Sunday, June 10, 2001		Television

Another in the family of soaps

IN this era of long soaps, if some have started to look like clones, the reasons may not be far to seek — writers are running out of ideas simply because there are only those many stories that can be woven around a family.

Daaman on Thursdays, 8.30 pm on Sahara TV, is another addition to the soapbox. The story of a family caught in the flux of changing times and values, it has every conceivable relationship woven in a Muslim backdrop.

Businessman Shahnawaz’s first wife died young after giving birth to a son and a daughter. His second wife, Ayesha, bears him three sons and brings up all five children very efficiently. She is more protective about her stepchildren, which angers her own sons — an angst exploited by their widow aunt, Fakhrunissa, played by Himani Shivpuri.

Himani Shivpuri in the role of Fakhrunissa is the spark in this otherwise drab serial. In fact, after a few episodes one gets a strong sense of deja vu — seen one seen all!

Women of the world

This definitely is not from the Ekta Kapoor Factory line-up. In fact, it is heartening to see a serial where women are not steeped in middle-class morality and gender-defined roles. The main protagonists of Yeh Dil Kya Kare every Monday to Thursday at 10 pm on Zee TV are ambitious women in pursuit of power.

The serial revolves around four women from different walks of life with one thing in common — their aspirations. It portrays the whirlpool of relationships these women are caught in — relationships where morality is reinterpreted and lust and desires stalk their love lives.

The lead star, Ketaki Dave, is a conventional woman and the serial chronicles her exploits in an unconventional world. A traditional woman who has to go out in the world and earn a living for her family after her husband meets with an accident and her determination to be up with the new age which her daughters belong to.

An absorbing serial marked by some interesting portrayals, Yeh Dil Kya Kare is definitely worth investing some TV-watching time in.

Documenting Indian art

Art historian Benoy Behl is on an unusual journey of discovery that would take him to over 100 cities covering 58,000 miles. His mission — to photo-document Indian art down the ages lying in different parts of the world.

The restored photographs would be shown as a part of a series of 26 documentaries titled The Paintings of India that would be aired on Doordarshan. The series will cover different phases of Indian art from cave paintings to murals and from miniatures to the illustrated manuscripts and down to contemporary art.

For 15 years now, this 42-year-old conservationist has been traversing remote areas from the monasteries of Ladakh to the caves of Ajanta, and photo-documenting ancient Indian paintings and frescoes for posterity.

In fact, he has not just captured this priceless legacy on film but in the case of the Ajanta paintings, has had them digitally restored photographs of many paintings that have suffered discolouration, defacement and other natural processes of deterioration.

"I wanted to show the great works in their original glory," says Behl, who has lectured on Indian art at Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, among other centres, around the world. Truly, for him it’s been a pursuit of art from the heart.

Love conquers all

Opposites attract. Right? Wrong. At least that’s what the storyline of Khamoshiya Kab Tak tells us. According to the serial, if one partner is dominating and the other is submissive, true love cannot bloom. There has to be a level where both can interact as equal friends. And that’s when love happens.

Khamoshiya, Fridays 9.30 pm on Zee TV, is the story of Aseem, a 35-year-old chartered accountant whose wife died leaving behind a daughter. Aseem is a pleasant, positive thinking person who is traditional and religious, yet keeps his mind open to modern thinking.

On the other side is Sandhya, a 33-year-old woman, married to a dominating and tyrannical widower, 20 years her elder with two daughters from the first wife. Religious and traditional Sandhya is a graceful woman, totally submissive to the wishes of her family.

Aseem and Sandhya are thrown together by circumstances and are drawn to each other. In their desperate effort to ignore the strong chemistry between them, they go through tremendous emotional conflict. Their love is fated to be unexpressed. Will they ever be able to break the silence? Find out the answers in this engrossing serial.

Songs sung blue

Despite their era having long passed into history, ghazals still have their adherents. Which explains why shows relating to this music genre keep doing well and notch up decent niche viewerships.

A prime example is Pankaj Udhas’ new video of Chandi jaisa rang... which has become one of the most rotated videos on music channels. Perhaps taking a cue from the success of some of these videos on television, a new ghazal-based programme has begun generating interest among viewers.

Aap Ki Khatir every Saturday at 10.30 pm on UTN is one of the umpteen programmes in recent times that talk about the golden era of the ghazal. But the difference here is that it also serves as a platform for the upcoming new artistes to explore their talent.

This show has other forms of performances including the thumri, making it both entertaining and informative. Since it does not have judges, the show gives participants freedom to perform to their best.If you enjoy ghazal, this show is definitely worth a dekko.

All in the line of sports

It’s sports, sports and then some more sports for Eric Young. The youthful anchor of ESPN-Star Sports is back in India and has brought with him some new ideas to energize the popular daily sports news capsule, Sportsline.

The official Olympics host for New Zealand TV, Young has won many awards for excellence in his career spanning over two decades. He feels that ESPN Star, with its state of the art technology and efficient workers will serve to boost all kinds of sports in India in a big way.

"I want to Indianise Sportsline," he says and adds," Earlier my knowledge of Indian sports was limited only to cricket. Now I even know things like kabaddi and kho-kho give a running commentary on those as well."

For him sports commentary is like story telling where the commentator of 10 does not know how the story will end and thus it is important to build the tension for the viewers with excellent camera.

A wine lover, Young feels there is a natural connection between spirits and sports. He says that both are structured, easy to get hooked on to and two passions that are tough to shake off. The owner of a part of a peninsula in New Zealand’s Kaipara Harbour, Young hopes to retire there one day and perhaps write a book — "Maybe on sports... or maybe on wine!"

Mukesh Khosla