Green White and TV
thoughts on the tv-realityDil Diya Dehleez at Hum TV
Without giving too much away, Javeria Abbasi plays a village girl named Zaitoon Bano who ends up a maid in the Khan household. Her actions eventually harm the marriage of Yawar Ali Khan (played by Farhan Ali Agha) and Nazneen (played by the charming Sarah Chaudhry).
What I really enjoyed in this drama is the unique use of Time. There are three separate time frames at play here: the Present, the distant Past, and the recent Past. Storyline movement is pretty much smooth, and most actors are able to pull off the requirement of their roles–whether they are playing a feudal lord or a dutiful personal assistant.
What I thought could be improved was primarily the attire and overall ambiance of the drama. It was quite a lazy effort, as the clothes or the furniture do not indicate which decade it is. In the Present all the girls are wearing short shirts and long skirts–whereas in the Past, all the ladies were wearing narrow-legged pajamas. Pakistan has a considerable portfolio of fashion design and even architecture to choose from–even if the original novel has not outlined the years–the production team easily could do so.
Despite the stretched flashback, I would give DDD a thumbs up–as the production quality is strong, the plot is reasonably believable (the credit goes to the author), and the two key songs (‘Jhootey Tere Nain’ and title song ‘Kaho Ko To’ ) add considerable depth to the serial.
Chal Diye-Coke Studio
Ye Haryali… Ye Aasmaan….
Ye Ghataa Meri Raazdaan..
Ye Haryali… Ye Aasmaan….
Ye Ghataan Meri Raazdaan..
Raat Kay Pehlo Mein Diye
Tere Liye Hain Bichae
Tera Haath Thaam… Kay Lo Hum Bhi Chal Diye….
Hum Bhi Chal Diye….
Swept away–the only way to describe the experience that is ‘Chal Diye’. It sounds like Tina Sani has done it once again!–except this was not sung by her. The up-and-coming Zeb and Haniya performed this ballad, along with the ever-talented Javed Bashir.
Click the link above, grab some chai and enjoy! 
IIFA Awards 2009 on Geo TV
This year’s IIFA awards show could have been easily called Bachan-palooza. From the red carpet interviews to the actual s how itself–the cameras inevitably showed on or another member of the Bachan clan. The awards broke with tradition to introduce a new series of accolades-the “Actor” “Music Director” “Film” of the Decade award.
The first to receive one of these special IIFA’s was Aishwarya Rai-Bachan. While there is no denying her impact on Bollywood, Ash has been visibly absent from the recent stream of movies. Save for the once-in-every-five-years Ashutosh Gowariker movie–in this case ‘Jodha Akbar’- Aishwarya has had no great commercial hits at the box office in recent years.
'Its mine?! Its mine!!'
Then there was Big B’s offspring, Abhishek Bachan, who was getting over emotional and teary-eyed over receiving an award for his comedic performance in ‘Dostana’. While it IS in honor, it is not like Abhishek won an Oscar. Had he won an Oscar–or at least an award for the Male Lead in a motion picture-we could have tolerated the blubbering, and the trip down memory lane to his dreams & childhood aspirations.
Performing to Genda Phool song
What tops its all was Abhishek Bachan’s-well frankly I don’t know what to call it. He kind of jiggle-waddled from the middle of the audience to the stage in super bright kurta–that too to the song ‘Genda Phool’ from ‘Delhi-6′ movie. It was funny…but mostly it seemed desperate.
It is quite evident that the younger Bachan is clearly more in his element doing comedy then being forced to act as a stereotypical hero. He should chart out his path independent of his clan’s expectations–we are in need of a good comic–think Robin Williams or Will Smith!
Dancing at the Grand Finale
Then there was the grand finale–with Ash riding in a doli–much like her movie ‘Jodha Akbar’. Okay okay, we get it–you princess–but please don’t bore us! The song and dance number seemed more like a fast forward viewing of her glory days–establishing Aishwarya as a ‘has-been’ top actress–rather then ’still-is’.
(Look out for more in Part Two–Anushka Sharma, Sonam Kapoor, and the missing Khans)
