Archive for the ‘Reality Show’ Category
Hindi Serial – Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayenge – Rahul finally decides on Dimpy as his bride, leaving Nikunj and Harpreet in the lurch
On March 06, 2010 in Competition, Contest, Drama, Hindi Serial, Marriage, NDTV Imagine, Rahul Dulhaniya le jaayenga, Reality Show, Romance, TV
So finally the waiting is over. On a long program shown on Saturday, Rahul has finally made his choice, selecting Dimpy Ganguly over the final 3 contestants, with Nikunj Malik and Harpreet Chhabra, who made the final, not being selected. The show also put at rest all the talk after Rakhi Sawant’s swayamwar, who had got engaged and then broke the engagement, since it is quite clear that Rahul and Dimpy are going to get married on the show. They have already exchanged garlands, exchanged rings, and taken the blessings of the parents present on the show. Rahul also finally said “I love you” to one of the contestants, and it was Dimpy. It must have been that he made his choice much early.
For the last couple of days, the show has been highlighting the various functions that relate to marriage, such as dance and singing shows, bringing in many other stars (but not major film stars), going through many of the rituals such as the haldi. Before this, all the meetings with the different set of parents had happened. Of course, one wonders for Harpreet and Nikunj, since they have gone through all the rituals and even done a haldi ceremony for somebody whom they are not going to marry (although they would already know this before they joined the show).
The show did try to prolong things a bit, such as by asking all the parents, the girls, and Rahul to say whether they did want to say anything to any of the others, and this got a bit boring. However, now that NDTV Imagine has managed to get a swayamwar to end with a marriage, their credibility level must have gone up.
Swayamvar Season 2-Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayenge – Moral problems with the show
On February 21, 2010 in Competition, Contest, Drama, Hindi Serial, Marriage, NDTV Imagine, Reality Show, Romance, TV
Swayamvar Season 2-Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, has raised the heckles of many people for what they construe to be anti-India values; while for others it is a fine example of the marriage between notions of small-time celebrities to cooked up reality shows. Such platforms provide a very good opportunity for channels to create a certain buzz about their brand while for those associated with the show itself (the celebrity=Rahul Mahajan and the contestants) it is all about getting those fifteen seconds of fame. In fact for many of the participants it is the stepping stone that they need to bolster their flagging modelling/acting careers.
The moral police who deride the show for its blatant disrespect of so-called Indian values and tradition, such shows go against the concept of the ‘ideal’ Indian woman who is supposed to be all coy and demure. In fact surprisingly the contestant themselves come with pre-conceived notions of the ‘ideal, Indian wife” and look down upon and back bite fellow contestants who do not fit into the stereotype. This was clearly evident in the kind of comments received by a contestant Dimpy Ganguly last week. Dimpy is a fun loving, high spirited girl from Kolkata. A model and actress by profession, her easy charm and dimpled smile had clearly won over Rahul. The two were seen cosying up to each other while taking a hot air balloon ride.
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Rahul Mahajan begins his swayamvar with a bang!
On February 02, 2010 in Channels, Competition, Marriage, Masala, NDTV Imagine, Rahul Dulhaniya le jaayenga, Reality Show, Royal, TV
Swayamvar Season 2-Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayega has finally begun. Fifteen beautiful and very hopeful girls will be vying to win Rahul Mahajan’s affection and admiration. Like the previous season (Rakhi’s Swayamvar), the first episode was a grand event where the aspirants were introduced to their prince charming. Set in one of the beautiful palaces in Udaipur Fatehgarh Palace, the contestants alighted from expensive vintage cars to be greeted by Rahul, bouquet in hand. Most of the girls also carried small gifts in order to make a good first impression.
The fifteen hopeful girls came from all over India. The average age of the girls will be around twenty five years and most of them were visibly nervous as they were out to woo a man (and not the other way round) and that too on national television. It takes guts for a woman to pursue a man rather than the reverse. Most of the girls were either students or aspiring models and there even was a lecturer of a college. Most girls came bearing presents so as to make a mark in Rahul’s heart at the very first opportunity. Twinkle Mukherjee from Kolkata gifted Rahul an idol of Goddess Durga, “jor” and cheli– that marks the ‘gathbandhan’ (wedding knot) between a bride and groom in Bengali weddings. Charmy from Ahmedabad showered her affection and wished Rahul good luck by gifting him a showpiece of ‘Farishtey’(angel). Nikunj Malik, an accessories designer from Faridabad made Rahul’s day truly special by gifting him a wallet especially designed by her with her picture in it. Rashmi from Lucknow gifted him a set of a Lucknawi Kurta-Pajama.
Rahul Mahajan – Swayamwar on NDTV Swayamvar
On January 20, 2010 in Competition, Contest, Hindi Serial, Marriage, NDTV Imagine, Reality Show, TV
As if it was not enough to watch Rakhi Sawant, play the coy and blushing to-be-bride for Swayamvar Season 1, now audiences will have to put up with Rahul Mahajan as the dashing groom to 16 aspiring girls for the Second season of Swayamvar. Even though NDTV Imagine did manage to garner pretty decent TRPs for the first season, it remains to be seen whether the second season will offer the same kind of excitement. There are those within the television industry who believe that Rahul’s past shenanigans will help this bit of ‘reality’ programming strike gold. However the very fact that a person with a past as notorious as Rahul Mahajan is being elevated to the status of a celebrity raises certain question marks about our social norms.
Rahul Mahajan first burst into public view and public space as the grieving son of BJP politician, the late Pramod Mahajan. His father had been shot at by his own younger brother (Praveen Mahajan) and the whole sordidness of the event captured the imagination of India. At this father’s death, Rahul remained stoic, sombre and dignified, earning the respect of many. However this image suffered a fatal blow when on the 3rd of June, 2006, exactly a month after his father’s death, he had to be hospitalised after an alleged cocaine overdose. His father’s secretary, Bibek Mitra died on the same day due to this act. After being discharged from the hospital he had to live through many months of public speculation and trial. This was followed by a rushed marriage to Shweta Singh and an equally hurried divorce (one that cited domestic violence as reason).
His first appearance on television was for the controversial reality T.V. show Big Boss-2 where he came across as an incorrigible flirt, manipulative and extremely shrewd. He also served as the judge on Colors’s Chhote Miyan, a children’s stand-up comedy reality show. His third stint for television will be Swayamvar Season -2, Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayega, which has received 16,755 entries via phone, email and SMS. He has gone on record to say that he is looking forward to finding his life partner, someone with whom he can begin a new journey, from this show. This show is being planned around him because he is purported to be a ‘celebrity’. Without that tag of celebrity hood, he is just another ordinary person with a famous surname.
But who is a celebrity? The etymology of the word ‘celebrity’ comes from the word celeber, to celebrate. In the past celebrities have been people of talent who would create something (written, painted, sculpted, acted out) that would be passed on to audiences. In today’s post modern society, celebrities are famous not for doing something extraordinary but for merely being. Rahul Mahajan is one such celebrity whose only claim to fame has been being in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Whether he is able to find his ‘life partner’ a second time around and whether NDTV Imagine will be able to recreate the magic of Swayamvar Season 1 is for time and audiences to decide.
