Rocking spoof of a rendezvous

Switching from Semi Girebaal on MTV to Simi Garewal on Star World is good fun. As Semi breathes, “How lovely…” Simi coos, almost as if she’s completing the sentence, “That’s so nice…” Last week Semi had Cyrus Broacha as Shah Rukh Khan (guest number two was Current Kohar, and both men wore outrageous wigs), and Simi had Sanjay Dutt as Sanjay Dutt (his hair standing on end as if it had just been electrocuted). Both ladies simpered equally sympathetically, the white set glowed as luminously in both shows – but speaking for myself, give me Semi any day. It’s not surprising that MTV’s Rendezvous With Semi Girebaal, telecast on the same day and at the same time as Star World’s Rendezvous With Simi Garewal, has much better ratings. Semi is going to become — if she isn’t already — one of MTV’s most rocking spoofs. She beats Pidu hands down.

This is probably one of the few shows on MTV that is appointment viewing. In all these years, I’ve never been able to figure out what comes when on MTV. I’m told that’s because it’s a ‘snacking’ channel — you grab what you can when you can — but that’s a little frustrating if you don’t want to miss a particular show. Like Bakra, which I rather enjoy.

I have been watching Kasamh Se on Zee and am glad to inform you that there’s finally a K serial from the Balaji stable which is not a saas-bahu family soap. Sure, there is a rich
family, sure, there is plenty of melodrama and there are the regular staples like a wicked sister-in-law and a bitchy vamp (Rakshanda Khan smiling evilly in every scene). But it’s more the love story of television’s most beloved heroine avatar — the simple, pure behenji — and a wealthy, bad-tempered tycoon given to pulling the most frightful faces. By default therefore, it’s different. Oh all right, it’s ever so slightly different. But in the current scenario when each and every soap looks like a carbon copy of the other, you’ve got to be grateful for small mercies.

Zee has also started a new serial called Jab Love Hua, which is about a spoilt city brat (and bit mentally deficient one at that) who comes to a village and runs into a good rustic lad.

I suppose the two will fall in love and we’ll end up seeing the brat trade her miniskirt for a ghagra choli.

Can barely wait.