The Celluloid in subcontinent has long been taking its cues from the Hollywood. The practice is very much in vogue to date. The plagiarism of today is more subtle given that film makers are utilizing the technological advances to their benefit. Following their counterparts in the Big Screen , the managers in Mini Screen have produced a number of shows which are derivatives of their originals in the West. Just concluded sequel of "Kon Banega Karore Pati" on Sony Television , "Kia aap panchuvee Pass hain" on Star Plus and successfully running reality show on Color Tv , Big Boss in its Season 4 are some of the examples. Despite being brainchild of Western media and only introduced as second versions in India and some cases in Pakistan too , the shows have done better in both the neighboring countries(Pakistani audience falling back on India Television besides cinema having lost their faith in their indigenous entertainment industry).Part of the reason behind the success of these shows has been their stellar charisma. The shows have been hosted by mega stars of Bollywood. Amitabh Bachan , Salman and Shah Rukh Khan brought their big-screen popularity to their shows in a society where people are crazy about movies. Just the name of them having signed and appearing in the Mini Screen was reason enough for the show to do well in the court of audience. The latest to jump the bandwagon of TV show hosting was Akshay Kumar on a cooking competition show on Star Plus lately. Didn't keep track of that and not sure whether the program is over or still running.
Big Boss's season 4 had two Pakistani artists unlike its previous versions. A wanna-be woman Mr Ali Saleem and all too ostentatious Veena Malik. I have watched most of the episodes of the show and it all looks brainless at face-value. Whats the point in locking a number of persons under one roof, is the obvious questions that comes to mind while watching the show down the road. The only good aspect of the show is that one gets to see the real faces of some show biz personalities.Cover being blown on their pseudo personalities is very interesting. Having seen them prepared in cinema or stage is altogether different from seeing them "act" to a an almost 24-hour monitoring camera. The show brings out the best and worst in the persons. Until they are eliminated from the show, the characters reveal every aspect of their personality willy-nilly. In their weak moments, the inmates make no bones about their past relationships , the controversies in their lives (the touchstones for their entry into the program actually) and other personal issues. Its more like reading a few chapters of a person's autobiography.
As the things stand , there are only five participants left : Doli , Ashmit ,the Great Khali , Shweta and Sameer. The second and last Pakistani artist , Veena Malik , was eliminated today. One wonders what did this show do the public stature of Veena Malik. Before turning up in the show , she was a popular mimicker in Geo Tv later having switched to Dunya Tv now not to mention her high-profile relationship disaster with a famous Pakistani cricker. To be fair , she was phony all along. She could fake any emotion under the sun including being the lover , friend and lover again and much more. I remember the lawyer who was eliminated in the initial episodes of the program calling her a "vamp" the son of Mr Muhesh Bhatt terming her " the most fake lady in the house". I couldn't quite figure out what the show is/was meant for but its better to watch than seeing Pakistani news channel blowing hot and cold about every thing around us ! After Veena's elimination , my interest has gone down on the show. For the sake of it , i wish Shweta wins the show. After all she has remained one of the mature , unassuming and very sensible inmates since the start of the show. Only two weeks to go now. Good luck Shweta :)
Friday, December 24, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Who is an Assistant Commissioner ?
“Sir the power generator has stopped working”. “Sir a protest rally of about 200 people is coming to your office chanting slogans”. “Sir the commissioner is on the way “. “Sir please we need your support before the December is closed ”. “Sir, the Patwari noted my name but I haven’t received any relief so far “ “ Sir ………..
These are the workaday requests which dictate how a public servant named Assistant Commissioner (AC) spends his day. The agenda is decided for him and not by him. Recently a friend of me asked “what exactly are you supposed to do?” I said I worked with police for the administration of the area, for want of a better description. She Okayed the answer then but when I told her I was going to a remote place with doctors to enquire into reported deaths of infants, she was again confused as to what exactly I was entitled to do. This time I didn’t explain because I was not with the police as I had told her earlier.
You can expect any thing coming your way in what is called administration. It can be anything under the sun and there may be departments purely set up to handle it but people always look up to you for redress. Being at the helm of AC for almost three years, I have found that the job is very thankless besides being overly multifarious. Willy-nilly the AC has to poke his nose almost everywhere. While it may give a super-hero impression to the public it doesn’t help the person himself. The problem of another department becomes your own. Their weakness plays against your reputation exposing you the ire of the public. Recently, the equation has been rendered more complex after the area was given the status of a quasi-province. Little-known leaders of political parties have jumped onto the top positions of power in the region. The same persons who couldn’t visit the offices of ACs and DCs without prior permission now exercise command not only over them but also over their bosses. This has necessitated the need for a harmonious relationship between the officer concerned and the MNA or worse still any MNA from the ruling party of the area. If the relationship is not good (mainly because the officer hasn’t granted special favors to the cronies of the area MNA) , the officer has to face anything ranging from ridicule in front of the public to conspiracies of all sorts. This either leads to a show-down with the area MNA or the department concerned posts the officer to another area. While the job of a Public Administrator may have all the pomp and show from outside, it is beset with all sorts of strings attached to it. Sometimes you think you are royal, while at times your worth seems nothing more than rank-and-file!
These are the workaday requests which dictate how a public servant named Assistant Commissioner (AC) spends his day. The agenda is decided for him and not by him. Recently a friend of me asked “what exactly are you supposed to do?” I said I worked with police for the administration of the area, for want of a better description. She Okayed the answer then but when I told her I was going to a remote place with doctors to enquire into reported deaths of infants, she was again confused as to what exactly I was entitled to do. This time I didn’t explain because I was not with the police as I had told her earlier.
You can expect any thing coming your way in what is called administration. It can be anything under the sun and there may be departments purely set up to handle it but people always look up to you for redress. Being at the helm of AC for almost three years, I have found that the job is very thankless besides being overly multifarious. Willy-nilly the AC has to poke his nose almost everywhere. While it may give a super-hero impression to the public it doesn’t help the person himself. The problem of another department becomes your own. Their weakness plays against your reputation exposing you the ire of the public. Recently, the equation has been rendered more complex after the area was given the status of a quasi-province. Little-known leaders of political parties have jumped onto the top positions of power in the region. The same persons who couldn’t visit the offices of ACs and DCs without prior permission now exercise command not only over them but also over their bosses. This has necessitated the need for a harmonious relationship between the officer concerned and the MNA or worse still any MNA from the ruling party of the area. If the relationship is not good (mainly because the officer hasn’t granted special favors to the cronies of the area MNA) , the officer has to face anything ranging from ridicule in front of the public to conspiracies of all sorts. This either leads to a show-down with the area MNA or the department concerned posts the officer to another area. While the job of a Public Administrator may have all the pomp and show from outside, it is beset with all sorts of strings attached to it. Sometimes you think you are royal, while at times your worth seems nothing more than rank-and-file!
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