Saturday, April 15, 2006

Punjabi antenna
A dull season ahead
Randeep Wadehra

Why does the current Punjabi television scene compel one to go for lassi? When you drink lassi you transport yourself to your pind. This all-weather Punjabi drink conjures up pastoral images—gold-green fields, brown cobbled paths, village pond amid a clump of trees, and the reassuring music in the air. Such villages can now be seen only on the telly.

Now that the raunak mela associated with cool ‘n’ cold months is over, things are getting dull on the small screen. Not that it was particularly lively ever, but Punjabi television goes perceptibly inert during summers. And, the signs are already visible. You have to make do with Pyar Naal, Dial E Punjab and Alpha Gaddi which thrive on music videos, or put up with stale jokes and repeats. One gets real tired when even the repeats are repeatedly repeated.

To know if anything new is on the anvil, one contacted Zee Punjabi’s Mukesh Gautam only to learn that he had rejoined after resigning from the channel. He however refuses to offer hope on the entertainment front in terms of new shows or even ideas. Ritesh Lakhi’s Khabarsaar is the only non-musical regular show on the channel apart from the news bulletins. Now, when was the last time one got to see something fresh and interesting on Parat Dar Parat?

So, most of the action is off the idiot box. Rana Ranbir, who anchors Excuse me please, is contemplating a role in movies, while Sudesh Lehri and Gurpreet Ghuggi are in the UK and Canada to beat the heat. Navjot Noor has opened a production house in partnership with Manoj Arora while Kamaldeep is into videos and ads. Vijay Tandon is unable or unwilling to come out of his hibernation. Vinod Sharma and Dr. Ranjit are already busy acting in quite a few Punjabi and Hindi movies with a couple of Hindi serials thrown in. The various Manns too are a busy lot. Gurdas is producing a movie even as Bhagwant is seen giving Navjot Sidhu a leg up in assorted talk shows, and Harbhajan Mann cannot be spotted on the radar screen. Mika has migrated to Mumbai. And, pray, where is Hans Raj Hans?

It’s getting hot and dry; soon it will be hot and humid. With Punjabi television offering no solace, the agony intensifies as the mercury soars. Got some fresh lassi?