Sponsored by8230;?

In the Middle East, CNN and BBC World trace each day8217;s violence in painstaking detail: the numbers killed, injured, the manner of the attacks, the identity of the perpetrators and victims and when possible, the site of the violence: on Friday, BBC showed us the remains of a shattered bus by a suicide bomber, dead bodies under white sheets, distraught people and a woman speaking: 8216;8216;there was this girl blood coming out of her face8230; she was crying: 8216;why has this happened to me 8212; it is my 17th birthday?8217;8221; There are stories on the poor conditions in the refugee camps and vitriolic outbursts from Israeli and Palestinian officials8230; it all sounds and looks terribly familiar, yet no one says BBC or CNN have incited violence in the region 8212; something the Indian media has been accused of in Gujarat.

Music: Coke Popstars Channel V is a likeable show, suitable for all age groups, male and female. It set out with a rare, grandiose ambition: to invent the first, all female Indian pop band from a gaggle of girls auditioned over a series of shows. Last Thursday, the five who will form the band, were selected by the judges which include singer Shubha Mudgal, and designer Manish Malhotra. There8217;s a relaxed, real texture to the programme, as the girls and the judges behave and speak normally. Given all the posturing we witness on TV, ordinary people behaving ordinarily, is quite extraordinary. Whether you can artificially create Popstars out of five girls who just met, remains to be seen but the show is a refreshing change.

Ads: Speaking of sponsors, Coke and Pepsi are major prime time sponsors across channels and genres of programmes 8212; anything from music shows to heavy duty dramas. If you pay close attention to who sponsors what, you come up with some curious combinations. For example, Zee News ranks amongst its advertisers Anchor 8216;8216;100 vegetarian8217;8217; ? toothpaste, while Aaj Tak specialises in underwear: Lux Vests 8216;8216;yeh andar ki baat hai8217;8217;. Quite so. Star News at 8pm is brought to you buy Rasna Rozana fresh and juicy?. Star News features Freshwrapp ads to keep it from growing stale? which also appears with dramas like Mehndi Tere Naam Ki and Kasauti Zindagi Kay.

Others are more appropriate. It makes imminent good sense for Coke to sponsor Popstars because singing or dancing is thirsty business. So thirsty that N Joi, Rasna, and Thums UP are lined up too. Similarly, Popstars has Liberty Footwear for the dancing queens feet, Fa Deodorant for their B.O. if you watched Robbie Williams drooling in sweat, at the Albert Hall on Star World, last week, you8217;ll appreciate the significance of this ad! and No Marks to keep their skin unblemished: who ever heard of Madonna or Celine Dion in pimples?

Hospital shows, like Sanjivani have Dr.Morepan on hand to help out the young interns along with Band Aid for emergencies, All Out mosquito repellent to keep malaria at bay, Close Up toothpaste to keep the dentists on holiday, and UTI Bank because you need plenty of moolah to be treated in Sanjivani8217;s swank hospital.

The most popular drama serials are all about cosmetic changes: Clinic or Arnica shampoo for sunny hair all the female leads in the top serials have long, straight, lustrous hair, Fairever, Fair and Lovely, Ayur Cream, etc., to keep the characters fresh-faced and fair almost mandatory, Pepsodent, Viswak, etc., for toothpaste smiles, and a variety of soaps 8212; Lux, Liril, Lifebuoy 8212; well, TV characters do have to bathe, don8217;t they? There are also detergents to wash those delectable sarees, and Asian Paints, to keep the serials8217; palatial, posh houses glowing like the women8217;s cheeks! Pressure cookers, MDH masalas, tea, cooking mediums8230; plus Dandi Namak and Nirma Namak to rub salt into the characters wounds!

Commercial breaks can occur at the strangest junctures. For example, in Mehndi Tere Naam Ki, hubby dear has just passed out in wifey-darling8217;s arms and next we see Salman Khan embracing Thums Up. From high melodrama to slapstick comedy, from tearful faces to joyful ones. That8217;s TV entertainment: tragic events interspersed by fleeting moments of happiness.

Maybe that8217;s life too.

Week8217;s biggest disappointment: Velupillai Prabhakaran8217;s press conference which was as bland as the expression on his teddy bear face.

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