Bharati

I had the opportunity to catch a live show right here in Paris... and it was a Bollywood show at that. It was a Bollywood musical called "Bharati" featuring an all-Indian cast at a huge auditorium here. The French turned up in thousands to watch and appreciate a show with songs they couldn't identify with. However, the narration was in French and by that Swades uncle (Rahul Vora - who comes as Mohan Bhargava's friend). And he speaks awesome French. Wiki-ing him later revealed that he holds a Master's degree in French. So no wonder. The story is quite cliché in the Bollywood scheme of things. NRI Boy meets village belle. Falls head over heels in love. Dad is strict. Of course there's another contender. But true love prevails. All this told with hit Bollywood numbers amongst which are Silsila ye chahat (Devdas), Bole choodiyan (K3G), Maiya maiya (Guru) and a couple of regional Tamil/Telugu hits as well. The singing was excellent and dancing outstanding. You can read more about the show here -http://www.bharatitheshow.com/music.php. It was excellent overall and what made it more enjoyable was the whole atmosphere. The French people absolutely loved everything. They were very appreciative, applauded like crazy, followed dance steps and even gave a standing ovation. And the girl who played Bharati, Bhavna Pani deserves a special mention. She was mindblowing. The fact that the people around us enjoyed it so much made it easy for us to enjoy it as well. You can catch a few videos on Youtube if you are intrigued. In all, it seemed like a very civilized way to spend an evening in Paris.

KBC 3 with SRK

I had the (mis) fortune of catching the show online. And as usual, my sharp tongue represented by my quick fingers have some smart comments to make. The show was overall not really entertaining. SRK clearly lacks the presence that the Big B commanded. And it seems that he is totally following on his footsteps which sort of makes you think that SRK is Big B's shell without the brain... the latter takes the decisions and paths that they both will follow at different times.

SRK is also lesser intimidating than the Big B. It wouldnt be too comical if the Big B made the kind of seedy, "I'm-not-so-big-a-star" jokes a la SRK. And the "Computerji lock kiya jaye" has also undergone a facedrop. Its now localized to the origin of the participant and ranges from "Computer Da freeze kiya jaye" or "Compaq Da freeze kiya jaye" (label-wise advertisement harvest) for a Bengali to "Computer Garu" - "Compaq Garu" for a Telugu-ite. It was hilarious to hear SRK speak Telmil (the new fashioned Telugu-Tamil hybrid) - "Ye mandi jaragandi...Saapadriya.. Rendu plate idli".

The show seems to have been cut in size and increased in frequency with as many ad breaks as ever. It also drove me nuts that SRK was trying too hard to be pally-pally with the contestants and gave them everything from high-fives to hugs. He also egged them on to the right decisions helping them win the questions and in one case quit with enough money to ward any guilt off. All said and done, it is not entirely fair for me to surmise about SRK in just one episode. It is to be seen if he retains any charisma that was once associated with the show at all.. We'll wait n watch!