She8217;s got it

The first word she uttered was a deeply unsatisfying Ummmm''. Then the silly fellow asked if she was immodest. Completely.'' Her eyeb...

The first word she uttered was a deeply unsatisfying 8220;Ummmm8221;. Then the silly fellow asked if she was immodest. 8220;Completely.8221; Her eyebrows cha-cha-cha-ed, her eyes danced, her teeth smiled they did too. And there was no stopping her: she spoke of a great childhood, why her father wanted to name her Mercedes because he went round the Benz!, how Enid Blyton8217;s St.Claire novels inspired her to attend boarding school, that had she been her grandmother, she would have definitely killed herself because as granddaughters went, she was a handful8230; college bored her 8220;out of her skull,8221; taking about herself bored her 8220;because it limits conversation,8217; and no, she didn8217;t think she was a great actress, and yes, she loved her husband very much8230;.. Say hello to Kajol, who in her favourite phrase, was 8220;generally having a ball.8221; Face to Face, BBC.

Thank Karan Thapar for so thoughtfully interviewing her. This is perhaps her first full scale television interview. She was utterly-butterly delightful. The importance of being Kajol lies in her naturalness: she scratched her nose, she tugged an eyelash, she beetled her eyebrows together, she pulled the hair off her face, she threw back her head. And giggled. At 24 years of age hard as it8217;s to believe, she has all the freshness of her youth but it8217;s her amazing self possession and vivacity which lends Kajol such charm. In films, she8217;s been a compelling mixture of impish humour, feminine gracefulness and smouldering tempestuousness. All of which were on ample display during this encounter. And you felt an actress not star is waiting to be born.

Unlike many other superstars and there are too many to name, she wasn8217;t a smug bug. She would pause and try for sensibility, in the nicest sense of the word. When asked of her parents failed marriage, she spoke of seeing them as individuals; when Thapar wanted to know what mattered to Kajol, she replied, 8220;that I shouldn8217;t disappoint myself.8221; Did her first Filmfare award matter? 8220;Not in the long run8221;. When told that men didn8217;t fantasise about a married woman, she sighed, gratefully, 8220;thank god!8221; She admitted to moodiness, tempestuosity and being very critical of her work. True or false, she did sound sensible.

Ofcourse there were no searing insights into the film industry, no earth-shattering revelations about herself, Devgan, her family or other actors/directors. Not even if she would act without Ajay. But then Thapar never asked her perhaps he had been asked not to?. Still, if this is a bit over the top and it is put it down to the fact that here was a young, attractive, intelligent person who was revelling her human condition. That8217;s rare enough to deserve inordinate praise.

Onto Doordarshan which has changed its daily soaps. Goodbye Aurat, Aparajita, Itihaas, Waqt ki Raftar, hello Kamyabi, Tulsi, Aur Intezaar Sahi, Dewaar. Difficult to define them. Deewar is about family/ business rivalries, love and Revenge with a capital R. Aur Intezaar Sahi seems similar, but set in Calcutta; Tulsi began as a serial about a motherless girl making her way through life with an alcoholic father and step mom but already there8217;s a lot about politics and professional rivalries. And frankly, Kamyabi is a bit of a mystery. It appears to be about a man who loves the girl of the mother who is entirely dependent on his father8217;s goodwill for continuing subsistence, but he marries another woman and is in the process of proving the impossible ?!: that a man and woman can be just friends8217;.

Agnichakra is the latest docu-drama, a 8220;movement against crime8221;. Bhanwar is about trials, and India8217;s Most Wanted chases criminals; Agnichakra takes up cases which have been solved. Cases in which human beings stood up to be counted. A fortnight ago, a weak man refuses to buckle under when he8217;s threatened with extortion. Last week, an aged villager witnesses the strangulation of his neighbour8217;s wife and seeks justice for her inspite of his son8217;s fears and the neighbour8217;s threats. The series is taut with the tension of a crime mystery and the acting is refreshingly low key.

Ally McBeal STAR World. She is the outsider far out. She is dark humour pitch dark. She has Style, Sophistication, Slickness. And she has a white, waif face: so devastatingly poker-faced. She is a scream. Last week, there8217;s this man who loves to tickle, suck. A woman8217;s toes. Miss Twinkle Toes doesn8217;t love it; she takes him to court. Ally McBeal and the entire team treat this offense on par with serial killings or a rape. And please even as you strap in your guts on account of them spilling out with laughter, please appreciate the loving care with which the serial has been shot. It treats the small screen like the big one.