Satyamev Jayate

Everyone on my Facebook wall is going ga-ga over Satyamev Jayate. I did not watch it myself. I have a re-run scheduled for recording tomorrow and will see it. I heard he has taken on the topic of female foeticide very well and the format is really good.

Aamir is a great guy. I really have a lot of respect for him as an actor and a human being. He has the clout and the mind-share to make a difference if he wants to. But I want to reserve further praise on his TV show till I see more episodes and what topics he takes on in the future.

Female Foeticide is an easy topic. We can find numerous examples, plenty of data, shocking stories even in cities and the so called modern India. Shock value is definitely there. It is a very little ask in terms if risk-taking since it targets common people, the normal citizens who cannot really come back and kill you for showing their misdeeds on air.

If I can see Aamir take on a few more sensitive topics like corruption in government agencies (especially public works departments), distortion in history and how we have been fed lies over ages in the name of history (and I am not even talking about >50 years' history: post-independence era, modern history itself will suffice to generate shock), how communal/regional/divisive politics have caused unending damage to economy etc, then I will give him a standing ovation. That is a task which is not easy, is riddled with risk, which needs to be done NOW to offer any redemption from the way the country is going to the dogs AND more importantly is not very easy for a man on the street to take on. Aamir can. He has all the muscle needed for pulling off such a thing. But will he?

(I know this is putting too much responsibility on an individual while washing our own hands off of serious issues, but if someone has taken on a huge project like this one, might as well take it all the way and do something really worthwhile with it)

Will probably share more opinions on this show once I watch it ;)

Bachelor, Officer and a Gentleman (Ha????)

This series from ABC is the most shameless piece of American Television I have watched. It makes Elimi"date" look holy.

Basically, its about this shameless officer (from the Navy) ! I didn't even like him. And then there is the yet more shameless women. The deal is that this moron is going to shortlist and pick one of the [25, I think] "ohh-my-gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad" candidates and make her his wife. (Huh? did you say?)

Thank God I don't watch TV. Else I would have watched this piece of crap at the beginning when there would have been all those women falling all over this guy. I watched the final episode which was thankfully just two women. And even with that, at the end, I was nauseated and felt sick. Yuck! Both of them are all over him and he takes both of them home (separately of course), takes both of them on "serious" dates (yeah, thank god this is done separately too), both the gals tell him they want to live the rest of their lives with him and he goes and discusses with his family which one he should marry bla bla bla bla bla. All that crap. And each of the girls is hoping she has told him in enough and convincing-enough ways that she loves him. And separately tells the camera that she is hoping he would pick her. Man! What happens when you don't get picked? Do you star in the next season?

It is like what John Tucker does in "John Tucker Must Die" only all his girlfriends (all 25 of them, mind you) are aware that he is seeing another 24 and going on "romantic dates" with all of them. And its like brazenly practicing polygamy on National TV. Sans the vows. Even the family is so shameless as to let him date all these women together and pick one. And then forget not, he is a gentleman (my foot!)

This is what the description on their website reads:

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U.S. Navy Lieutenant Andy Baldwin, M.D., 30, an undersea medical officer for a special operations dive unit stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, has been selected to star in the tenth edition of ABC's popular romance reality series, when The Bachelor returns to the network in the Spring of 2007. In addition to his professional accomplishments, this Bachelor is also a world-class triathlete. Now this real-life 'officer and a gentleman' faces the most exciting mission of his life -- finding true love.

Andy's achievements are matched by his good-natured personality, stunning good looks and self-deprecating sense of humor. He's an unabashed romantic, has watched the series and believes that the show can help find him the woman who could become his wife. Who doesn't love the movie 'An Officer and a Gentleman'? We're bringing the best parts of that romantic film to real life, said Mike Fleiss, executive producer of The Bachelor.

Hosted by Chris Harrison, The Bachelor is produced by Next Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television. Mike Fleiss and Lisa Levenson are the executive producers. David Bohnert and Martin Hilton are the co-executive producers.
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Watch more shamelessness here:

http://abc.go.com/primetime/bachelor/index


Guys, get a grip. What else must we see in the name of "reality television" Oh God!!

Can you get this shameless, ABC? And it calls itself the "ABC Family" channel!

Sigh!!