gossip gets teeth

what a Friday! The couch potato's finally gettting pampered for choice. In the increasingly crowded Friday space on 10 March , reality jostled with thrillers, rubbed elbows with game shows and finally ended with a late night spicy treat.
Kandy Floss on Sony is uncharted waters for Balaji Telefilms, and for a production house dabbling for the first time in a gossip show, it does commendably well. Of course it helps that most of the stars it features in catty dialogue are Balaji denizens and also, that its anchor Archana Puran Singh, is a brand in her own right in this genre.

Beginning from the opening credits (sleek and classy) to Archana's entry('That's Archie...' accompnaying her every witty remark in the background), and the inimiable animated Kandy, the show flows smooth and easy....just what the doctor ordered for the insatiable film and TV buff.

So if you wanted to know what TV stars think of their colleagues, and take voyeuristic pleasure is watching Sandhya Mridul and Rakhee Sawant having a verbal duel, and couldn't find it on your 'other' gossip chat shows on TV, Kandy Floss is the place to head for.

Kandy herself, and we got barely a glimpse of her in the first edition, could have been a trifle more catty than Archana promised she would. She did comment a bit on the kind of costumes and expressions worn by stars at the recent Filmfare dos and the like, but the effort seemed more to be on Kandy's own champagne swirling, slinky saree persona....one rather hopes Kandy gets bolder and bitchier as the show goes on.....isn't that why the show was given the late night 11 pm slot in the first place?

As for Archana, it's effortless going for her, taking up where she left off on a similar show some years ago. In spite of the fact that age now shows a bit on the peppy actor, Archana's unique style of connecting with the viewer, involving him in the gossip is the show's real USP. To her standard HS, LS repertoire is now added

To her earlier HS, LS repertoire of classifying trends and people has now been added the rather unnecessart but socially obligatory category - MS - Main Bhi Hoon Society of the wannabes, for the uninitiated.
It's enjoyable to watch Archana take harmless digs at the film and TV industry and its folks, and rather enjoyble was her take on Ekta Kapoor's own fetishes....the big red bindi on the forehead...very LS!! And the big headband that Ekta sports...quite MS! Nice touch, Ekta!

This is where KF can score over rival shows that merely skim the surface of the TV and film worlds. One however found the mediated duel between Sandhya and Rakhee a trifle stretched (helped in a small measure by spreading word in the media that the two are at loggerheads now!), nor did the promised mud slinging between Shweta Tiwari and Cezanne Khan deliver much muck. All Shweta kept saying was "Who's Cezanne Khan?' while the Khan diplomatically turned away without saying anything.

As for the bold quotient, all we had was Rakhee saying she would willingly go topless for a film. Ho hum.

Kandy Floss is indeed an interesting concept for a Friday night. If it can rake up enough hot content to keep it sizzling. Otherwise, it could just be MS. Neither here, nor there.