All about nuts & bolts

IT’S about all the fancy gadgets that make our lives simple. The Tech Show on Zee India TV tries to make technology simple and easy to understand. It answers commonly asked questions like: ‘How do I tune my car at home? ‘How do I change the spark plugs?’ Or say, ‘What is a MCB, and how can I change it?’

Besides this, the show looks at technology around us. If it’s distant, what is its feasibility? Is it viable, and what are its pros and cons? It also gets philosophical at times and tries to explore technology in the mind. Take the IITs and their regular problem of brain-drain. Students study here and flock to the West. Technology is being exported in human form, forever.

The show discusses comonly heard jargons, seldom understood. What is an automatic transmission car? How is it different and how does it work? Does it improve fuel consumption? Then there’s Trinitron. Is it a sub-brand of Sony, or is it a technology? Take Super Horn, Golden Eye and Chaos washing machines. The list is endless.

That’s The Tech Show for you. Technology you can relate to. Simple to understand and answers to questions you’ve always asked, but didn’t know who to ask.

Breaking all records

In an obvious bid to regain its position as the cable and satellite leader in broadcasting Hindi programmes, Zee is packing the punch with serials which hold out a strong appeal to the middle class families.

Of the lot one of the most sensitive is Amanat which has been scaling the TRP charts rapidly. It revolves around the life of a widower, Lala Lahori Ram (Sudhir Pandey) and his seven daughters. Not having a mother in their formative years has forged a strong comradeship among the sisters.

Like the tributaries of a river the girls break free from the confines of the family after marriage. Lahori Ram calls them his amanat which he has reared with love and one by one bestowed his treasures to other families.

All parents go through this profound experience when the daughter comes of marriageable age. This is the central theme of this sensitively thought out serial which has tugged at the emotional chord of viewers and has brought its makers so much advertising support that sponsors are literally waiting in queue for their ads to go on the air during the show. Could their be a happier situation? No, say the producers who are laughing all the way to the bank.

Mind games

The search has finally begun. Over the past several years Mastermind has been the intellectual battleground for the finest brains in Britain. There are no prizes, and contestants compete for the singular honour of winning the title, Mastermind.

Mastermind starts its India version from August 29. It has picked out just 48 candidates from literally thousands who applied to participate in the show.

These super brains will be interrogated by Siddhartha Basu. And by the time of the grand final in Christmas week only four would have survived — each hoping to be declared the Mastermind of India. So keep glued to your TV sets every Saturday evening for an exhibition of the most fertile minds of India.

Facing life’s challenges

Tere Mere Sapne is a tale of trials and tribulations of a family driven by emotions and circumstances. The family consists of a father and mother who have been uprooted from their homeland and have shifted to Mumbai to start afresh.

There’s the eldest son who is lost in his own world, the second son’s sole ambition is to be rich and the third is a rebel who puts off people with his aggressive outbursts. A household with a traumatic background and the pivot point is the mother who is constantly soothing frayed nerves.

The story reflects modern day urban complexities — of social acceptance, emotional traumas, bitterness towards society and also an underlying concern for each other. In times like these dreams get overshadowed and this is what Tere Mere Sapne on Zee is all about. A tense drama marked by excellent performances by Aruna Irani, Kiran Joneja and Manohar Singh.

Defying the mainstream

Every society has dissenting opinions or views which may not be very loud, yet may be significant. Sometimes these voices of dissent are far ahead of their time. They could be in the form of a political movement, a scientific opinion or any other idea Ek Aur Nazaria on Zee India TV every Saturday is an attempt to bring forth all such dissenting opinions.

This is basically a reporter’s programme, which deals with some social, economic, cultural and political movements. Individuals behind such movements have devoted their entire life for the cause but their voice of dissent is probably still unheard.

Such movements may be ahead of their time, but they surely have some positive or negative impact on the society. There is an immediate need to hear such voices of dissent and the show provides a stage for such movements for communication.

The show finds out why such people go against the mainstream. And it also discusses taboo issues like the gay movement and why people get attracted to people of their own sex. It is a serious attempt to understand them by hearing their cause.

Ek Aur Nazaria attempts to provide these dissenting voices a platform to tell their side of the story. A not-to-be-missed programme which highlights the ‘other’ view.

Once is not enough

Showcasing music that passes the test of time MTV Recycled as the name suggests talks about recycling — Bollywood style. It looks at popular themes and songs and sometimes entire movies that have been recycled. Viewers get to see the originals and the copies.

The show takes the viewer on a fascinating journey through "Cyber City", without the hassle of any pesky download time through segments like "Morph Karna" (MTV’s own classifieds), "Cyber Wrap" (anchor Nikhil Chinnapa jumps into the strangest places) and "Cyber Baba" (on-line with the hottest sites), identifying all the creative, fun things viewers can do on a computer.

Other segments viewers can look forward to are the spoofs on film music and of course all the rest of the recycled trivia Nikhil can lay his hands on. There’s the monthly contest where viewers guess which clip is the original from a couple of "copied" songs and the lucky winner gets a prize.

The aim of MTV Recycled is to introduce and educate viewers to the limitless possibilities available in mixing and remixing an original theme. After all, as the Bollywood folklore goes, if you have a good idea, why throw it away — recycle it instead!

— Mukesh Khosla