Shailaja Bajpai has been writing about television since 1984. "Far too long," in her own words. But she has also watched it change, grow, grow and grow into what is today... the elephant in the room and any conversation on any subject. In her case, it would be true to say that you have to pay her to watch television!

April 11, 2000 00:00 IST
The things people do to grab your attention. In Koshish (Zee), the newly wed husband is a mentally-challenged chap with the brain of an ei...
Tue, Apr 11, 2000
April 10, 2000 00:00 IST
The things people do to grab your attention. In Koshish (Zee), the newly wed husband is a mentally-challenged chap with the brain of an ei...
Mon, Apr 10, 2000
April 03, 2000 00:00 IST
The channel logo is vintage Doordarshan, valued-added with a lotus which blossoms into a classical dancer for a swadeshi touch. The news b...
Mon, Apr 03, 2000
March 13, 2000 00:00 IST
DD did. MTV did. STAR did. Channel [V] did too. Celebrate Women's Day.What's there to celebrate, you ask? Millions of women's lives are so...
Mon, Mar 13, 2000
March 06, 2000 00:00 IST
MARCH 5: These are taxing times. Television channels must learn to economise, boost productivity and increase our rate of interest by lowe...
Mon, Mar 06, 2000
February 28, 2000 00:00 IST
All this talk of Water offending ``the sensibility of the people'' so violently, the UP government was compelled to ban its shoot, has got...
Mon, Feb 28, 2000
February 21, 2000 00:00 IST
For those drugged on Kanyadaan (Sony), an apology: the name of the step-daughter is Sakshi not Raksha as was mistakenly identified in this...
Mon, Feb 21, 2000
February 14, 2000 00:00 IST
Water, Water every where, hey, don't you think it stinks?Water, Water every where, hey, why not watch it sink?You and Sam Coleridge, Samue...
Mon, Feb 14, 2000
February 07, 2000 00:00 IST
Plenty happened in serials while you were not watching. Udaan has returned, Archana's mouth is back, another Amanat marriage is troubled, ...
Mon, Feb 07, 2000
January 31, 2000 00:00 IST
JANUARY 30: We just luv cricket. You may not believe it watching the senior team perform in Australia, but it is the only game we sorta, k...
Mon, Jan 31, 2000
January 24, 2000 00:00 IST
How do I become Miss India, asks the Postman advertisement? By watching Femina-Palmolive Miss India (DD2, Sony). Watch how the young women...
Mon, Jan 24, 2000
January 18, 2000 00:00 IST
Coincidences are often unnerving. Last week, Indian Express published letters from readers who had identified Suhaib Ilyasi as one of the ...
Tue, Jan 18, 2000
January 11, 2000 00:00 IST
It didn't require a man of I.K.Gujral's seniority and experience, to tell us television has generously and (almost) gratuitously lent the ...
Tue, Jan 11, 2000
December 27, 1999 00:00 IST
That century `thing'The French voted it the `thing' of the century. The French, mind it, known for their high-mindedness, their highly dis...
Mon, Dec 27, 1999
December 20, 1999 00:00 IST
Osstrayeelien for cricket. A new version of the game, unlike the one we were watching on the telly. Instead of team scores taking up perma...
Mon, Dec 20, 1999
December 13, 1999 00:00 IST
Sunday, bloody good Sunday. If watching television is, once in a while, your patriotic duty, or then, you simply enjoy the sight of fully ...
Mon, Dec 13, 1999
December 06, 1999 00:00 IST
``Newspapers are the means to reach the people.'' With these profound words, brash, young crime reporter, Mehra, turns his stiff, self-rig...
Mon, Dec 06, 1999
November 29, 1999 00:00 IST
One channel advertises 25 new shows even though they've been around long enough to grow a beard; another has changed programme schedules ...
Mon, Nov 29, 1999
November 22, 1999 00:00 IST
Saw Nawaz on Friday. In person. On television. After such a long absence. He appeared lonely, solitary in the crowd of uniforms. Remember...
Mon, Nov 22, 1999
November 15, 1999 00:00 IST
Orissa. Revisited. A three-act tragedy: death, deprivation and disease. It's become so you can't bear to watch it. Be honest: you're almo...
Mon, Nov 15, 1999
November 13, 1999 00:00 IST
The new Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, Arun Jaitley, has begun his tenure by making most of the right noises. In ini...
Sat, Nov 13, 1999
November 01, 1999 00:00 IST
There are days when television is an icon, there are times when it's an idiot. What follows is pretty idiotic: perhaps the definitive exa...
Mon, Nov 01, 1999
October 25, 1999 00:00 IST
First: rid the room of every human presence but your own. Next: close your eyes. Go on, shut them. Then: sit back and vacate the mind of ...
Mon, Oct 25, 1999
October 18, 1999 00:00 IST
Long-term headachesMr.Arun Jaitley is the third BJP minister for Information and Broadcasting in approximately 18 months, the fourth mini...
Mon, Oct 18, 1999
October 11, 1999 00:00 IST
The Poll TollQuiz Time India: you watched TV coverage of the elections (DD1, DD2, STAR, Zee). Now, answer the following questions. Commen...
Mon, Oct 11, 1999



