Sunday, June 3, 2001		Television

IT'S back to the fifties and sixties as Star Gold rewinds to the golden era of Hindi films. Bollywood writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar unveils the making of some of the great and not-so-great films of modern India.

Rahein Na Rahein Hum every Saturday 10.30 p.m. takes viewers behind the scenes and traces with anecdotes the making of some of the all-time great Hindi commercial classics like Mughal-e-Azam, Devdas, Gunga Jamuna, Do Aankhen Bara Haath, Jagriti and Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje.

These films may have little relevance to the present-day generation, but there are countless people in the 40-plus age group for whom they are a part of their growing up years. And it is this segment that comprises a large part of the Star Gold viewership.

Akhtar in Rahein Na Rahein Hum

"These films are very close to my heart," says Akhtar. "I remember seeing many of them several times. They belong to my past and are very close to my heart. There are interesting incidents associated with them — like a rainy day when I watched a film or a friend with whom I shared a beautiful relationship. For me they are nostalgia."

Though the choice is obvious, there are some entries that don’t merit an entry. While Sholay and Deewar would qualify, films like Trishul and Seeta Aur Geeta would miss it by miles. But being the host and perhaps the inspiration behind this show, Akhtar should be forgiven for adding a number of films scripted by him and Salim to the list of all-time classics. Despite that, an eminently watchable show.

He’s made it a life’s mission to shatter myths that are steeped in blind faith. Manoj Nautiyal’s Sach every Saturday at 9 p.m. on the National Network is on the lines of his earlier serial, Lekin Yeh Sach Tha.

Sheikh and Kavita Singh in Sach: Banishing myths

But he says there’s difference between the two shows. While Lekin Yeh Sach Tha scientifically explained the so-called miracles of nature, his current serial, Sach blows the lid of blind beliefs prevalent from generations in small towns and villages.

Each incident is explained by the team of Waqar Sheikh and model Kavita Singh (Miss Gujarat 1998) who, much like the Hollywood superhit Ghostbuster make it their lives’ mission to banish ‘ghostly’ notions.

The subjects dealt with include a family visited by the souls of dead relatives, snakes that transform into human beings, women possessed by devils, dreaming of long dead parents, ghosts who come knocking in the night and many more.

"They are all a part of our culture. Even educated Indians believe in many of these things. Our endeavour is to shed light on them and logically explain why such things happen. Let people know the scientific truths behind them and then decide whether they still want to believe in them or not," says Nautiyal who’s also directed some episodes of Shaktiman.

Whether viewers get enlightened or not is yet to be seen, what must go to the credit of Nautiyal is that he is using television the way it should be used — as a medium for social change with a measure of entertainment thrown in.

There’s a change of guard as a new guide comes along to take you on exciting holidays week after week. Model and part-time actress Deepti Bhatnagar now replaces former Miss India Gul Panag as your weekly companion in Musafir Hoon Yaaron 12.30 p.m. every Sunday on Star Plus.

Deepti Bhatnagar in Musafir Hoon Yaaron: Travelling in style

And it’s not just the hostess who has changed. The show has a new look as it moves to foreign shores, giving the viewer a true international experience. The new hostess, Deepti Bhatnagar takes you to faraway places, across the ocean, over the mountains, amidst the picturesque valleys, and provides tips on travel, entertainment, food, sightseeing...everything a traveller needs to know, once he sets out and till he returns.

While Musafir Hoon Yaaron gives you an exquisite international experience, be it to the USA or Europe, it keeps the specific needs of the Indian traveller in mind to give you exactly your type of experience. So, switch on your TV sets. The glamour lady is waiting to take you to exotic locales.

It was just a matter of time before it happened. The success of Tu Tu Main Main on Star Plus has spawned a clone. No, it’s not a Saas-bahu skirmish but a tussle for power between two women who share the same household.

A scene from Devrani Jethani: House on fire.

Devrani Jethani every Thursday at 7.30 p.m. on Zee TV is about the wives of two brothers who are constantly going for each other’s jugular. Paradoxically, they also can’t live without each other making the relationship rib-tickling in parts involving a long series of funny incidents.

The story revolves around Aggarwal (Viju Khote) who lives with his two sons, Punit (Tiku Talsania) and Ajit (Imran Khan) and their wives Jaya (Himani Shivpuri) and Dimple (Grusha Kapoor). the two women are out to outwit one another in a bid for the ultimate supremacy of the house.

Most of their time is spent in trying to outwit each other. And their hair-brained schemes get cornier by the day with the family adding fuel to this never-ending power struggle resulting in a spicy Bhel-Puri of entertainment.

It takes two to tango. And in television it takes just a couple of performers to lift the quality of a serial. As is evident in Chonch Ladi Re Chonch Sundays at 8.30 p.m. on Channel 9 Gold.

The serial is based on the chaotic landlord-tenant relationship. The former, Prof Shantilal Bhatnagar is a 40-year-old carefree bachelor living with his 50-year-old widowed sister, who is hell-bent on getting him married.

The tenant, Kaathki Devi is a 35-year-old spinster who is the principal of a school and also the president of a men-hating club. Adding to the mayhem is her servant Laloo who is trying to get Kaathki and the professor married.

The genuinely funny serial is marked by excellent performances by Raguveer Yadav and Benjamin Gilani, the two gifted actors whose real-life association goes back to the stage where the two have regaled audiences for years. Now watch their chemistry crackle in this rib-tickler.

In 1873, Jules Verne captured readers’ imaginations with his novel Around the World in Eighty Days. Over a century and quarter later, humankind’s desire to quickly get from one point to another remains paramount.

On June 10, at 9 p.m. Discovery Channel takes a look at the planes, trains and automobiles that will transport humans in the future with Destination Future: High Tech Transportation.

From an enormous airplane to stepping aboard super-fast Maglev trains that whip around at breathtaking speeds, this show looks at the exciting developments in transportation.

Sky cars, magnetic trains and even public travel are at man’s doorstep. For most people, it’s not the long trips that require improvement, but the daily commute. The show test-drives cars that steer themselves, checks out plans for door-to-door public transportation.

It introduces viewers to a new idea — soon, consumers will be able to buy hours of car use like they would buy cellular phone airtime. If some people require a car twice a month, they can order it as easily as they might order food to be delivered. So gear up for the astonishing changes that are about to happen as life enters the fast lane.

Mukesh Khosla