IDiot Box ?

Its a guilty pleasure of sorts,watching Bengali television. Indeed,no self respecting urban,English-speaking youth will own up to the fact that he or she is a diligent follower of the many ups and downs in the lives of the bespectacled zombie...

Its a guilty pleasure of sorts,watching Bengali television. Indeed,no self respecting urban,English-speaking youth will own up to the fact that he or she is a diligent follower of the many ups and downs in the lives of the bespectacled zombie,Dr Ujaan Chatterjee and his simpering wife Hiya,the lead players of the Bengali soap Ekhane Aakash Neel. Nor will you be comfortable with the feeling of being swept into a vortex of emotions in the sentimental drama Maa (a wide-eyed moppet desperately searches for her lost mother). But the truth is,they do tug and engage.

Take the Star Jalsha series Behula for instance. An adaptation from the Manasamangal genre of medieval epics,its a layered interpretation of the travails of a widow in medieval Bengal. There are the usual trappings of a soap opera of coursethe slomo shots,the Balaji import of thunderclap shots. But the series is essentially Bengali; its well-written and has a credible cast of performers which is more than what we can say about most Hindi soap operas.

Even Bengali reality television seems to be more credible than their Hindi counterparts. Somehow,Mithun Chakrabortys sleepy approval of the performance of a reed-thin guy from North Bengal (Dance Bangla Dance) seems more genuine than botoxed has-beens goading over-exposed starlets in shows like Jhalak Dikhla Jaa. Then there is the irrepressible Mir in Mirrakel,a comedy talent hunt which has some of the best-scripted stand-up acts in television. Siddhu and Shekhar Sumans lame turn in the Great Indian Laughter Challenge pales in comparison. And how can we forget Rituparno Ghoshs turn as a talk show host in Ghosh & Company (and its predecessor Ebong Rituparno). Meandering (like a true Bengali adda session should be),insightful and stimulating,the show stood for the best of Bengali culture. And its sassy Bollywood counterpart,Koffee with Karan? Pffft.

Having said that,we have to declare that all is not peachy in the world of Bengali television. Have you ever seen what they do in the name of dramatised accounts of real life incidents? Shudders.

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IDiot Box ?

Its a guilty pleasure of sorts,watching Bengali television. Indeed,no self respecting urban,English-speaking youth will own up to the fact that he or she is a diligent follower of the many ups and downs in the lives of the bespectacled zombie...

Its a guilty pleasure of sorts,watching Bengali television. Indeed,no self respecting urban,English-speaking youth will own up to the fact that he or she is a diligent follower of the many ups and downs in the lives of the bespectacled zombie...