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This diamond is forever! www.indiatimes.com
One doesn't have to touch rock bottom to figure out why any talk of the Kohinoor diamond evokes such a welter of emotions within us. The prized jewel in the Crown still remains very much a thorn in our flesh
PURBA DUTT Times News Network
As Sahara One goes to town with its latest thriller Kohinoor, there are some who can't help thinking, albeit naively, that such high blitz promotional activity might goad the British government into returning the diamond to India.
Collegian Namrata Desai is optimistic that the enormous billboard hype preceding the serial's launch should "help revive our quest to get the diamond back at any cost." "The trouble with us," she laments, "is that we operate in fits and starts, and the momentum is lost along the way."
It is senseless to even desire the Kohinoor back, says the big daddy of advertising, Prahlad Kakar. "In return for a royalty's sexual favours, some overwhelmed scion of the princely family of Kapurthala expressed his gratitude by gifting away the diamond. Pray, even if it was a folly of passion, how does it any more belong to us?" guffaws Kakar.
On a serious note, Kakar states that "the Kohinoor is far safer in the Tower of London. I wouldn't trust these buggers with the safekeeping of my grandmother's false teeth, what to talk of a priceless diamond."
Well-known jewellery designer Poonam Soni, however, does not share Kakar's worldview.
The activist in her believes that the serial might be just the trigger needed to get things moving. "The Kohinoor is our legacy, and it rightfully should be with us. Given India's rapidly growing stature in the eyes of the world, it will be a matter of few years before the diamond is handed back to us," says an upbeat Soni.
Inevitably there are some who cannot understand why the big fuss about a stone. "Ask me about hunger and malnutrition in Maleghat, and I can talk about it," drawls actor Jackie Shroff. Then almost as a lazy afterthought, he adds, "If it belongs to us, shouldn't it be with us?"
As the whodunit unfolds on the small screen, it is certain that the aura, intrigue, and mystery surrounding the Kohinoor will be milked to extract maximum viewing mileage.
And while opinions about the diamond's return range from the shrill to the sublime, guess the zealous Beefeaters have already been sounded off to be extra watchful.
Kohinoor airs Monday-Thursday on Sahara One at 10 pm.
One doesn't have to touch rock bottom to figure out why any talk of the Kohinoor diamond evokes such a welter of emotions within us. The prized jewel in the Crown still remains very much a thorn in our flesh
PURBA DUTT Times News Network
As Sahara One goes to town with its latest thriller Kohinoor, there are some who can't help thinking, albeit naively, that such high blitz promotional activity might goad the British government into returning the diamond to India.
Collegian Namrata Desai is optimistic that the enormous billboard hype preceding the serial's launch should "help revive our quest to get the diamond back at any cost." "The trouble with us," she laments, "is that we operate in fits and starts, and the momentum is lost along the way."
It is senseless to even desire the Kohinoor back, says the big daddy of advertising, Prahlad Kakar. "In return for a royalty's sexual favours, some overwhelmed scion of the princely family of Kapurthala expressed his gratitude by gifting away the diamond. Pray, even if it was a folly of passion, how does it any more belong to us?" guffaws Kakar.
On a serious note, Kakar states that "the Kohinoor is far safer in the Tower of London. I wouldn't trust these buggers with the safekeeping of my grandmother's false teeth, what to talk of a priceless diamond."
Well-known jewellery designer Poonam Soni, however, does not share Kakar's worldview.
The activist in her believes that the serial might be just the trigger needed to get things moving. "The Kohinoor is our legacy, and it rightfully should be with us. Given India's rapidly growing stature in the eyes of the world, it will be a matter of few years before the diamond is handed back to us," says an upbeat Soni.
Inevitably there are some who cannot understand why the big fuss about a stone. "Ask me about hunger and malnutrition in Maleghat, and I can talk about it," drawls actor Jackie Shroff. Then almost as a lazy afterthought, he adds, "If it belongs to us, shouldn't it be with us?"
As the whodunit unfolds on the small screen, it is certain that the aura, intrigue, and mystery surrounding the Kohinoor will be milked to extract maximum viewing mileage.
And while opinions about the diamond's return range from the shrill to the sublime, guess the zealous Beefeaters have already been sounded off to be extra watchful.
Kohinoor airs Monday-Thursday on Sahara One at 10 pm.
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