relationship like a Phoenix with renewed strength, spirit .and resolve. I loved her sugar coated polite and firm handling of the two Witches of Scindia House , and the expressions of frustration on their faces when Aarti informed them that she would never sign the divorce papers , placing them in Dame G's hands. I'm happy that Aarti decided to inform and involve the younger Scindias , asking for their help—-this shows that Aarti is a team player and has no qualms in seeking help and employing devious methods for the good of her family. That Prateek's statement wishing Dame G was more like Shobhaji was echoed by each and every member of the Scindia family present was quite apparent from their expressions. Dame G's efforts to feed the youngers were in vain, and quite funny. I'm happy to see that Yash has a little informer in Ansh—–who had immediately called him up and updated him on the Jr. Scindia's visit to Dubey house. If Ansh continues with this day to day Papa-Son reporting , I'm sure the real truth regarding Aarti's exit will be revealed to Yash soon—-courtesy our very own ABC !( Ansh Broadcasting Corporation). Yash's irritation with his brothers and wives was justified from his point of view, thinking that it's Aarti who wants out from this relationship—-I wonder how he'll react if he knew that it was Aarti who called them over. PayPal's scenes still seem disjointed and seriously need to be more integrated with more family interaction—they seem more like props than active participants ! Ansh's running upto " Dadaji Scindia" in the park and greeting him by touching his feet seems to be part of Pari's plan—–waiting eagerly to see the rest of the plan unfold ! All in all a good episode where Aarti's resolve has uplifted all our hopes for a speedy resolution to ArYa's misunderstanding.

NA BOLE TU NA MAINE KUCH KAHA

5/28/12

Megha's outstretched arms reminded Mohan of the very first time he met her in the temple where she had tried to stop him in a similar way—-the only difference was that then Megha thought she was stopping a criminal and today Megha was stopping a dear friend from leaving her life . Megha's remorse knew no bounds , when she heard the entire TV report describing Pratik Sir's corrupt practices, Nanhi's kidnapping as well as Mohan's role in exposing the criminals thereby proving Amar's innocence. Her anxiousness to get back home to check on Nanhi and apologize to Mohan increased manifold when she discovered that Mohan was leaving Juno Mohallah , her guilt and gratitude compelling her to promptly run after him and stop his exit . Considering all the times he had helped the Vyas family, and their persistent mistrust in him despite all his efforts, Mohan's anger and hurt was justified—–aimed more at Megha, some at Mr. Vyas , the two people whom he looked to for approval. The two people who spared no thoughts to think the worst of him at the slightest instigation, subjecting him to a verbal barrage of hurtful words .

No wonder Mohan's hurt took the form of harsh replies to poor Guru's queries , who couldn't for the life of him understand Mohan's sudden decision to leave , especially now that things had sorted themselves and Mohan would be branded a Hero. Mohan and Nanhi's convo was really heart warming and I 'm happy that Papaji was there to witness the friendly rapport between the two —-I'm hoping that He will realize the importance of a father figure in Nanhi's life.

I felt elated and vindicated to some extent seeing Prerna slap Pratik , but was sorry that Megha wasn't there to witness it —-in fact the vindictive side of me would've preferred if each of his office employees had spat on him for his yellow journalism—–but that's just wishful thinking on my part—hehe ! Waiting eagerly to see the roothne manana silsila in tonight's episode —-I'm sure being the tough cookie that he is , Mohan will not give in to a simple apology—-hoping to see Megha and CVs being innovative—– hehehe.