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Indian Idol 3: Roobaroo with debutante Sonia Mehra

Rima

2007-08-17 02:33:18

This week's Roobaroo was about uncovering the extent of craze generated by the II3 contestants. Personally, I am a little weary from all the adulation, love, craze, excessive melodrama generated by the II hype, so I will keep this unsuccessfully short and hopefully sweet.

So, Mini decided to take this Idol madness one step further and in fact embarass the contestants on stage by reading out some of the lovelorn messages that have been addressed to the Idol stars--more than 1 lakh in just a month, or some extravagant figure like that!

I love you always forever
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First up contestants each get to hear a voicemail from some crazed fan of theirs. Emon and Amit get a lot of love from their female fans from Kolkatta and Pakistan respectively. Emon sings "Tera jadoo chal gaya" especially for his Bengali fan. Ankita gets some romantic shayari from some Rishi Kapoor wanna be ("Mein shayar to nahin"), and of course in her usual andaz gives him a witty repartee.

Puja gets a mariage proposal from a green card holding NRI, who assures her that she won't have to change her surname as he is another Bong "babumoshai" Chatterjee. *blushes*

Chang gets serenaded with one of his songs by one "nameless" love-struck fan (CALL ME, CALL ME, CALL ME, she tells Chingu mingu...lols), and he sportingly sings her a song "Meri sanson mein basa hai". How sweet:)

Prashant dearest gets a marriage proposal from not one but four sisters, urging him to pick one from among them as his prospective bride! Poor Prashant looked positively shocked, when Mini scares him by noting that these wanna be brides were on the show. Of course, later admitting that she was only kidding--a relief for our poor ol' Sepoy!

Moving on we have a suprise guest on the show!

Enter lesser known (or perhaps completely unknown) Sonia Mehra
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For those who don't know this chick, she is Vinod Mehra (ex-film actor/director's) daughter. She is making her debut in Victoria 206. Anyho, Sonia comes in and reveals that she follows II3 closely (in her lovely brit accent) and that she feels all the contestants are stars.

We are shown a brief clip of Victoria 206, and let's just say there is not much of Sonia in it, though she promises that this is just a teaser and there is more of her to come.
Seriously, Sonia darling I hope you make it in the big bad world of Bollywood. You seem like a sweet gal, but honestly this is probably the worst time ever to make your foray in Bollywood. And without the "to die for" looks or extra-special acting skills, you might just do a disappearing act very soon. Oh well, for now I keep my fingers crossed for Ms. Mehra.

My very own II3 Jukebox
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Sonia now has a list of songs she would like the contestants to sing for her. I guess the contestants are ever-ready (excellent promo for the batteries) to perform, so I guess no need to ask if they are interested.

Anyho, the multi-talented Emon took hold of the synthesizer and the shower of songs began. First up Ankita got to sing "Jeeney key hai chaar din." Ankita entertained Sonia and the crowds, but for a change didn't dance--I feel sorry for her, perhaps all the bashing has made her sit still instead.

Chang next sang "Woh pehli baar." Very romantic and Chang did full justice to it. Might I add Chang was definitely looking cute on this episode.

Prashant dearest got a chance to sing "Bheege hoth tere." Prashant gave it his 101% as if he were performing for the Galas. Needless to say, he sang very well. One of the few times I can say that Prashant was really really good:)

Puja sang "Sajna ji vari vari" with a lot of enthusiasm and with a group of guys in the front row dancing like crazy to her rendition. Good god, those boys must have really excited to hear Ms. Chatterjee sing, either that or they just love shaking a leg or two!

Amit sang "Doorie" and in fact got quite confident, for he went on stage and took Sonia's hand and sang with her. Very sweet and they actually made a good couple. Sonia did the "oohs" and "aaahs" in between to accompany Amit. To Amit's pleasure, Sonia noted that he was "a real charmer."

Finally, Sonia saved Emon "the best for the last" in her words for the beautiful number "Tu hi meri shab hain" from Gangster. Emon ji as usual did full justice to this number. The good thing about Emon is that he always puts a lot of emotions into his song, that too while playing the synthesizer--man, that guy sure is talented!

I miss Deepali still
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Following this "DJ play my song" ritual, Mini takes us back to last week when Emon got over-the-top emotional over Deepali's exit. We see a devastated Emon choking, sobbing, promising to "leave the show" over Deepali's untimely exit. Quite melodramatic to say the least. Any case, Emon is questioned on his "semi-Devdas" (as in tears sans the liquor) like behavior and he replies that Deepali was like a friend her never had, a sister he could share everything with and thus he could not imagine losing her--awww, how sweet.

Performance Vs. Singing--aren't we tired of this already?
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The final segment again brought Anky baby into the loop. Seriously, I am tired of hearing this ongoing nonsense on singing vs. performance. If it is not enough that the judges devote twenty minutes or more bickering back and forth about this, the producers had to infuse this topic into Roobaroo (the fun filled part of II) as well. What a party pooper:(

So, now we have contestants giving their views on whether they side with Anu ji's 50-50 theory or Javed ji's "pure singing is a must" dictum. What did they think? I really could have cared less, but just for all you guys, here it is in my random babble:
Anky: I think both matters. I cannot really control my movements on stage. I guess it is important for performance to be natural and for there to be a balance. I agree with both Javedji and Anu ji.

Puja: I don't agree. While doing playback you don't need performance. Who will see you then? Singing Singing Singing.

Anky: I agree with Puja. But I think there needs to be a balance and we are not doing playback singing yet, so perhaps a balance of both. Balance, Balance, Balance.

Puja: NO NO NO. Singing alone matters! Indian Idol is training us to be Playback singers darnit. Ankita, listen to me and get this straight--SINGING IS GOD, SINGING IS EAST AND WEST, NORTH AND SOUTH, ALL THE REST IS HOGWASH. (Beating Ankita to a pulp with her words--hehhe...okay, again this is what I got out of it.)

Chang to the rescue of poor beaten down Anky

Chang: I agree with Anu ji. I think there needs to a bit of both. But between a good performer and so-so singer and an excellent singer, the public should opt for a good singer.

Yea, for mahan Chang!

Emon (Sonu ji fan): You should be like Sonu ji. Sonu ji is the best. Sonu ji is 150%--100% singing, and 50% performance. I love Sonu ji. Sonu Sonu Sonu. (hehhe, okay, so Emon is a big Sonu fan, suprise suprise)

OK. That ended this pointless, annoying debate.

Mini tells all-Gala Spoiler
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To end it all, Mini revealed that this week the theme was Indipop. So, look forward to some fun filled songs sung by our very famous and extremely popular Idol contestants.

Amen to that. Seriously, if you missed this week's Roobaroo, I would say you didn't miss much. Ha! See you tomorrow at the Galas

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Dipankar ( Guest )

2007-08-18 01:38:41


	This was a good write up, the right amount of spice without sounding cynical. Your words captured the situation exactly as I felt when watching. So, it is natural that I would praise you, but I am sure there would be many who agree. I think the producers should announce once and for all whether Indian Idol is about singing or so called "performance" and stop this useless debate. American Idol is very clear on this aspect -- it is a singing and purely a singing contest. So, participants know what to do. The judges know what to look for. None of that useless time wasting debates and confusion.