SRK versus the regular soaps

Some shows can be interesting even if they are reruns; especially if they are repeated after years when content has moved into long-term memory. Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai on Zee TV went back to time when Farooq Sheikh was hosting this ego-boosting show. A show, which has the host introducing a star and producing, characters from his or her past to talk about what the celebrity used to do when he or she was this high. And the celebrities invariably wear an amazed expression all the time, and by now, the audiences take this to be part of the show format.

Farooq had Shah Rukh on the recent program – a repeat – albeit an interesting one. Shah Rukh’s friend Ranganathan recalled how the two of them had come to Mumbai chasing their dreams and had even spent a night on the platform of Bombay Central station. But the most incredible incident he related was that of Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) viewing the skyline at Marine Drive and said grandly he would one day rule this city.

Colonel Kapoor, the producer and director of Fauji, the serial that launched Shah Rukh Khan remembered this Khan as the man with deep dents in his cheeks. Most of SRK’s friends remembered him fondly as a naughty, impish, person. Cheeky Chawla poked fun at SRK’s appearance when he first starred with her. But, one wonders at the purpose of showing this long-forgotten program and after so long.

Ugly Betty on Star World had the fashion publication’s manuscript getting stolen from Betty by a vindictive neighbour; and this neighbour actually sold it off to the first buyer; who of course, happens to be our hero’s enemy number one within his own organisation. But the free for all between the two neighbours was worth a watch.