Sunday, December 2, 2001		Television

CAN crime and criminals be a source of entertainment? Yes, they can and Star Plus is out to charge Fridays nights with thrilling crime stories in Kahani Jurm Ki at 11 p.m.

The series produced by Niret and Nikhil Alva is informative in the sense it will alert viewers on the activities of nefarious criminals and tell them how best to react if they become victims of a misdemeanour and how to bring the criminal to book.

Most of the episodes in the series are based on real life incidents. Each of them gradually unfolds with the help of a Sutradhar (narrator) who arrives at the scene of the crime. He is an informed onlooker who knows about the laws and advises viewers on what they should do if they are confronted with such a situation.

Although not a character in any of the stories, the Sutradhar in the story is the identification factor for the audience from the point of view of the story. Every episode has a different director while the actors will appear in varied roles every week include Nupur Asthana, Sopan Muller, Imtiaz Ali and Nisha Jain.

Don’t miss this slickly produced ‘infotaining’ series. And the next time there is any crime in your vicinity you will not just be prepared for it but would also know how best to react to it.

From Batwara to Parampara and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak Rajputs have been synonymous with moustaches and protecting their family honour.

Now the moochh and maryada stuff is being aired on the small screen as well. Zee TV’s new daily serial Aan Monday to Friday 12.30 p.m. is all about Thakurs and Ranas who are ready to lay down their lives for their honour at the drop of a hat.

The story revolves around Vikram Thakur, a strict disciplinarian whose only weakness is his daughter Shivani. He sends her to a top public school so that she can grow up to be an independent-minded young lady. Most of her time is spent in the company of her hostel roommate, Sujata and her boyfriend Rajiv.

But the story takes a sudden twist when the doting father has to marry his daughter against her wishes into a tradition-bound royal family. Wedded to a man who doesn’t care about her, and having to spend her time listening to the complaints of her intemperate mother-in-law, Shivani decides to take things in her hand and make her own destiny.

Much to the shock of the family, she starts practicing law and picks and chooses cases of suppression of the poor. Matters come to a head when she takes up cudgels for workers who are employed in her mother-in-law’s factory.

Made on a lavish scale, Aan impresses with its grandeur and photography. But the same cannot be said of the script which drags and digresses without any clear direction.

How much does a girl cost a middle class household? Perhaps a couple of lakhs taking into account her marriage and dowry. How much does it cost to kill a girl at birth? A couple of hundred rupees. So which is a better proposition?

For an answer to that one you would have to see Atmajaa a stunning telefilm on the girl child that underlines the fact that of the multitude of evils, the most revolting is female foeticide, the singular cause for the alarming drop in the country’s sex ratio.

Atmajaa based on an Oriya poem and directed by Nilamadhab Panda, is a powerful tale revolving around Suranya Kumar, who is the government appointed authority to check sex-determination tests in her city, a task which she does with missionary zeal.

Ruchi, the sister-in-law of Suranya Kumar gets pregnant and is forced by the male members of her family to undergo a sex determination test. When it is found that she is carrying a female baby, her family suggests abortion. But the timely intervention of Dr Suranya Kumar helps to avoid the killing of the girls her mother’s womb.

The tele-film has already been aired on Doordarshan’s National Network. The producers are now approaching private channels. Already Tara Punjabi and Alpha Punjabi have shown interest as both Punjab and Haryana have low sex ratios and a educational film like this one would have a great impact on viewers.

Almost three decades after retiring as one of Bollywood’s most durable lead stars, Asha Parekh is making waves on TV. After critically-acclaimed serials like Jyoti, Palaash Ke Phool and Baaje Payal she produced a classy comedy, Daal Mein Kaala a highly popular tear-jerker, Kora Kagaz and is now back with Kangan which is all set to break a few records.

"I am very happy at the way the serial has shaped up," says the actress-turned-producer. "In fact even when it was in the making we all had a strong feeling that it was going to be a hit. It has a very strong storyline."

Kangan every Friday on Star Plus is the story of a middle-aged man who is shattered when a young and vivacious woman rejects him. He falls head over heels in love with the girls and vows to marry her. Such is its unqualified success that it has made Parekh one of TV’s most sought after serial makers.

It’s been a remarkable transformation for Parekh. In a career spanning both black and white and colour films, she acted in over 100 movies and made a quiet exit after her 1972 hit Kati Patang. Once she quit films, Parekh channelled her energy into setting up an academy, Kala Bhavan, to teach various dance forms. She is also the chairperson of the Film Censor Board and till recently the president of the Cine Artistes’ Association.

But her first love still remains TV serials. "Whether you are making a comedy or a family drama you derive immense professional satisfaction from television." Considering the high TRP ratings all her serials have notched up, no one should be surprised at the former star’s infatuation with the small screen.

Donald Duck the irascible mallard whose temper tantrums and keen curiosity brought him international fame stars in his first ever TV series, Disney’s Quack Pack on Sony Entertainment Television daily at 6 p.m. The series is both fun spirited and in contemporary settings.

Donald is a behind-the-scenes cameraman for an entertainment news show, who treks across the globe with his nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie searching for news, outrageous situations and hilarious new friends. Trying to juggle a career and family Donald Discovers how difficult it is to look after three adolescents with an attraction to trouble.

Adding to his woes is Daisy who, as a field reporter in front of the camera, is no longer just Donald’s adoring girlfriend but a liberated career woman—-independent, intuitive and always after the ‘big scoop.’ With a strong supporting cast of characters such as Kent Powers, a vain, pompous and arrogant anchorman, to recurring guest characters such as the power-hungry villain, Multoc, the humourous escapades are endless. So get set for an evening of fun with one of Disney’s most lovable and enduring classic characters.

Every year, tens of thousands of people die from attack by venomous snakes like taipans, mambas, funnel webs, black widows, blue-ringed octupuses and bees and wasps.

With 15,000 people each year dying of snakebites in the Indian sub-continent alone and one million people worldwide being bitten by snakes, understanding nature’s chemical arsenal is vital to scientists — and to human life.

Venom: Nine Ways to Die on December 10 at 2 p.m. is an indepth programme dealing with the slippery and slithery snakes and other venomous creatures around the world who can sometimes sting and kill without a reason.

The show combines the latest research, remarkable natural history footage, state-of-the-art film techniques and high drama to uncover the astonishing power of nature’s offensive chemicals lodged in a snake’s body and how science is racing to combat them.

— Mukesh Khosla