Hindi TV Serial - Khatron Ke Khiladi Part 4 - Fear Factor - Torchaar

Khatron Ke Khiladi is a popular reality show that runs pretty fast, with the most popular format being where a popular male star takes a number of ladies (from television, and other such popular) as contestants and pairs them up with male partners. They are taken through a series of tasks that challenge their fitness, courage, will power, sheer talent, and they go through rounds of elimination till there is an eventual winner.
Last time, the host of the program was Priyanka Chopra, but I think the audiences get more pleasure out of seeing female contestants, and with the host being Akshay Kumar, the show this time (version 4) should get more popular. However, keep in mind that reality contests see more and more confrontation, which makes the show more popular. In the current case as well, Akshay has got more confrontational since the previous time he hosted the programs, and runs down the contestants much more than he used to do in the past.
The contestants these time are:
Aashka Goradia - A television artist
Aarti Chhabria - Acted in a movie along with Akshay Kumar. Has been eliminated.
VJ Bani - MTV Roadies contestant
Anjum Chopra - Member of the Indian national Women's hockey team
Aliesia Raut - Actress, acted in movie Fashion
Diandra Soares - Acted in movies Boom and Fashion
Mauli Dave - Made a name for herself on a singing reality show
Dina Singh - Wife of Vindu Dara Singh
Sambhavana Seth - No one needs an introduction to Sambhavana, who likes a lot of controversy. She has been eliminated.
Poonam Pandey - Created a sensation when claimed she will strip for the Indian team after the One Day World Cup victory. Eliminated.
VJ Mia - A well known VJ
Smita Bansal - The Bahu of the house, on the show Balika Vadhu. Has been eliminated.



More videos of the show on Youtube (link)

Hindi TV Serial - Bandini - Santo in serious trouble, believed to have got into another relationship

Like any other serial, Bandini also believes in subjecting its chief character to multiple problems, to various character assassinations, and other problems; this ensures that people loving drama remain interested, and also that getting characters out of this drama can ensure long series of episodes of multiple weeks each. And so is the case with Bandini, where Santu seems to be getting into problems all the time.
In this case, Rudra was trying to get close to Santu, even when he came to know that Santu was the wife of DM (and this was something suspicious, when somebody comes to know that the person you are trying to flirt with is a powerful man, and also the head of the house in which you are currently staying, then most people will step back. This is even more true when the lady herself has slapped you, and another member of the household has also threatened you). And he showed a burst of anger when Santu slapped him again, and cornered her in a room.
When they were found, Rudra knew that he was in trouble. However, he turned the tables on everyone by claiming that both Santu and he were in love, that DM was wrong for having married a lady half his age, and also that Santu and he had done nothing wrong. And of course, he was slapped and cursed, but the anger also started getting reflected on Santu. From all appearances, it seemed that everybody in the house believed that she could be the wrong one in this, with Ba being the only who seemed some non-believing; Santu seemed shocked that everyone could so easily believe this, with even DM and her own sister also believing it. Now what will happen in this household ?

Video of Bandini 27th April 2010 - NDTV Imagine - Part 1



Bandini 27th April 2010 - NDTV Imagine - Part 2



Bandini 27th April 2010 - NDTV Imagine - Part 3



Bandini 27th April 2010 - NDTV Imagine - Part 4

Long running music talent program - new season of Indian Idol on Sony TV

Indian Idol is a long running serial on Sony TV, now running on the 5th edition (the show itself being modeled on a popular American serial of the same type and format). The concept of the show is fairly simple; people from all over the country can apply to showcase their talent (and by now, the auditions of Indian Idol are huge, with a large number of people from all over the country wanting to apply), and then take part in several rounds, being judged by eminent musicians and singers (a jury of 3, out of which Anu Malik seems to be the ever-present member).
Over a period of time, the winner of the contest gets a lot of fame, the opportunity to get a break into the singing industry, and also huge awards from the sponsors (in this case, a 1 year contract with Sony BMG, and also 1 crore as prize money). The winner of the First Indian Idol was Abhijeet Sawant, who is also one of the presenters for the show, the other being Prajakta Shukre (who placed 4th in the first season of Indian Idol). The judges for this season have been changed, with Anu Malik remaining (he remains the judge with the sharpest tongue, claiming that he is a straight talking person), with the others being the singer, Sunidhi Chauhan, as well as the musician and singer Salim Merchant. Both of them are a bit softer on the contestants, but otherwise have their own opinions, and it is also pretty clear that they will take their own decisions (not swayed by Anu Maik). In addition, it is also rumored that the channel would prefer that there be always some amount of conflict so that the show also remains interesting.

Video of Indian idol 5 Auditions 26th April 2010



Indian idol 5 Auditions 26th April 2010 Episode 1

Hindi TV Serial - Dance India Dance - Won by Shakti Mohan from Terrence Ki Toli on 23 April 2010

Dance India Dance is a dance contest that appears on Zee TV, now for 2 seasons. It is one of the few shows (like Indian Idol on Sony) that gives a chance to normal people to show off their skills, in this case, their Dance skills (and in fact, there is no other show that allows ordinary people to show off their dancing skills). It has become fairly popular, attracting a huge amount of attention and ensuring that contestants spend a lot of time preparing for the show, showing dancing skills that are incredible. Now, when you look at some of the finalists, they seem as good as people you see in the movies, and prepare some incredible acts.
Dance India Dance has had a number of celebrity guests such as: Salman Khan, Dia Mirza, Amitabh Bachchan, Vivek Oberoi, Govinda Ahuja, Helen, Arshad Warsi, Jeetendra, Boman Irani, Ritesh Deshmukh, with the judges being Terence Lewis, Remo D'Souza and Geeta Kapur. In addition, Mithun Chakraborty is the Grandmaster of the show, and even has veto powers to use once in the show to change a decision.
After a lot of steps, the last 4 finalists were:
Shakti Mohan, 24 (Mumbai)
Dharmesh Yelande, 27 (Vadodara)
Punit Pathak, 23 (Mumbai)
Binny Sharma, 22 (Ahmedabad)
The final was a long affair (and maybe the show organizers should ensure that the finals should never be so long that they lose the attention of viewers. We started watching the program, but lost interest midway and switched on again only at the end).

Video of Lux Dance India Dance Season 2 April 23 '10 Janta Ka Faisla

Hindi TV Serial - Bandini - Birwa goes in for a more violent mode, after seeing that nothing was preventing the marriage

Bandini is a serial on Imagine TV that is fairly popular. The serial is essentially based on the struggle of Santu, a girl from a poor household who ends up marrying a much older man, who is also the richest man in the whole area and very influential. She in turn struggles to ensure that her new family does not come to any troubles.
In the current set of episodes, Birwa is very badly frustrated over the fact that Sarang is going to marry Monghi, Santu's sister. When Sarang was after her, she turned him down, but by the time she realized that she wanted to marry Sarang, it was too late. He had started loving Monghi, even though she was much poorer than him. It is Birwa's own father, DM, who moves the marriage forward, even ensuring that Sarang's own father did not raise too many objections. The few objections raised by Sarang's grandmother were also settled, and everything seemed to be fine.
In all this, Birwa, who is trying to prevent the marriage from happening was unable to control her anger. Using her business logic (where a cut diamond has no value), she reasons that if Sarang cannot marry her, he will not be able to marry anyone, she decides to get rid of Sarang, and takes him up a cliff through false pretenses. There, she is just about to attack him when DM's car comes in between and saves Sarang, but DM gets hurt.
When DM comes back home, he is injured and claims that he was in an accident, and that Sarang was nearby and saved him. But Santu hears Sarang and his friend Rudra discussing this, and wants to know more, and tries to pump Rudra for more information. Rudra in turn is flirty, so one wonders how Santu will react when Rudra tries to flirt with her.

Video of Bandini 20th April 20 April 2010 Part 1



Bandini 20th April 20 April 2010 Part 2



Bandini 20th April 20 April 2010 Part 3



Bandini 20th April 20 April 2010 Part 4

Hindi TV Serial - Na Aana Iss Des Ladoo - Ammaji and the gang who have held Raghav custody

In Na Aana Iss Des Ladoo, is Ammaji meeting somebody who can be as ruthless as her ? Ammaji runs the house and village with an iron hand, including killing baby girls, punishing people if they go against her, and so on. She even went to the extent of sending a lady from the village to the District Magistrate to satisfy his desires to save herself from the push that he was making against her. And now, in the midst of her effort to prove that she is the leader, she is facing somebody who can be quite ruthless like her.
In the midst of a horse race, Ammaji is sought to be kidnapped by a gang of dacoits. She manages to escape this effort, but soon after, her son Raghav is kidnapped when he is going to report this to the police. This causes a huge amount of consternation in the house, with Sia being very distressed, and Ammaji spewing fire at the people who could dare do something like this.
And now, when Raghav has been captured, Ammaji is called by the dacoits to hear their demands, being called alone. She does carry a pistol, but does not get much of a chance to use it, since Raghav is in custody.
The matter is that the gang of dacoits is being chased by the police, and they want their leader Amba to get safety in Ammaji's haveli for some time. Ammaji really does not like this, but when the safety of Raghav is at stake, then there is no question of not accepting the demands. She fumes over the treatment she will accord to the dacoits once Raghav is safe, but till that time, she has to do whatever they say.

Video of Na Aana iss Desh lado * 20th April 2010 - Part 1



Na Aana iss Desh lado * 20th April 2010 - Part 2



Na Aana iss Desh lado * 20th April 2010 - Part 3



Na Aana iss Desh lado * 20th April 2010 - Part 4

Hindi TV Serial - Balika Vadhu on Colors - The appearance of a new character to threaten Bhairon's and Sumitra's marriage

In Balika Vadhu, after the almost death of Anandi, when she saved Jagdish from a bullet, it became all right in the family. Kalyani was again happy, and started favoring Anandi again (given that it took Anandi some time to come out from hospital). It took Anandi some time to get over the shock caused by the bullet, and for some time, her mind was mentally weak.
But how is it possible that everything would go right in the serial ? A Hindi Serial consists of a series of mini-stories, all of them lasting for several weeks, and once a story has started, it will start gripping the story line and would threaten many of the characters in the serial. In this case, there is a threat to the marriage of the one couple whose marriage was never threatened so far, namely that of Bhairon and Sumitra. Till now, the marriages and relations between all the other characters in the serial had come under some strain, and now the same things is happening to their marriage.
A new character has been introduced, this being a lady called Teekri (Sakshi Talwar), who is apparently a childhood friend of Bhairon, but who had been away for many many years. Now she is back, with a sinister purpose. She believes that Bhairon is destined to be married to her, and that Sumitra would need to be removed from Bhairon's life. They show her to be somewhat demented, but she is clever enough that she is trying to make a space for herself with Maasa, and also trying to spoil the relationship between Bhairon and Sumitra. Right now, Anandi has seen what Teekri is trying to do, and she tries to stop the steps being taken by Teekri. On the other hand, Teekri fights back by trying to portray Anandi as being not good for Jagdish, and inauspicious for her.

Video of Balika Vadhu 16th April 2010 pt1



Balika Vadhu 16th April 2010 pt2



Balika Vadhu 16th April 2010 pt3



Balika Vadhu 16th April 2010 pt4

Hindi TV Serial - Pavitra Rishta Written Update - Manav playing the role of a good son-in-law

The time has come very close for the wedding of Satish and Varsha. It had earlier been thought that both Archana and Maanav will go to Sulochna Tai's house some days before the wedding, but Archana refuses, since she says that she needs to support the house and Savita tai. So, it gets decided that Maanav will go to the Karanjkar house and provide the required help. In the meantime, Rasika and Ajit get busy in their nefarious planning and decide that for the time being, they will send Vandu home (claiming that since she has not been home after the marriage, it is a good thing for her to do). Archana is suspicious that both of them are upto no good, and they must be planning something more to spoil things, and tells the same to Sulochana. They both worry about whether they will know the secret of Varsha's relationship with her ex-boss, but then decide that Satish is a good person.
In the meantime, Manav is playing the role of the dutiful son-in-law, and wins the heart of everybody in his in-law's house (even though it is very close to the signing of the divorce papers); to the extent that Sulochana would have wished that the relationship did not end. At the same time, Savita tai is starting to recognize the worth of Archana, but she also looks the soon-to-be-born baby as the last sign of her dead son Sachin, and will not stop the divorce of Archana and Manav.
A horrific event happens when Manohar and Manav go to the bank to withdraw money. While Manav goes to get some food to give to a beggar boy, Manohar goes to get the money from the bank. Unknown to him, he is being tailed by a thief, who along with another then steal all the money. Manav then borrows the money from a guy named Girish, and gives that money to Manohar.

Video of Pavitra Rishta 16th April Part 1



Pavitra Rishta 16th April Part 2



Pavitra Rishta 16th April Part 3

Hindi TV serial - Uttaran - Ichcha finally confronts Tapasya, after Vansh walks out on her on the wedding night

Written update: Ichcha is facing some huge problems in her life. She knows (and so does the rest of her family that Tapasya hates her, and will do things to make her life miserable). In fact, all of them know that Tapasya tries to get Ichcha killed, and yet Ichcha still cannot understand that Tapasya is somebody she should stay away from. In the meantime, Tapasya is planning an even more miserable situation for Ichcha, by ensuring that her future husband, Vansh, gets to know all about the past relationship between Veer and Ichcha, so that her married life will also be miserable, and this will be a true revenge for how Tapasya's married life with Veer was miserable due to Veer being in love with Ichcha.
And how does she do this ? Well, she decides to plaster the bedroom of Vansh and Ichcha with photos of Ichcha and Veer, and her plan seems to slightly backfire when Vansh comes into the room before the marriage, and sees all these photos. He almost decides not to do the marriage, but then is counseled to do the marriage, and agrees, but is shocked.
When they are married and are together, Vansh starts off by being nice and sweet to Ichcha, but this is a a very short time, and soon becomes very sarcastic, and asks her about what her past was. And Ichcha had believes that she had told Vansh all about her past with Veer in a letter, that Tapasya had intercepted and replaced some of the contents. Vansh then leaves the room and the house and Tapasya comes to console Ichcha. Ichcha at this time leans that the letter she had sent to Vansh was actually intercepted, and major chunks of the content was substituted, and for the first time, actually raises her hand to hit Tapasya.

Videos of the serial:

Uttaran * 15th April 2010*HQ*Part1



Uttaran * 15th April 2010*HQ*Part2



Uttaran * 15th April 2010*HQ*Part3



Uttaran * 15th April 2010*HQ*Part4((LAST))

Hindi TV Serial - Na Aana Iss Des Ladoo - Ammaji attacked during the horse race by some people in black

Santosh is in real trouble. After trying to run away, she is brought back by Ammaji's men who also kill her relative (but not before Santosh has already met another man). When she is brought back to the house, Ammaji insists on the same thing, that Raghav will be the one who will have physical relations with Santosh so that she can have a baby and there will be no question marks on Jogi after that (it's very simplistic to assume that one night of physical relations would result in pregnancy, that too when the situation is very emotionally traumatic). However, Raghav, even though he knew that he never would do such a thing to his bhabhi, agrees to Ammaji and decides to go to Santosh's room. At this, Sia and the other female members of the house are shocked. However, Raghav becomes fully drunk and later tells Santosh that he would never think of touching her, and in the morning, Santosh also tells Sia that everything is fine and that they did not do anything (but at the same time, telling Ammaji that it had happened).
Soon after, Ammaji decides to take part in the horse race, since that is a matter of great pride for her that she is able to defeat the men in the village in the horse race and is shadowed by her men to ensure her safety. However, there are some people in black who are also pursuing her (a new twist in the story), and when Ammaji is in the lead, a rider in black tries to capture Ammaji (at which Raghav manages to save her). In the next, they show a whole gang discussing about how to capture Ammaji, and otherwise trying to capture her children. When Raghav goes to file a report in the police station, he is indeed captured by the same gang, something that shocks the entire household. Now what will happen ?

Na Aana Iss Desh Lado * 14th April 2010 - Part 1



Na Aana Iss Desh Lado * 14th April 2010 - Part 2



Na Aana Iss Desh Lado * 14th April 2010* - Part 3



Na Aana Iss Desh Lado * 14th April 2010 - Part 4



Na Aana Iss Desh Lado * 14th April 2010 - Part 5

Series on Discovery Travel & Living - Living with a Superstar - Shahrukh Khan

Shahrukh Khan is the biggest star of Indian cinema (for his generation - since we also have Amitabh Bachchan, who is probably more respected than Shahrukh Khan, and you have Aamir Khan, who has developed a much respected branding of his own, and who owns 2 of the biggest money making films of India). He has a huge number of fans, and yet, there is a lot that people really do not know about Shahkukh Khan. When he travels anywhere, he has an entourage with him that prevents people from getting too close to him, and a security team that will guard him relentlessly. However, the interest in knowing more about him will also be great. And this is where this new program comes in, to show a behind the scenes look at Shahrukh Khan, at his home, his family, his travels, everything.
The show is called "Living with a Superstar: Shah Rukh Khan", and is a 10 part, behind the scenes look. This involved a fair amount of work, with the production team traveling along with Shahrukh Khan across 4 continents; covering a set of different activities such as shooting, getting a personal tour of his home 'Mannat', being with him on vacation in London, access to another home in Dubai, getting to work with his wife and children, a lot of background on the experiences in his ownership of the low-performing Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team. For those fans who want to know more about the superstar, the series is a must watch.
The series has been produced by a small production house called Blue Mango films along with Red Chillies Idiot Box and shows up every Friday at 9 PM starting February 26th.

Some videos from Youtube (link)

Music reality program - Star Plus - Amul Music Ka Maha Muqqabla, a music contest between teams

This was a reality contest, of the music genre, with 6 teams. Typical reality contests are between individuals striving to become an overall champion (like the Indian Idol), so this type of contest is more interesting. The show appeared on Star Plus, starting on December 13, 2009, with a total of 13 weeks, lasting till March 2010.
The show was compered by Ayushmann Khurrana, with the teams fighting it out bitterly. In the case of people such as Himesh Reshammiya, the contest could really become bitter, with him being sarcastic or taunting on many occasions. The teams had some well known singers (with many of them having come from some of the music programs). Within each round, there are 5 contests (what this means is, every episode would have 5 contests), with all members of the team (including the leaders) having to sing.
The teams were led by the following well known personalities (and their team members):
Shaan - Debojit Saha, Anwesha, Harshit Saxena, Shadab Faridi
Shreya Ghoshal - Abhas Joshi, Ujjaini, Aneek Dhar, Rehman Ali
Mohit Chauhan - Amey Date, Hemachandra Vedalal, Ravi Shukla, nikitha Nigam
Mika - Lakhwinder Wadali, Toshi Sabri, Himani Kapoor, Tajinder Singh Ahuja
Shankar - Rahul Vaidya, Sharib Sabri, Sanjeev Kumar, Neeti Mohan
Himesh Reshammiya - Raja Hasan, Vinit Singh, Munawwar Ali, Ashwariya

Each contested with each other in different combinations, with points being given by the audience as well as by the judges (the 4 other teams that were bystanders).
In the end, the program was won by Shankar Rockstars on 20th March 2010.

Videos of the final on Youtube:

Amul Music ka Mahamuqabla Grand Finale Part 1



Amul Music ka Mahamuqabla Grand Finale Part 2



Amul Music ka Mahamuqabla Grand Finale Part 3

Khatron Ke Khiladi Part 2 / Level 2 - Action continues

This year, the second version of Khatron Ke Khiladi has some great stunts. The show takes place in South Africa with 14 Indian divas (TV actresses, models, etc) along with their selected ordinary male companions. The host for the show that appears on Colors is Akshay Kumar, and the contestants have to undergo a variety of stunts. If the stunt requires only one person, then it is the lady who has to do the stunt, and if the stunt requires 2 people, then it is both who participate. The stunts typically involve activities dealing with water, being up in the air somewhere, animals, etc. As an example, one of the stunts involved being able to withstand octopus in the same helmet as the lady, with water inside the helmet, and the lady has to remove the screws holding the helmet together. The one who did so in the least possible time wins.
Akshay can be encouraging when he feels that the lady is overcoming some internal problems, such as when somebody is afraid of going under water, or afraid of dealing with an animal, or similar problem.
At the same time, Akshay can scold the contestants very thoroughly if he feels that they are not giving their best, and has done so many times. In each show, there are 2 stunts, and Akshay gives one or more of the teams a yellow banner if they are the best in the first stunt, so that they do not have to do the second stunt. The contestants are listed below. Some of them were brought back into the show after being eliminated, and had to go through another contest for this chance.

Shweta Salve
Carol Gracias-Eliminated 6th day (15th Sept 09)-Rentry Wild card 8th day (17th Sept 09)
Jesse Randhawa
Shonali Nagrani-Eliminated 1st day (7th Sept 09)-Rentry Wild card 8th day (17th Sept 09)
Mandira Bedi - Eliminated 9th day (21st Sept 09)
Rosa Catalano -Eliminated 2nd day (8th Sept 09)-Rentry Wild card 8th day (17th Sept 09)
Pia Trivedi-Eliminated 5th day (14th Sept 09)
Bruna Abdalah-Eliminated 3rd day (9th Sept 09)-Rentry Wild card 8th day (17th Sept 09)
Sushma Reddy-Eliminated 4th day (10th Sept 09)
Nauheed Cyrusi
Anushka Manchanda
Rupali Ganguly-Eliminated 7th day (16th Sept 09)
Sonika Kaliraman

Video of one of the shows:

22nd September 2009 - Fear Factor Khatron Ke Khiladi Level 2 (link)



Watch more videos at this link.

CID - Long running detective show on Sony

There have been many detective shows on TV, with some specific character based shows such as Karamchand, Byomkesh Bakshi, and others similar to these making a name for themselves. These have been shows about gifted detectives who are essentially individuals with the gift for determining motives, and deducing human action. Sony went on a different track and created a show that showcases the role of a Government agency in solving heinous and dangerous crimes. The result is the show called CID (Crime Investigation Division) of the Mumbai Police. The people in the show are dedicated, but not individually brilliant; instead they use modern science, forensics and the power of the law (interrogations, authorized searches, etc) to find clues that will help them to solve the crime.
The team is currently headed by ACP Pradyuman (Played by Shivaji Satam). A dedicated officer, he will not let anything come in his way to solve the crime, and can drive his team to solve these cases. The other 2 main detectives of the force are:
Abhijeet : Inspector Abhijeet (played by Aditya Srivastav), has been a long standing member of the show. Recently, in an episode, he was replaced by an impersonator, but by the end of the show, the reality came out.
Daya : Inspector Daya (played by Dayanand Shetty) is one of the more likable members of the show. He is a huge man, and can be quite a force in terms of subduing criminals and intimidating them.
The show does not show other policemen, assuming that when a serious crime occurs, the CID is the one called immediately to the screen (and normal citizens can directly call the CID). In addition, one shows them entering houses and intimidating people without a search warrant. After some detective work, some forensic work, the criminal is normally caught, many times, the criminal is surprised at being caught.

Cast:
Shivaji Satam ... ACP Pradyuman
Aditya Srivastav ... senior Inspector Abhijeet
Daynand Shetty ... Daya
Dinesh Phadnis ... sub-Inspector Fredericks (Freddy) Comic element in the show
Narendra Gupta ... Dr. Salunke
Vivek Mashru ... Vivek
Shradda Musale ... Dr.Tarika

Videos of the serial on Youtube:



Other videos of the serial CID on Sony TV (link)

Shree on Zee TV - fight against the devil

Ganpati Bappa Morya!
Wasna Ahmed who plays Shree in Zee TV’s paranormal love story ‘Shree’, though a Muslim by faith, worships all religions and strongly believes in Ganpati Bappa. She was more than excited to shoot a sequence where Bal Ganesha himself appears in front of her and showers his blessings on her.

Shree’s trauma caused by Kagna’s numerous attempts to kill Hari will finally come to an end, this Ganesh Chaturthi. Kangna has been formed a new plot to kill Hari. She has poisoned one amongst Shree’s twin babies who if given birth will become a devil. To save her babies from from Kangana’s evil acts, Shree worships Ganpati Bappa and surprisingly the Lord himself come to Shree’s rescue. In the coming episodes, Shree will be seen meeting Bal Ganesh who will help and guide her thorugh this difficult phase of her life.




Video of Shree September 03, 2009 on Youtube

Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao - the last week

Now, we are in the last week of 'Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao', and there are just 4 participants left in the serial. For the past several weeks, it would seem that the serial is bent to put more exposure, more fight, and more scare tactics in the show. First, the show separated the male and female participants and made them compete against each other. There were lots of fights in the show, with Akash Sehgal being the worst element in these shows. He used bad language with abandon, tried to portray all the female participants in a bad light, and considered himself superior to the others.
Anaida and Mona Wasu were the ones who fought the most with Akash, although they also fought with Chetan, and a few others on occasion. The show made participants do a lot of things that seem pretty horrible such as cooking insects, rats, and other such creatures on an open flame and then making the male and female contestants contest to see who would eat the fastest. In other contests, the participants would have to withstand time while all sorts of creepy crawlies such as rats, cockroaches, wasps, ants, scorpions, frogs, etc were raining on them, or were all around their legs, heads, or bodies. Takes a lot of courage to do that.
Many participants came and left during the course of the show, with Nigar Khan being there for very little time, Marc and Aman were there from the beginning and then were finally evicted. Kashmira Shah came for some time, did a lot of gossiping, strutted around in a bikini, and then finally left. Jay Bhanushali came in, got overawed by Akash and Chetan, and finally left. Mika came in for a short time, and so did Chitrashi. In the end, the following four are left:
Aakashdeep Saigal
Anaida
Chetan Hansraj
Mona Wasu

Videos of the show from Youtube:

Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao 1st September 2009 Part 1



Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao 1st September 2009 Part 2



Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao 1st September 2009 Part 3



Negar Khan and Chetan Hansraj in swimsuits taking a bath:



Kashmera Shah in a bikini taking a bath:

Basera on NDTV Imagine - tale of parents being deserted by their families

A lot of people would have seen the movie called 'Baghban' starring Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini, as a couple whose children eventually go tired of supporting them after Amitabh retires and with whom they are no longer comfortable. The new serial 'Basera' on NDTV Imagine also goes down this path. Ram Kapoor, fresh from his role as the host on Rakhi Ka Swayamwar, is the head of one family with loving children. The serial is about 4 such families, these being the Sanghvis, the Parikhs, the Deshmukhs, and the Manchandas.
The parents in all these families have done a lot for their children, given that whatever they could, all in the expectation that when they are older, their children will take care of them. In all this, they have not made adequate provisions for their own life when they are much older. So, what happens when their children do not live up to this faith, when they desert them and see their parents as burden upon them. When life deals them such harsh lessons, these 4 friends and their wives provide a lot of support to each other, and enable them to be strong in such adverse times.



Videos of the serial on Youtube:

Basera - August 31st - Part 1 (link)



Basera - August 31st - Part 2 (link)



Basera - August 31st - Part 3 (link)

Aapki Antara: The attempt to explain the life of an autistic girl

Aap Ki Antara is a show that is somewhat unusual. How often have you seen a show about something serious, and an issue that is not known to a large number of people. Hence, the effort to introduce the concept of what an autisitic child is, what is the behavior, how they are not crazy, what are the efforts that are needed to bring up such a child. The serial has tried to show these challenges, but they are introducing many twists that a normal serial does (maybe to increase the drama, but that tend to take away from the serious nature of the serial.
Antara is the daughter of Aditya, a loan manager of a bank. He is married to Vidya, and they have a son as well. Things are fine, and then they discover that Aditya had been unfaithful, and there is a daughter called Antara from the relationship. The woman with whom Aditya had been unfaithful has now died, and Aditya has to take care of Antara, who is autistic. They are slowly starting to learn what being autistic means, and Aditya is facing a lot of problems in trying to do good for Antara (with Vidya being somewhat cut off from him, but slowly starting to accept Antara as her daughter as well). Antara in the meantime is seen as crazy by those who do not know, including other mothers (and the serial unnecessarily shows some of the mothers as being very bitchy). Antara shows off some special skills in terms of artistic prowess.
Currently, Aditya is getting stuck in several problems. He was trying to earn some money on the side, but that is not working out. Further, most critically, Antara is now lost, and Aditya is going mad looking for her. Will he be able to find her, or will the serial go in for a time leap ?

Videos of Aapki Antara on Youtube:

Aapki Antara - 28th Aug 2009 - Part 1 - HD



Aapki Antara - 28th Aug 2009 - Part 2 - HD



Aapki Antara - 28th Aug 2009 - Part 3 - HD



Links that point to autism / autistic resources in India:
http://www.autism-india.org/afa_helpline.html
http://www.autismindia.com/
Autism Society of India

Cast:
Zynah Vastani (Antara)
Prabhleen Sandhu (Vidya Verma )
Darshan Pandya (Aditya Verma )
Rupali Ganguly (Anuradha)
Aarav Velhal (Billu Gupta)
Sujata Kumar (Anatara's grandmother)

More about autistic children:
Autism is a brain development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism involves many parts of the brain; how this occurs is not well understood. Although early behavioral or cognitive intervention can help children gain self-care, social, and communication skills, there is no known cure. Overt symptoms gradually begin after the age of six months, become established by age two or three years, and tend to continue through adulthood, although often in more muted form. People with autism have social impairments and often lack the intuition about others that many people take for granted. Autistic infants show less attention to social stimuli, smile and look at others less often, and respond less to their own name. Autistic toddlers differ more strikingly from social norms; for example, they have less eye contact and turn taking, and are more likely to communicate by manipulating another person's hand.
Autistic individuals display many forms of repetitive or restricted behavior such as:
- Stereotypy is repetitive movement, such as hand flapping, making sounds, head rolling, or body rocking.
- Compulsive behavior is intended and appears to follow rules, such as arranging objects in a stacks or lines.
- Sameness is resistance to change; for example, insisting that the furniture not be moved or refusing to be interrupted.
- Ritualistic behavior involves an unvarying pattern of daily activities, such as an unchanging menu or a dressing ritual. This is closely associated with sameness and an independent validation has suggested combining the two factors.
- Restricted behavior is limited in focus, interest, or activity, such as preoccupation with a single television program, toy, or game.
- Self-injury includes movements that injure or can injure the person, such as eye poking, skin picking, hand biting, and head banging. A 2007 study reported that self-injury at some point affected about 30% of children.

Jai Shri Krishna on Colors - Krishna finally slays Kans

The serial Jai Shri Krishna on Colors moved away from the child like cute stage some months ago, and started showing the older, teenager age Krishna. In this age, he started showing more of his powers and god behavior, getting rid of the snake Kaaliya from the river (the snake was poisoning the water of the river); it was also becoming clear that his uncle (the ruler of Mathura, Kans) was determined to destroy him by any means. However, none of these plans were successful.
Finally, the inevitable happened. Kans calls Krishna to Mathura, identifying him as his nephew, something that Yashoda would not have easily accepted; however, it was the destiny of Lord Krishna to finally meet Kans, and so it happened. Krishna, accompanied by his brother Balram, finally went to Mathura, and withstood all attempts by Kans to destroy him. Eventually, Krishna over-powered Kans in a single battle, and along with Balram, takes over the running of Mathura.

Videos of Jai Shri Krishna on Colors (on Youtube) - episode where Lord Krishna kills Kans

Jai Shri Krishna [271st Episode] - 24th Aug 09 part 1



Jai Shri Krishna [271st Episode] - 24th Aug 09 part 2

Things start to get better in Yeh Rishta Kya Kahlata Hain

Yeh Rishta Kya Kahlata Hain on Star Plus must have seen the longest wedding ever, much longer than even the Rajshri's would have made it. The days before the wedding, the events during the wedding, and the post-wedding festivities have lasted for several weeks of serial time (I could be sure of missing any particular day and not have missed more than 1-2 functions). They should record some of those parts, and turn them into a cultural thing to show tourists, the wedding functions practices by one section of the population.
Anyhow, for most of the past few weeks, the whole thing was about how Naitik had discovered that he was not the first person that Akshara had seen, and had put on a twisted face ever since then. The fact that he wanted to be the first one to whom she had said (and then he discovered that it was his cousin, one with whom he keeps on fighting, which made it even worse). It got so bad that people in the wedding could not help noticing that he was not so happy as you would expect somebody to be who has just got married. Even his wedding photos showed him as grumpy, something his cousins kept on pointing out.
Eventually, it lead to Akshara crying in front of him on their wedding night, the time when they are supposed to make the first steps in building their relationship. It also meant that Rituraj, his cousin, wanted to quickly leave since he knew that this entire issue was all about his earlier proposal with Akshara. In the end, however, things turn out fine and Naitik resolves his problems. He also helps Akshara resolve her problem with making the traditional sweet on the day after marriage, since the kheer she makes is too sweet, and they get kheer from outside to save the issue.

Videos of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hain on Youtube

Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai - 21st August 2009-part1



Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai - 21st August 2009-part2