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LOAFER or rather more apt lafandar, the colloquial Punjabi equivalent of the Mumbaiya slang tapori, comes to one’s mind while watching Miilee take on the big bad world. She’s a lovechild and an orphan brought up in a convent-run orphanage in Shimla. Just a stone’s throw away is the abode of the Rastogi Khandaan, whose head, Vishal Rastogi is her father. Miilee, a tomboy, although funloving, seethes within at the injustice done to her and her mother by her father—the word she hates. Golden-hearted and a giver, Miilee is worshipped by some while innocently provoking jealousy in others. Mona Wasu is a revelation in the title role. She has been able to emote almost all the shades of her character—the high-spirited romping girl, the golden-hearted lafandar, the angry young woman with a boulder on her shoulder, a starry-eyed Cinderella et al—quite well, although she does look a bit awkward in the romantic scenes with Ajay Ghei. In fact, the two look most unlikely lovebirds—Wasu being all nose and Ghei all brawn. Thanks to good make-up and great camera work, coupled with oodles of talent, the narrative clicks. Among others, Shagufta Ali, Kiran Kumar and Asif Shaikh do not disappoint, since they are such seasoned professionals. Sushma Seth wins one’s heart as the loveable granny and a just matriarch; in fact she has done to the character of Dadima what Leela Misra did to Bollywood films’ Mausi. Moreover, the lighthearted exchanges between Miilee and Granny are absolutely charming. Another person who impresses most is the one playing the role of Karan, an obsessed lover who goes diabolical to win the affections of Miilee. Along with the classic villain, the archetypal vamps too are back. The interplay of passions, interspersed with comedy, in the serial is gripping. The Vinta Nanda-Raman Kumar team that gave us the serial Tara is back with a winner this time. One hates to miss even a single episode of this fast-paced entertainer. — Randeep Wadhera Blowin’ in the wind
IN the winter of 1961, a 19-year-old American kid—lean, boyish, and awkwardly charming— arrived in Greenwich Village with a battered guitar, a murky past, and a dream of meeting Woody Guthrie. Three years later, he found himself at the centre of a decade of social change and political upheaval. His songs had become the anthems of the protest movement, while his defiant individualism and enigmatic charisma made him a hero of the youth movement. At age 25, his place as a cultural icon of the 20th century was already secure. Meet Bob Dylan on Thursday, September 29, at 10 pm on the Biography Channel. Bob Dylan—the man who changed the way music is made. The icon of the 20th century who gave the anthem Blowin’ In The Wind and The Times They Are A-Changing. It is a special two-hour portrait of Dylan who became "the voice of a generation" in the turbulent 1960s. The show follows his journey from folk troubadour to rock n’ roll trailblazer, and looks at his struggles to raise a family, his surprising conversion to Christianity and the songs that made him one of the greatest singing stars of the last century. If you like music, this surely is a not-to-be-missed show. Three-in-one star
SHE calls herself a three-in-one star. And why not? Rupali Ganguli has starring roles in three big hits on TV these days. She plays Monisha in Sarabhai vs Sarabhai on Star One, Gayatri in Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii on Star Plus and now she has been cast in Kkavyanjali as legal eagle Mona Mittal. But it is her role in Kkavyanjli that is exciting her the most. As an advocate, she takes on the case of Kkavya (Eijaz Khan) and promises to get him justice in the divorce case. "I cannot say that one role is better than the other. I feel all three are very challenging. In Kkavyanjali, I am playing a professional and an empowered woman. So it’s different in that sense," says Rupali. But ask her fans and the verdict goes in favour of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai where Rupali plays a laid-back wife, always on the lookout for freebies and a constant source of embarrassment to her mom-in-law, essayed by Ratna Pathak Shah. "That’s a very slick serial. But so are the other two, aren’t they," comes the diplomatic answer. — NF |
