Anu Ranjan

The 4th GR8! Women Awards – Middle East held in Dubai last month was a rocker of a show, if I might say so myself! A gathering of distinguished guests, an event bursting with marvelous performances by celebrated artistes, the awardee ladies were an inspiration to be around, enjoyment and celebration like we haven’t seen in a long time. Details are in the pages that follow. Don’t miss out. Also, remember to keep an eye on for The 13th Annual GR8! Women Awards being held in Hyderabad later this March. Telecast dates will be announced shortly and all the gupshup will be carried on the pages of April issue. Until such time, Happy International Women’s Day to all my wonderful ladies out there! So, what’s new in desi telly-land…? Yes, 2014 Elections are fast approaching and political parties are working overtime (on TV at least) preparing for the big day – from canvassing every inch of the nation, each selling us their ideologies and trying to convince us to cast our ballot in their favor, to desperately seeking loyal supporters to join their battle and coupling up with alliance partners and trying to reach that magic halfway figure plus one!. The citizens too are excited; after all, this will probably be the most thrilling of all electoral contests fought in our country’s history till date. The tu-tu-main-main slugfests between the parties, groups and opposing candidates that we view on the airwaves daily are getting bit tiresome but considering it’s only going to get worse we’re all dealing with it like we do when we’re watching the occupants in the house of the Bigg Boss.

Talking about tu-tu-main-main, surprisingly no soap operas are making headlines of the kind we used to have in the good old saas-bahu days. All that the channels seem to be focusing on, producing and airing these days are reality shows (which also sort of explains why we’re constantly running back to News channels for more). Of those on air at this time, India’s Got Talent truly rocks – it’s great to see genius of all varieties surface on that show seemingly out of nowhere. Dance India Dance too has proved that you don’t need to feature celebrities in shows for them to be successful. The little kids with practically no background in showbiz are leaving us all mesmerized. Hats off to the gifted little souls. I guess this is why Khatron Ke Khiladi is coming back with an even more advanced season. The promos are attention grabbing no doubt but will the show garner TRPs and audience like before… will have to wait and see.

Wait and see reminds me, we waited and saw Sunil Grover aka Gutthi in his new show Mad in India. Unfortunately, this show hasn’t clicked with audiences like many had hoped – the constant comparison to his original character on Comedy Nights with Kapil leaves us all wanting. On the other hand, it’s still early in the day, maybe we can wait and see a bit more before writing him off. On that wishful note, it’s adios for now. Good luck to all campaigning on air and on the ground. As always, may the best “Man” win. Have a good month and until next time, happy reading!


Anu Ranjan
anu@indiantelevisionacademy.com