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THE British author and critic David Pryce-Jones once remarked, "When you’re bored with yourself, marry and be bored with someone else". By watching Hindi soaps together – one might well add. In fact, most of the so-called entertainers are so similar in content that it shouldn’t really matter whether one is watching Kyonki..., Kasauti..., Kahani... or something else. Zee TV’s latest offering Maayka is thematically similar to the Betiyaan`85 serials barring some cosmetic changes. In fact serials with females as main protagonists have crowded out all other themes. Is it intellectual laziness that prevents various producers from coming up with something different? If the mediocrity wasn’t so apparent one would have suspected a concerted conspiracy by various channels to bore viewers to death. The saas-bahu serials have become intolerably predictable – chiffon-clad women indulging in intrigues, feuds and all that’s melodramatic while the male characters look like afterthoughts. Even the comic version of the saas-bahu theme Kadvee Khattee Meethee – a tepid sequel to the successful Tu Tu Main Main – palls. As the theme’s variants the Betiyaan... serials too have not much to offer. Daughters suffering after they become daughters-in-law is an age old theme. Ennui yawns. So one surfs the channels in search of fun and thrills. One discovers that there are comedies like Instant Khichdi, Naya Office Office, FIR and Yes Boss that do offer some entertainment, but one does yearn for better made sitcoms like Sarabhai Versus Sarabhai. In fact if you look at the abovementioned comedies, at least two of these are sequels of sorts – and no improvement on the originals – while the other two keep running in circles round the same situations. Not many can watch these regularly without yawning, triggering off the quest for thrills. There was a time when mythologies kept us spellbound. But now the ones on Ravan and Krishna are not in the same league as Sagar’s Ramayan and Chopras’ Mahabharat. Star Plus promised a historical thriller with Prrithviraj Chauhan. Alas it is anything but a historical – a hotchpotch of fiction and situations culled from Bollywood movies. There was this sequence wherein the evil Mukhiya asks Prithviraj to place his head on his feet otherwise`85 Reminds you of Sholay? Right. Horror shows like Phir Koi Hai too fail to tingle our nerves and only reinforce the desire for a long loud yawn. But there is a silver lining. If one detects a break in the relentless slumber in creativity it is thanks to CID that has, so far, managed to come up with crime-situations and criminals of different hues – with young faces popping in as new recruits in the Bureau or in the forensic lab. Not that there have been no forgettable thrillers; DON and Special Squad, for example. With Karamchand Jasoos making a comeback one does expect the thriller scene to liven up a bit. Apart from cricket, game shows offer fairly tolerable entertainment. There is Bluff Master that keeps one’s interest alive through the creation of suspense by skillfully camouflaging the real bluff master among the participants. The questions asked are both entertaining and different from the usual quiz shows. Last, but certainly not the least is the KBC. Contrary to the expressed skepticism, King Khan has not succumbed to the awesome persona of his predecessor Big B. Instead he is steadily growing in stature and popularity by employing his charming guy-next-door mannerisms. His propensity for addressing the computer in the language of the participants, viz., bhai/ben in Gujrati, bhau in Marathi, etan in Malayalam etc, is endearing as are his lighthearted flirtations with ladies among the participants/audience no matter whether they are 20 or 70 years of age. Boredom recedes at last.
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