Friday, January 25, 2008

My Favourite Serials ( Hindi)

Surprised to see this post after that entire hullabaloo on Hindi serials? Well, every case has its exceptions and it’s the same in this one. I don’t blame you for being so confused though, coz I know that I did go a lil bit overboard with my criticism of saas bahu serials.
Well, coming to the main point-my favorite Hindi serial is Baa Bahoo and Baby. I never miss an episode if I can help it. Many people still feel that it’s a saas bahu serial. Well it is-but not like the ones I so lovingly criticized. It is a serial that everyone can relate to, especially if you know what it is like being in a huge joint family. There is something different about this serial which makes it so endearing. Maybe it is the fact that all the characters of the serial actually look their age .Maybe it is because this is one serial which is purely entertaining, and none of the characters are either evil or schematic ( no, not even the sisters-in-laws of the bahoos!).Or maybe it is because this is one big family who loves each other dearly and is not ashamed to show it. Whatever it may be, the basic fact is that this is sheer fun for anyone who loves their family dearly.
There is no ‘ main’ character of this serial. Every character is equally important, The head of the family is Godavari Thakkar,a powerful yet kind woman with a drunkard for a husband, who has been through many hardships like poverty and corruption to bring up her children as good human beings with good values. Her elder son ,the most conservative of all the brothers Arvind is a total mama’s boy ( or in this case,Baa’s boy!),and wouldn’t listen to anything against her.This quite vexes his wife Leela,a former TV actress,who has to check herself twice before talking about Baa to Arvind.Their son Jigar is a doctor whereas daughter Dimple , who is a little younger than Arvind’s youngest polio affected sister,Baby( whose real name is Radhika!),is a bride.The second brother is Harshad,a well-to-do doctor,who had once left his family for his job but returns back to them due to his Baa’s love and affection.His is probably the most normal family,Then comes Praveen,a total comedian-businessman,who is so stingy that he refuses to contribute to the monthly expenses with the other brothers .His wife Praveena died last year,and so he is a single parent to his kids ,with occasional help from his sister in law,Devaki.The next brother is Subodh,a playwright in his dad’s theater company and his wife Meenakshi,who is extra extra sensitive and burst into tears everytime she sees something remotely touching.Somehow she is the only one who manages to laugh at all of Tushar Kumar’s ( the elder son-in-law ,husband of Charubala,Baa’s snobby daughter!)sick,not-at-all-funny,or in better words,poor jokes!!Next in line is ( I forgot his name;dey r soo many that I cant remember all of them.Readers and avid watchers of BBB…please help and forgive me!)…….called Mafatlal by Praveen who fiancée is this Punjabi girl named,aptly,Gurinder Chadha.And lastly,the most loved character,Gattu,the mentally unstable brother who is the thread binding this lovely family together……..
This is one family which loves each other and is united from every front,despite their differences.This is one family that makes you laugh and not make you thank god for the fact that there love and trust even amongst hatred and evil.
The other hindi serials which I like are Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai,which is hilariously funny.Its about Indravadan ‘ Indu’ sarabhai and his wife Maya,who stay in one of the most posh areas of Mumbai and are a regular art connoisseurs,like many other Page 3 celebrities.Their elder son Sahil, a doctor,shocks Maya by marrying a typical Punjabi middle class girl,Manisha ( whose name is changed by Maya to Monisha,as Manisha is hysterically middle class according to maya!).Monisha and Maya are as different from each other as,well,…there are no words to describe how dissimilar they are from each other.If one holds a book reading session with cocktails in their house,the other buys off antique raddi from the raddiwala!!To top it all is Rosesh,sahil’s brother, a total slave to Maya’s wishes and not to mention,a …err….poet……!!!Their family brings in loads of laughs and hence do good for all people,especially high blood pressure patients.At the end of nearly every episode,the viewers are in splits!!
I think that our producer should dedicate the entire primetime slot to comedy rather than serious saas bahu serials. People nowadays have no time for themselves or their family, and instead of spending the remaining time either grumbling at each other or watching some lousy soaps, they should either talk to each other or at least laugh with each other.Coz, even though we have everything we need in life today, we have no time for some of the most important things in life-like family, love and most importantly-laughter…..

1 comment:

Mrinalini said...

oh...suddenly remembered the name of the last son...its Hemal!!!