Daftarnama: Nothing official about it

IT’S a serial which will touch the heart of the common man. It’s a look at life in a government office and all the ‘perks’ which go with it. Daftarnama is about misuse of office vehicles, inefficiency of employees, high-handedness of senior officers, red-tapism and more.

Coming on Doordarshan soon, Daftarnama starts with a job interview in progress. A candidate, who has the Home Minister’s approach, gets 61 the highest marks. Another hopeful, Mushtaq, comes to know the interview is just a farce. So he decides to teach the management a lesson.

He answers all the questions wrong and when an officer comments: "You have a very poor general knowledge" Mushtaq asks: "If my GK was better, would you have chosen me for the post"? The officer gets angry and awards "OO" to him. The computer types OOas ‘66’, Mushtaq gets selected since he’s got the highest marks. And then starts the fun.

Though the makers say Daftarnama is a comedy, the serial rings true for everyone who has had a brush with public dealing offices. And it’s these people who’ll whole-heartedly relate to it. Whether they find it funny or not is quite another matter.

Science for all

Here are the answers to all the questions which you considered trivia. What is required to get a cricket ball to reverse swing? Do idols really drink milk? Is there water on the moon?

Star Plus brings to viewers an interactive new science show called Eureka which provides scientific responses to a variety of questions that commonly intrigue people.

Eureka is the brainchild of scientist and presenter Dr Partha Ghose and Siddharth Basu with invited specialists. The show has thus an exciting mix of demonstrations, interviews, site-visits ..no dull lectures and quizzes or laboratory experiments.

It’s just answers to questions that you don’t come across in textbooks. Questions that intrigued you, answers that you sometimes questioned, puzzling phenomena that are actually easily explained or everyday phenomena that you never could quite understand. In short, a chance to brush up your knowledge.

Moving up the charts

It’s a maiden century which has made Shekhar Suman himself a mover and shaker of the small screen. When Movers & Shakers was first conceived no one gave it a big chance. But now 100 episodes later it is vying for the top spot on Sony.

Over the last 100 episodes it’s undergone various changes and evoked various responses ranging from the most loved to the most hated show on TV. Very few have been able to ignore it.

The combination of newsy humour with a dash of spice has added a new dimension to Movers & Shakers which some call a chat show and others a late night show.

But the producers and the people at Sony call it a phenomenon. As they justify, "What else do you call a show that began as a once-a-week programme, progressed to twice-a-week, and now features daily, Monday to Friday!"

All in the game

After making an impressive debut in Chahat Aur Nafrat, Salil Ankola, the cricketer-cum-actor, looks like settling down for a long innings. He now has a prominent role in Asha Parekh’s Kora Kagaz. And with more interesting projects coming up soon, the dashig dude is all set to make a mark as an actor of repute.

But contrary to general impression, Salil hasn’t ignored cricket after being successful as an actor. "How can I just leave something I’ve been doing from the last 14 years," he asks.

Salil is now playing for the Seniors Cricket Association (SCA). "We arrange matches with teams of other countries," he informs, and adds, "However successful I’d be as an actor, I’ll keep playing cricket for the passion of the game," says the cricketer hitting out at his critics with a bouncer.

Star kid

Saakshi Sem is the new kid on the block. The 4-year-old (Yes, you’ve read it right) cutie has by now appeared in almost a dozen TV and print commercials including Ceat Tyres, Farm Fresh Desi Ghee, Raid Mosquito Coil, Hindustan Petroleum, Himalaya Drug Company, Bajaj Hair Oil, Electrolux Washing Machine, L.G. Refrigerator, Konica Films, and her most Kuch Nahin Pears Soap ad.

This little girl studying in Junior KG in Canossa Convent, in Mumbai, loves western dancing and watching Kajol, Karisma, Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir Khan’s movies, and TV serials like X Zone, Mahabharat, Anhonee, Amaanat and Antakshari.

But like all kids what she enjoys best on TV is Disney Hour, Cartoon Network and Discovery For Kids.

In her spare time she loves making friends and even clicking pictures. Huh!!! Quite a handful for a 4-year-old who must be the richest kid in advertising.

Music to the ear

Star TV may have cooled off after the Satya fiasco and Sony too may have run out of steam. Now it appears the Zee is taking over from where the two have left.

In keeping with the publicity hype of Zee Cine Awards, the channel is now gave viewers a date with Shah Rukh Khan, the nominee for best actor and Manisha Koirala on March 28 when it aired Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se.

Shah Rukh dancing on the train to the tune of Chaiya Chaiya has lyrics by Gulzar, the Zee Cine Awards nominee for the best lyricist. The song has choreography by Farah Khan — Zee Cine Awards nominee for the best choreography along with music by A.R. Rahman, Zee Cine Awards nominee for the best background score and best music director.

Wonder why the Zee channel didn’t just show the song and just did away with the film!

— Mukesh Khosla