iDubba wishes everyone a very Happy New Year!
Bid adieu to eventful 2011 and a give warm welcome to 2012.
Have a Rocking Year Ahead!! 
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Monthly Archives: December 2011
Top 10 shows on TV during 2011
We are just two days away from 2012. So in this special blog post iDubba brings you the 10 most popular shows/events of 2011. The ranking and popularity has been taken in consideration on the basis of activities done for these shows on iDubba in 2011.
- ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: There is definitely no surprise to see this event on top because 2011 as year is the biggest for India as we witnessed Indian team winning World Cup after 28 long years. Sports channels had the highest TRPS ever.
- MTV Roadies (Season 8): The longest running reality show with eight seasons in its kitty it is already in news for its ninth season starting next week. There has been a lot of speculation about the show being scripted but it still remains one of the most watched and favourite among the younger lot.
- Indian Premier League 2011: Another cricket event. So that makes the score 2 in total and that is definitely not astonishing in our country where second God is cricket despite being hockey as the national game.
- Splitsvilla (Season 4): Another reality show of MTV channel that targets youngsters. This reality show based on dating certainly knows how to turn heads. Bunch of hot girls and boys put together in a house to woo each other. What will you expect?
- Koffee with Karan (Season 3): This chat show is my personal favourite and the only chat show that I can sit and watch without getting impatient. This one undoubtedly has a fresh and witty appeal to it. The show began to air in 2004 and has been a huge success since then.
- Bade Achhe Laggte Hain: Produced under Ekta Kapoor’s banner of Balaji Telefilms, who is undoubtedly the queen of Indian soap operas, “Bade Ache Lagte hai” which was launched in second half of the year, has Saakshi Tanwar and Ram Kapoor in the main lead. This show has millions of viewers across the country glued to the shows.
- Bigg Boss (Season 5): Another controversial reality show that is in news always for wrong reasons but manages to gain one of the highest TRPs. It is full of masala and entertainment.
- Man vs. Wild (Season 3): Finally a documentary cum travel based show in the list . Discovery Channel’s Man vs. Wild is hugely popular especially because of its daring presenter Bear Grylls who is seen at ease at the worst places possible in the world.
- Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma: This sitcom is based on the column ‘Duniya Ne Undha Chasma’ (which loosely translates into “Seeing the world through upside-down glasses”) written by Indian columnist and journalist Taarak Mehta for the Gujarati weekly magazine Chitralekha. In August2010, it beat one of the top shows to become the most watched TV show in India.
- Kaun Banega Crorepati (Season 5): This game show has been a massive success since it was first launched on Star Plus in 2000. However Sony TV bought its rights from third season onwards and the recent season 5 that had its first ever contestant winning the prize money of 5 crore rupees.
Keep watching your favourite shows!
MTV: Music or Masala Television
You might scratch your head and start thinking why am I referring MTV as Masala Television. Well the following post is about finding out the real truth. After reading this you may also come to a conclusion whether MTV is a Music Channel or it has turned out to be Masala Television over years.
It was not long ago say some 9-10 yrs back when viewers used to wait to see what’s new in the list..New Album, hot album, Best songs… in a way they wanted to see the latest Music Labels, their reviews and responses. Top most Singers had their music launch aired in MTV, there were shows explicitly telecasting interviews with the Singers and rappers. TV was geared more towards music and music appreciation, The concept of VJ’s was made popular by MTV as this channel was about MUSIC 24/7!! The VJ’s of early 90’s had good knowledge of music, a unique style of their own and undoubtedly a great sense of humor too.I am sure that none of you must have forgotten VJ’s like Malaika Arora, Maria Goretti , Shenaz Treasurywala, Mini Mathur and a few others. No doubt that Cyrus Broacha and Nikhil Chinnappa are still holding the fort but the charm that the previous VJ’s had, is not present there anymore. . MTV is now being hosted as a television show with VJs who have very little to do with knowledge in music and music videos.
You might have this question..Does MTV has series of reality shows!!! You might be surprised, but the answer is YES. The biggest ammunition that MTV has is “Roadies”. It was started way back in 2003, and currently 8 seasons are over. No doubt that Roadies is very popular and has many ardent followers, but the channel is trying to replicate this success in every other show. Every second show is now a Reality show. They are trying to get the youth hooked on to its channel by shows like MTV Stuntmania a biking stunt show hosted by famous stunts director Allan Amin and MTV Splitsvilla A dating reality show.
This channel which once used to be solely a music channel has turned in endless race of reality shows, In 1998, we had about 19 hours of music programming. 2008 saw an average of just three hours of music videos per day on MTV, with the rest of the day devoted to reality shows. . Is this a conscious effort made by MTV or has it lost its audience??? Is this the reason for MTV to drop “Music Television” from its corporate logo too in 2010?
If i ask you, which is the channel you prefer for watching Songs, MTV will certainly not be your 1st choice. Some might say, 9XM , B4U Music, and the latest one Sony PIX. You might say that I have missed on one more important Music Channel, ie Channel V. Well, they too are slowly but steadily moving on the path of MTV. Only time will say if MTV was right moving its focus on Reality Shows and slowly taking Music off their menu. What are you views on this topic?
Discuss this over Twitter – @idubba
Saubhagyavati Bhava – A new show portraying domestic violence in Indian Marriages
As the name suggests “Am I really blessed to be married”, the show is portrayal of a woman who is a victim of domestic violence. Dil Se Di Dua..Saubhagyavathi Bhava is about struggle of a female Jahnvi (Sriti Jha) who gets married to Viraj (Karanvir Bohra) in a typical set up where a guy from rich family falls for a simple girl from middle class family. Jahnvi and her family are happy with everything. Jahnvi is all excited about her marriage like any other girl and dreams of a nice life with a loving and caring husband. Her dreams and hopes of a well settled life comes to a halt when she finds out that her husband Viraj who is suave and charming for the outside world but a completely different person at home. He is extremely short tempered and is a complete fanatic. He is an awfully possessive, over-dominating, highly insecure and an irrational person because of his abusive childhood.
After reading this you might remember that Viraj’s character is very similar to Nana Patekar’s role in the movie ‘Agni Sakshi’ where he played an over possessive and abusive husband because of a deprived childhood. However the plot seems to be a little different right now as we don’t see another man in the picture yet.
Getting back to the story, Jahnvi who has recently started her married life is confused because sometimes Viraj is exceptionally loving and caring and the very next moment something happens that makes him abusive. He is psycho to a level that he has installed cameras at his home and keeps a watch over his wife from office. He is very particular about cleanliness and immensely organized. He makes her suffer and punishes her if she doesn’t do any work properly or leave it in between. When she mentions about getting servants so that she can get some help in the work, he gets angry and slaps her. He says that he doesn’t want any person to interfere in their life and ruin the privacy of their relationship. Jahnvi is definitely taken aback as she is facing this situation which is any girl’s worst fears. Viraj is a perfect husband in everyone’s eye but it is only Jahnvi who knows and deals with the manipulative and irrational side of him.
The show is very different in comparison to all other prime time shows. It is trying to bring awareness about domestic violence which is a big issue in our country already. So now the question is will the show survive or will it be given typical treatment that’s given to soaps in Indian Television? Will Jahnvi be able to bear Viraj’s violence or will she find a way out of her pain?
Kuch toh Log Kahenge – Are you addicted to it?
Kuch toh Log Kahenge……. The moment we come across this line, all we think about Sharmila Tagore & Rajesh Khanna’s song in Amar Prem. Well that was in 1971. Here we are in 2011, and now if u ask people about Kuch toh Log Kahenge, don’t be surprised if you get to here this ” Oh Dr. Ashutosh and Dr Nidhi. Well times have changed, and so does the meaning of this lyrics. Sony has come up with a new TV serial, although its a remake of the Pakistani classical TV drama Dhoop Kinare, the presentation and the look of the serial is quiet refreshing.
Lets get down to the details of the show, well not all of them, but will keep some unsaid so that you can enjoy the show. As they say, one does not enjoy the show till one watches it or feels it. The Opening song ie the original theme “Saiyan Naino Ki Bhasha” is already a huge hit. This serial is slowly but surely getting attention and is getting popular as we speak. Its a story of a middle aged man and a young doctor falling in love with each other. Not to forget another Sr Doctor who is in love with Dr Ashutosh.
You might say that whats new about serials, every other show is the same. Same Drama, same Action. But hang on, did i mention that the cast included Dr Ashutosh ie Mohnish Behl !!! Just observe and watch his expressions, its just amazing. Yes he is the son of Nutan, renowned film actress. He manages to speak through his eyes and expressions. I know you also want to hear about the other cast ie Dr Nidhi. So here we go, Dr Nidhi ie Kritika Kamra is a person full of life and a very hard working doctor. All she wants is to make her patients happy and always manages to bring a smile to their faces. YES, that includes Dr Ashutosh. Yes there is also a grey character in this story, its Dr Mallika, ie Rukhsar Rehman. Dr Mallika is in love with Dr Ashutosh, and over the years she is been waiting for him. But the recent events have forced her to play some evil games against Dr Nidhi.
Well enough has been said about the plot and the main cast. All you now need is to go on and watch “Kuch Toh Log Kahenge”. Its on Sony @ 8pm. One tip, even if you miss the serial at 8, you can catch the repeat at 11pm. Don’t forget to share your views. You can follow us on Twitter – @idubba and also visit our Facebook page - www.facebook.com/idubba.page
Happy Viewing
Are you a Born Dancer…Dance India Dance is Back!
Well in my opinion we all dance to the tunes of life. We all manage to move our feet the moment we hear our favorite song. No matter who you are, where you are, everyone at some point of time has danced.
Some are good, some are better and some are exceptional Dancers. That’s what season 3 of DID (Dance India Dance) is all about. People might call it a reality dance show but its not just a dance show, it’s a festival of various dance forms that we have, right from our traditional Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam,Odissi to western dance forms like Salsa, Hip-hop & Funk dance, Latin dance and an endless list. DID is a dance show where it’s not just a test of talent but also a show where the judges try to teach and educate the dancers and the audience. You might have noticed that after every performance they tell the audience about what is the dance form, where did it originated from , what are the different ways to perform it. Hence this makes this show not just a dance show but a complete dance show.
So Are you ready!!!!!!!! Yes your guess is right; the 3 judges are back with a bang. India’s very own MJ, Mr Remo D’Souza aka Gabbar of Dancing is all set to choose India’s top dancers. To help him do that, we have Geeta Kapur aka Geeta Maa and the charming Terence lewis. All three of them have different style of dancing, all there have vast experience in this area. But the most important thing is that they have a common passion and a desire to present the top performers to the world. The future episodes will surely be filled with some amazing dancers, some amazing stories about how they managed to reach this level. Am I missing something…? Oh yes Kya Baat Kya Baat. I am sure that you all are excited to hear these words from the man himself…. Our very own GrandMaster, Mithun Chakraborty.Not to forget Jay (Host) of the show who is hot favorite of the Judges for his comic timing.
The auditions have started, and Delhi is the 1st city to face the test. You might not agree to it but I too witnessed few contestants who tried their luck in the previous 2 seasons but failed to impress the judges then. Their passion for dance brought them back to this stage and here they were trying to impress the judges for the third time.Looking at the comments from the 3 Judges one thing is clear that DID is back looking out for exceptional talent, average or good performance has no place in this competition.It’s not going to be easy for the contestants; they have to work their heart and soul out on the dance floor to please the audience as well as the Judges.
Highlights of this first episode of DID was undoutedly the 3 Remo’s dancing together..surprised??? Yes , there were 2 contestants who look alike to our Remo but unfortunately their dance failed to impress him.
Lot more to come on this show and certainly like very other season weekend evening will be booked to watch this show..So guys.. get on your dancing shoes and don’t forget to watch Season 3 of Dance India Dance. As always we are looking forward to your views and reviews about season 3. You can follow us on Twitter – @idubba and also visit our Facebook page - www.facebook.com/idubba.page
Happy Viewing
STAR Plus rings in 2012 with the World’s Biggest Reality Show on Indian television — Survivor India
STAR Plus, will usher its viewers into the New Year by bringing to their homes, world’s most sought after reality show-’ Survivor’.
Survivor India, the Indian adaptation of the international series is now set to shudder your heart, January 6, onwards, 9 pm only on Star Plus, India’s number one entertainment channel.
‘Survivor’ the international series originated in the USA with more than 20 seasons in 11 years and has already been replicated in 48 countries around the world.
Survivor India will witness, twenty two extraordinary participants in its opening season, some well-known, and some not so known, some trying to prove their mettle, some wishing to push boundaries. However, all gearing towards the ultimate challenge of‘Survivor India’!
Marooned on an uninhabited tropical island of Philippines where even basic minimum amenities aren’t available, Survivor India will be ultimate game of physical and mental endurance. Its well encapsulated tagline-‘Jo Tikega, Itihaas Likhega’/ Kya Jee Paoge? is a testimony, that only the fittest, the grittiest and the ruthless will survive and will be the ultimate winner of this show.
Nitin Vaidya, Business Head, Hindi Channels, Star India, said, “STAR Plus has brought its viewers the ultimate reality formats, whether international or home grown. It was time for us to present another breakthrough concept on the Indian television and hence Survivor India is the perfect New Year gift for our viewers!”
He added:” The series will showcase a life-changing journey of 22 individuals battling for survival, in a do-or-die situation. We firmly believe and hope that our viewers will live every moment of this exciting journey with our participants.”
Star Plus has redefined the Hindi GEC space with a robust fiction line up across all time slots. With contemporary and distinct fiction content, iconic characters, unparalleled non-fiction formats & events to its credit & the renewed brand promise of Rishta Wahi Soch Nayi that reflects in its content, STAR Plus has set the agenda for the Hindi Entertainment genre in India.
The opening season of SURVIVOR India will have some of the known faces like Payal Rohatgi, Shilpa Agnihotri, JD Majethia, Sangram Singh, Abhinav Shukla, Karan Patel, Timmy Narang, Sylvester Rodgers, Priyanka Bassi, Rajesh Khera and Munisha Khatwani - contesting against each other for survival as the battle gets wild and wicked.
MasterChef USA vs MasterChef India
Are you hungry? Wait till you read this post.
Well… this post is not about comparing the two great shows on television, but an attempt to highlight the best parts of these two shows. For readers who are new to this show…let me give you a brief background about MasterChef ..
Reality show..the moment we hear these two words we think of a Dance or a singing talent hunt..But here it is; a show with difference..A cooking show!! This show started in UK and with the popularity of it expanded to many other versions across globe. This show gives opportunity to amateur chefs or food lovers as I may call them a unique platform to test their cooking skills.
Not only does a passionate food lover get an excellent platform to present their creativity this show also gives an opportunity to fame.
How this show does looks like?? Yes like any other reality show this show also have Judges to decide on the good talent around..These judges test the participants skill by making them face tuff challenges like Pressure test, Team challenge and “The Mystery Box” Challenge -one of my favorite challenges where participants have to cook a dish of their choice with the selected (difficult ) ingredients that they are given. There are times when the contestants have not even heard name of the ingredients they got to use..And the judges only taste the top three dishes from this challenge. The Winners of this challenge are safe from elimination and the remaining contestants then have to enter the Pressure Test where the participants are expected to prepare a dish in a particular time frame.
Eventually the top dishes from this challenge are then chosen to be the Team Leader for the Team Challenge. And then the fun begins. Loads of action in and out of the kitchen and they also have to please the customers with their dishes. The customer ranges from kids to top celebrities and top Chefs too. It’s not an easy job, demands lots of concentration, creativity and skill.So, lets get back to the topic….. What makes these two shows (MasterChef USA & MasterChef India)special and unique from each other !! Well the answer is Judges and Emotions…… You might ask Emotions!!??!! Well, here is the answer.
Judges:
- MasterChef USA has the most celebrated cook and host, Mr Gordon Ramsay. You might remember him from his most famous show – Hell’s Kitchen (Gordon has 13 Michelin stars) . He is accompanied by Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot
- MasterChef India has Vikas Khanna , an award winning Michelin Starred Indian chef and Chef Ajay Chopra and Chef Kunal Kapoor .In the previous season,Akshay Kumar had hosted this show.
Emotions:
Well this might be the most important aspect of both the shows and a major differentiator too! MasterChef USA is a hardcore contest, very strict in terms of the level of perfection and high expectations from the 3 elite judges. There have been dishes which have not even been tasted and been thrown away in the garbage by the judges. Where as in MasterChef India,you might find similar level of competition except the fact that judges in this version of the show are little more lenient in terms of at least tasting the food cooked by the contestants (and not just throw them away). Somehow the Indian version does not contain any extreme steps like discarding the food as this might not appeal well to the Indian audience.
Talking about the emotional quotient, the India version does give importance to the emotions of the fellow contestants, but again some might argue that a competition is a competition, and it should be purely judged on the basis of performance must not give in much for the emotional angel of the fellow participants.
So what is your view about these two shows, let us know which is your favorite show out of this two and who are your Favorite contestants? Did any of you try preparing those mouth smacking dishes??! Send in some to us . Just Kidding. Keep pouring your views on your favorite shows.
. Just Kidding. Keep pouring your views on your favorite shows.HAPPY COOKING and HAPPY VIEWING.
Review of season finale of ‘The Dewarists’ – Masti ki Basti
Here is another review by iDubba on the season finale of a very popular show “The Dewarists” – Masti ki Basti
‘Masti ki Basti’ was the season finale of this wonderful show that collaborated ‘The Raghu Dixit Project’ and Rewben Mashangva. The location chosen for the season finale was perfect – “the abode of the clouds” – Shillong.
Raghu dixit learned classical karnatic music and started playing guitar at the age of nineteen. The Raghu Dixit Project was formed in 2005 and in 2006 they got their first break by Vishal and Shekhar and as per Raghu ‘the rest is history’. He has made folk music as popular as any other chartbusters. The awesome feel to make people happy by what he sings on stage is what keeps him going and doing the same stuff again and again.
One cant believe that this simple lungi clad guy with ghoongroos on feet can make you rock the floor like mad. I personally witnessed it when ‘The Dewarists’ were in Delhi and heard ‘The Raghu Dixit Project’ for the first time in my life and fell in love with the band.
iDubba gives a review on MTV Roadies 9
Roadies Season 9 will air on MTV from January. Here is a short synopsis of the show for our viewers.
Raghu and Rajiv, these two brothers have changed the face of Roadies in India. With the USA as this season’s destination Roadies have come a long way. According to Raghu, Season 9 theme is ‘Everything or Nothing’ which America stands for. This show aims at youngsters as today’s young generation aged between 18-23 get an adrenal rush out of a high risk, high gain or high loss in life. The show’s format is such that participants are everything but they don’t have much freedom to plan and outrun show’s creative minds. Raghu and Rajiv can change the game and bring on twists whenever they want.
