Khoj 2 - seems bigger not better !

How is it INDIA’s got talent if the auditions are only conducted in NORTH India?

Why is the editing so bad that you miss a lot of the good performances and never the bad performances?

Why is it important to introduce edited and induced audience-clapping clips at precisely the wrong places to show the viewer blatantly that the ability to copy (other such shows) lies in the execution?

Why do Nikil and Ayushman wear pink shirts and even pinker ties?

Why are only acts like singing and dancing (that would probably increase TRP rating) chosen over other skills when the hosts keep saying in every living moment that the show is about hunting a unique talent from India ?

Why is that anytime there is a contestant from Punjab, Kirron Kher (can never remember the numerologically altered spelling), a judge who has to be impartial, gets all excited even if they are not as talented?

Why does Sajid Khan say ‘I gave you a standing ovation or I salute you’ as if it matters? I can’t recall any decent movie that he has written or directed. Oh..well, at least he doesn’t cry every chance he gets like Sekhar Kapoor.

Why does he make much ado about kids being exposed to violence when he himself comes from the movie industry that cares least about what is shown in a movie?

And finally why don’t I look for something better to do other than pose some rhetorical questions about a mediocre TV show that is only worth watching for some of their unbelievably talented participants ?

India's got Talent, indeed !

When someone initially suggested to me that I should watch ''India's got Talent'', I was not very excited because I am always wary of the so-called reality shows where probably every move is orchestrated before and one has to be careful about what one chooses to watch for the sake of time and peace of mind!

But the show was promising from the very beginning and remained so throughout a couple of inevitable-in-a-reality-show disappointments aside where one's favorite did not make it to next round or some not-so-good performance got acclaimed too much for whatever reasons.

Its very easy for someone to say that its a copy of ''Britain's got talent'' and the original is better...blah...blah...but just think of plain numbers and make an assumption that 1% of the country's population is talented in one way or another and you have your answer - India definitely has a lot more to offer than any other country (Chinese probably do not have time for such little pleasures, they are too busy with technology and development !) and add to this the diversity and you can say that there is definitely no room for comparison at all !

You can watch all episodes at www.indias-got-talent.com - the official website but the quality is unbelievably dismal. If you have patience, wait for the high quality videos to be uploaded to YouTube to totally enjoy the brilliant performances.

Some remarks about the show before talking about my favorites:

Host - Nikhil Chinappa: I fondly remembered him from my crazy-about-Mtv days and the discussions about who is better - Nikhil or Cyrus. He still retains the same sarcasm, well-timed witty remarks and the only thing receding w.r.t him is his hairline.

Host - Anshuman: He has this cute-guy-the-heroine-inevitably-dumps-for-the-sake-of-hero look, a good singing voice (that surprised many) and keeps up with all of Nikhil's pranks.

Judge - Shekar Kapur: He definitely has a way with words, only his expression makes one wonder if he will burst out crying (which he did atleast 5 times, and there is a limit to how many times a man can cry on TV - even Kamal does it only in his movies !) and he is always the ladies-man (keeps hitting on Sonali or any other beautiful girl every chance he gets, nothing offensive though) !

Judge - Sonali Bendre: One would assume she is definitely eye candy (she still looks ravishing inspite of losing her drop-dead figure to motherhood) but she made intelligent and unbiased observations all the time; she is my favorite judge.

Judge - Kirron Kher: Everytime I looked at her, I used to think ''How is she managing with that heavy jewelery ??'' but I have to give her credit for wearing nice saris all the time, the only one to do so in the entire show although Sonali did wear one for Independence Day. What have girls and women these days against Indian clothes ?? why is wearing a nice salwar or a skirt out-of-vogue ?? I know I am talking more about the costume than about the Judge ...well, read between the lines.

Here are some youtube links to some of the acts I really really enjoyed, trust me, they are better than watching some cheesy movie.

Salsa at its best: Sneha and Richard (I would give anything to be able to dance salsa like that !)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVu1qRfU28c&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DczY_NwoocM

Coordination at its best: Prince group (the winners of the show)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-NdCSgZ3kc - Indian flag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYPdZYuBwhI&feature=related - Avatars of Krishna

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3zeLAOXkQs

Creativity at its best: Illuminati (you would grin at the apt name, had you read/seen angels and demons)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfjYcJLKQFc - Super Mario

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOoT8dkE4EE - Tom and Jerry (video quality is not great though)

Flexibility levels at its best: Ujjain group (the second place winners)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZmeGoMo-0E&feature=related

Rapidfire Bharathanatyam at its best: Vaishnavi Patil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrEjF8FADt8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUBrcHcyirI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDCjHfIFkeY

Besides these shows, there was a scintillating belly dancer, a 11 year old MJ like dancer, a really funny and creative ventriloquist, a totally brilliant karagattakarar , 2 women saxophonists, some really nice rock bands, singers, dancers, stunt performers and what not ! Many of them had to be eliminated not because they were not talented but because of the entertainment factor since the show was based on finding ''India's most entertaining act'' and the final results were based on an audience poll. The best part was that the show brought out people from all over India, irrespective of their age, social position and physical disabilities and gave them all a chance in the limelight. While a few of them, for example, got offers from Shekar kapur, for the rest of them having ''finalist or semi finalist in India's got Talent'' in their resume, was opening many new doors.

Now that the first season is over, I am hoping the second season remains as fresh and as promising and is not subjected to the banes of many reality shows that went down the drain after an intial powerful launch.

Second place counts !

I just finished watching the grand finale of ''India's Got Talent'' and I am really happy with the choice for the first and second places although I believe the third place was mainly due to the home advantage (many votes from Mumbaites for a Mumbai based group) than talent...anyway I am digressing....I will have another post just about the show.

The third place winners had their moment of glory and then there were 2 groups to choose from and the tension runs high.....one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that revealing any one of the two places actually concludes announcing the results since the other place is automatically implied.

The hosts chose to announce the first place and naturally the winners deserved to rejoice after all the hardwork and hours of practice, not to mention their hopes and dreams coming alive with a price money of 50 Lakhs and a Maruti ka shandhar Gadi (like Nikhil reminded us a million times) Ritz...they were overjoyed, the got a standing ovation and glitter falling on them from the cieling of the magnificent set.

And all along, the group that probably missed out on winning the show by a few votes stands quietly in the background...their moment in the limelight is gone since the thunder was stolen by the winners and all they got was a bike worth 50K (how can you have a factor of 100 between prizes for the first 2 places ?! Its like having platinum and thagara dappa (Tin) medals in the Olympics !)...nobody seemed to remember that they stood 2nd out of probably 1000s of different contestants from all over India and have gone through gruelling sessions of practice and multiple levels of screening from both the judges and the audience. They deserved an applause even if not a standing ovation to tell them that they did make a mark, to tell them that they deserve to go on, to reach much higher levels ! Clap, clap, clap from me (and probably a few others who did so while watching the show) !

Exactly the same thing happened in the ''Super Singer'' show (and God knows it went on for years!)....while both Renu (third place) and Ajesh (the winner) had a round of appreciation, all Ravi (second place) got was a pat on the back with everyone moving towards Ajesh and jumping around him.

When the show has judges, planners, hosts, choreographers and thousands of technicians and all experienced ones at that, would it not occur to one person to point out that the second place counts ?! I sure hope someone does, atleast in the future.

From my side...congrats Ravi !! Great work, ''Lok Manya Tilak Sanskrutik Gnyas'' !! Here is my salute to your talent and I wish with all my heart that you go places !

Images are from google search (Indya.com and oneknightstands.net)