The TV Take-off

Sachin Tendulkar is pure entertainment Wills Cup, DD. And all motion. Awesome. Commentators have now run out ! of words with which to describe him, his batting, his bowling which is indescribable, anyway and his contribution to India8217;s cricketing fortunes which is immeasurable, anyway. Their superlatives are becoming as repititive as his achievements; but while we want him to keep adding to them, we sure would like to take an extended commercial break from the cricket commentary. The time has surely come when Tendulkar should be seen and the commentators not heard.

Anita Kanwar may not be a spaceship and she8217;s certainly not a cricket legend, but she is one helluva an actress. Anyone who saw her in Buniyaad would sing in the words of Nat King Cole: 8220;Unforgettable, that8217;s what you are8221;. Like the name of a whisky, she is Something Special. You realise just how special when you watch the new detective serial Saboot STAR Plus. Age has not withered her talents or wrinkled her expressive face. As a spry, intense and eccentric police inspector, Kanwar is quite entrancing. Dressed in an ordinary khadi kurta-pyjama with a chunni strung carelessly about her neck, and with no make-up or only the amount required to suggest she is wearing none, Kanwar has got to be the worthiest successor to Karamchand so far. Besides being the worst dressed person on TV.

But she is as persistent as a summer fly and quite as irritating for the crime suspects. Kanwar has good body language and she speaks eloquently. You find yourself smiling as she trails on and off centre stage, you find yourself mimicking the way her hands act, you find yourself wanting to watch the next episode. No greater praise hath man or woman for an actress, right? Is correct, as Siddhartha Basu would say.

Three other ladies are on a mission Aaj ki Nari, DD2. Jaqueline Garewal, Ira Pande and Koel otherwise known as Nani, Mummy and woh. Five days a week, these three generations of women sit down to a long, chat on every issue and non-issue that supposedly, concerns women of today. Thus, last week, two entire episodes were devoted to fashion and what clothes a young woman should bear, sorry, wear.

The way the programme has been devised, the Mummy and the daughter represent the stereotypical views of their generations, while Nani skuttles around as the go-between. The entire effort from script to sets is to be simple. The acting has its moments of naturalness and you can quite clearly see that the women are in harmony. Chances are that the audience this programme is aimed at 8212; middling, urban housewives 8212; will find Aaj ki Nari to their liking.

Having said as much, the fact remains that the conversations are too long and too often just wooden monologues, representing a particular one-dimensional point of view. This gets to be a bit of a bore. When a topic is spread over two episodes it becomes a colossal bore. That is because there is little action or reaction; there is no dramatic movement, narrative or intensity to illustrate the issues being discussed or give the episodes momentum. There8217;s just talk. Which is why Aaj ki nari sounds like a radio play that has strayed onto television.