Indian Serials

[los angeles]

Woooo so there've been a few short dance sequences on Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev, I am thrilled to report

One was with Sati's sister and her husband. The other was with Sati briefly dancing in the forest for Shiv (Narad was trying to milao them--Nandi wants Shiv to be with Sati but so far Shiv is staying very far away from everyone and especially from Sati.)

Anyway her dance was very brief, just a few steps, but it was really pretty!! Omg I LOVE this show so much I can't believe it!!!

Okay embarrassingly honest fangirl moment over []

On MJHT, Samraat is trying to find Gunjan to tell her how he feels but she is evading him, feeling self-conscious after telling him she's in love with him (well she sort of told him, she said it to him as his back was turned and then it turned out he had ear-phones on so he didn't hear any of it.)

On IPKKND, preparations are underway for the Akash-Payal sangeet. I am looking forward to seeing the naach-gana and also I'm hoping there will be some cute sarees, churidar-kameez and anarkali outfits

On RMJ, everyone is having difficulty accepting Aditya as Bharti's son. He is staying with Mona's parents for the time being. Anukalp and Mona are trying to ascertain what they should do to make things go more smoothly.

The demon versus Krishna battle wages on in CHoti Bahu...I wish this program had more temple dances on it, especially from Radhika since she was a Krishn devotee. She could've performed some very lovely pieces during festivals and such but they didn't show so much of that.

Speaking of festivals, as said before I am not going to mess up this year and miss celebrating/dancing for Shivratri/Navratri/Janmashtami and Shivratri is coming up in six weeks wooo hooo!!:D

It will be on February 20th, 2012.

[I will be ready this time hehe:D]

Time for some random serials pics:

Anjali and Naani have decided to gift the winner of the sangeet competition with an extremely gorgeous Shiv murti (Nataraj):



Naani looking marvelous, I really like her character, she is so adorable:



Look at Arnav's cockatu-bangs here?!! They are so high up off his head omg:



^ By the way it's not just "Nanav" having weird hair in this photo, Nand Kishore NK looks pretty absurd as well hahaha:p

Virat-Maanvi hug from today's ep:



^ Tomorrow it looks like their wallets will be stolen during this crazy road trip they're on (Virat is trying to safely escort Maanvi to Hrishikesh but everything is going wrong...she left behind her cell and purse and then got kicked off the bus Virat had put her on. He was following in a motorcycle trying to find her.)

Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev, my favourite FAVOURITE new show, so cool!!





Shiv sig from a poster on IF, from the forum's Creation Corner:



Lotus flowers on Kailash:



Daksh and his wife:



TTYS []

[los angeles]

Hey guys, I know from our PMs that everyone is busy and on travel and whatnot but thought I'd post my Shiv show update anyways

Ok so I am officially completely and totally TOTALLY obsessed with Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev as much as I am with Jai Shri Krishna (because Shiv and Krishn are my favourite Indian deities, I am boring and predictable like that haha)

Some historical/background pictures of the story from online, this is Shiv carrying Sati's body after she is burned:



And another one:



Some kind of clay diorama of the same:



There is something so haunting about the image of Shiv carrying the corpse of Sati!!!!!!!!!!
It gives me the chills.

Anyway, back to the program on Life OK, which is my favourite these days

Like a total nerd fangirl I have been looking up everything I can find about the show and of course taping it consistently, I even have repeats on tape in case the first show tapes incompletely or whatnot.

I have found from online searches that the sets for the show have been constructed in Naigaon, which seems to be close to Mumbai. Such lovely sets!!:D

I wish I could fly to Naigaon and just observe the shooting...how odd would that be though, I'd be all "Hi, I'm Gauri, I'm a fan from Los Angeles, California, I just wanted to watch you guys shoot this in action, don't mind me, I'm just going to sit here in the corner and watch as you record this magic."

I'd no doubt be escorted off the set by security. Maybe I should make a very large, proper and legit looking badge that says "Vice President of Soaps Division" in bold lettering of a good font. Maybe they'd think I was important enough to stay if I wore that hehehe []

I like how the show's creative team is taking their time with the Shiv and Sati love story, they are not rushing it one bit, which is lovely (I wish other serials also wouldn't make this mistake--as we've all noted in this thread, when they rush a love story between the leads it pretty much ruins everything )

Shiv and Sati have only been face to face once and even then, Shiv left immediately after seeing her, it was the scene where he was singing in the forest and Sati starts dancing, though she doesn't know why or where she is, she is just cast under his spell. [It was kind of a gorgeous scene]

Bholenath in the forest during the scene where Narad is trying to milao Shiv aur Sati:



Sati during the last part of her dance for Mahadev:



Vishnu and Lakshmi on this program (I think this actor plays Vishnu on multiple mythological shows)



I found some articles online and thought I'd past them here, the first one is below, a brief paragraph with some quotes by the actor portraying Bholenath:

After laying low post Ganga Ki Dheej, actor Mohit Raina is back in action with Nikhil Sinha's Mahadev. He has played the male lead in Chehraand Ganga Ki Dheej, but his latest character is an achievement to cherish.
He is playing Mahadev in Nikhil Sinha's Devo Ke Dev - Mahadev. "I was taken aback when I received a call to audition for this particular role and I went without any preconceived notions. When I met the makers
I was amazed to understand the magnanimity of the show.
The set is grand and the graphics used for this show is outstanding. Also before this, no one has shown the love life of Lord Shiva. This show will take you through the romantic journey of Mahadev and Sati." Mohit had worked hard on his body to get a broader look in order to look the part.
"I had to work hard on my body because the viewers will always see my bare body as Lord Shiva." Apart from the Mohit also sat and discussed the topic with Dev Dutta, who has done a lot of research on Lord Shiva. ""His inputs were very important for the show. I am excited that the audience will have a look at the human side of Mahadev through this show," he concludes.

I don't agree with the bad things they are saying in this second article--they criticize the Sati girl's acting and they even criticize Shiv actor's emoting as well. I disagree totally, I think the actors are doing marvelously well and I am enjoying their performances.

With the exception of Om Namah Shivay, which aired many years ago, Lord Shiva has largely been overlooked by Hindi serial makers. Life OK's new offering Devon Ka Dev Mahadev is like a breath of fresh air and a terrific lesson in the life of the bairagi destroyer, Shiva. It wouldn't be wrong if you can call it a divine love story between Shiva and Sati, the youngest daughter of Prajapati Daksh, the arrogant son of Lord Brahma.
Inspired by the writings of Devdutt Patnaik (who has produced some seminal work on Shiva, retold Mahabharata and dealt with mythology in the last couple of years to bring it within the realm of the common man's understanding) and Bodhisatva, Mahadev is about Daksh's denial about the significance of Shiva and his daughter's love for the Lord. The show begins with Daksh's sthapana of the statue of Lord Vishnu. Everything seems to be in good order till the sages point out a glaring aspect that is lacking. There is no Shivalinga and hence the statue won't budge inside the temple. Not one to accept defeat, the arrogant King asks for parijaat flowers for the Narayani yagya he wants to perform for the installation of the statue. Sati volunteers to go to the forests to collect the flowers and that's when she stumbles upon Shiva's existence. Much as Sati tries to pull herself away from the vagabond God, she finds herself increasingly drawn towards him.
The show is awe-inspiring with respect to its production values. The locales, the settings, the costumes (especially the ones worn by Sati and her jewellery) are stunning. However, the performances are average and the dialogues are cliched like 'Main chupchaap saare dukh sehti rahi' to the 'Main pratiksha karoongi, sheeghra hi apeksha' stuff.
Mohit Raina as the mighty Mahadev is quite striking as far as the physical aspect is concerned. However, we would want him to be a little more expressive. Mouni Roy as the petite, fragile Sati is also stiff. She leaves a lot to be desired in the emotional scenes. She tries hard to convey the pathos and the pain but in vain.
We wish someone better with more depth was cast in her place. It's a pleasure to see Surendra Pal as the arrogant Daksh, despite him scowling most of the time. The rest of the cast pitch in good performances.
Notwithstanding the minor flaws, Mahadev is an engaging watch.

^ These quoted pieces are both from the IF Articles Archive by the way, in case anyone would like to look them up.

On the Sunday morning two-episode reruns of Jai Shri Krishna on Colors, Little Radha has made her entry and Holi Festival is underway

As far as non-mythological programs, I am still watching MJHT, Choti Bahu, EHMMBH, Ram Milayee Jodi, Saathiya, Khushi show and Sasural Simar show, so I'll update those in the next week or two.

TTYL

[Pardesi]

Hey guys is this the right place to start my fangirl squeeing about Humsafar the Pakistani drama with Fawad Khan? Or is there another thread for Pakistani dramas?

Humsafar is just amazing! It was recommended to me by a friend. It's my first desi drama or movie or anything to watch without subtitles... just so great!

I'm now thinking of watching Dastaan

[anju_21]

^Hey Pardesi! Yup, this is the place-- we only discovered Pakistani dramas fairly recently, but Parul has watched quite a few already. I'm in the middle of Dastaan now and plan to check out several others, including Humsafar. Please post as much as you want about Humsafar and any other shows you watch! Seriously, you can never be too obsessed and fangirly around here 

By the way, guys, I'll probably get back to posting regularly next week or so. I've been watching IPKKND whenever I remember to record it and I'll go back and watch at least the Arnav-Khushi scenes as soon as classes start up again and I need to procrastinate. I've watched a few episodes of Ruk Jaana Nahin and it's interesting but I'm not quite hooked yet. Been randomly checking out Life OK, but I'll write more about that stuff some other time...

[los angeles]

By the way, guys, I'll probably get back to posting regularly next week or so. I've been watching IPKKND whenever I remember to record it and I'll go back and watch at least the Arnav-Khushi scenes as soon as classes start up again and I need to procrastinate. I've watched a few episodes of Ruk Jaana Nahin and it's interesting but I'm not quite hooked yet. Been randomly checking out Life OK, but I'll write more about that stuff some other time...

Hi Anjali!!!!!!!:-)

Okay a brief IPKKND update...haha no idea what's going on with the fashion choices in the Akash-Payal sangeet...while Payal herself looked adorable, Anjali's hair was crimped yesterday like a tight perm and then made into round little ringlets today. She is so pretty but this hair-style was so odd!!

Then Khushi wore some kind of velvet sweater lengha, which doesn't look like a proper desi lengha-choli at all! I don't know what this outfit is, exactly

It's also a bit strange in terms of the color scheme--the long sleeved choli is in a dark-brown sort of maroon type color. And then that's combined with bright bhangani purple for the lengha-skirt and chunney. [It looks as weird as it sounds! ]

And to top things off, they made a funny little lump on top of Khushi's head with her bangs or clip-in hair extensions or something to hide the stem of the maang-tikka. That looked quite odd too

Are the stylists on vacation? Because whoever decided all this, what are they thinking here hahaha:p

I am still enjoying MJHT, both Samraat and Gunjan are hiding their feelings from each other. Nupur is trying to help Gunjan get through this--Gunjan thinks she was rejected by Samraat but actually she wasn't, he was wearing headphones during her long speech and had no idea she'd even said anything.

I was quite behind on lots of the other shows from the past few days and ended up having to erase lots of episodes today so as to not endanger my Tivo/DVR system. [Whenever it overloads on memory, then the timers start malfunctioning, so if too many shows pile up I end up having to remove them all at once when it comes to my attention.]

So I've no idea what's going on with the other progams right now, except for Mahadev show, where Daksh has invited Bholenath to some kind of political meet-up/function and Bholenath has accepted the invitation.

Sati's sisters are still visiting, two of them are married to the same fellow and one is quite the neglected wife in that scenario, which is dreadful. (Why on earth would two sisters marry the same guy?! I don't even agree with two unrelated women marrying the same guy though. Nooooooo)

(I quite like the actress portraying the neglected wife however, I've seen her in a few other guest roles on various serials in the past.)

There is also another lady visiting the palace, her name is Madanika, I think, and she has caught on to the fact that Sati is in love with someone, though she isn't sure who it is yet. She obviously finds out soon because in the precap from yesterday's ep they show her telling Sati that she CANNOT be in love with Mahadev, that the consequences will be grave and that Sati will burn for this.

The line where she told Sati she'd burn for her love for Shiv gave me chills all over again!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Because as we all know, if you recall the story of Dakshyani Devi Sati, then you know it ends terribly for her as she's torn between the love of her life (Shiv) and her father's disapproval of her husband and she unfortunately does end up burning in the end. Which is where the term "sati" even comes from.

[While I am quite enjoying the dramatic re-enactment of this story I don't agree with any such sati practices obviously, they are totally outdated and completely wrong. But back in the day in India, people thought this was what widows were compelled to do. Thank God we don't live in such Dark Ages now as far as women are concerned.]

Someone on the IF forum described this show as a visual delight, and I quite agree with that!
The sets, costumes, jewelry, etc...it's all so gorgeous!!!!:D

Some pics from Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev

Bholenath on Kailash:



Life Ok channel promo pic for the serial:



And another one:



The actor portraying Mahadev:



Okay that's all for now, I will watch more eps of everything and then come back with another update soon.

TTYS

[los angeles]

Me and my Shiv fixation, I can't stop with the posts about the Mahadev show.



Anyway...for starters, I am really liking the portrayal of Bholenath on this show so far!!

I know it might change or worsen--we've all liked certain actors in certain roles only to be dismayed as the show continues and the character changes in ways we don't like.

So I'm really hoping that doesn't happen here, because that would kill me haha

I think playing a character like this is quite difficult! Shiv is the destroyer, but he's also the innocent one, and he's terrifyingly powerful but also infinitely gentle and wise and cloaked in meditative stillness. How to convey all this in one persona?

But somehow they are pulling it off so far on Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev...the actor is awesome, and so is some of the direction.

I think the actor's expressions/emotive choices in many of the scenes so far are just marvelous!!! He watches the other characters (like Nandi and whoever visits Kailash) with a quiet, amused detachment which just seems perfect. It's benevolent, but also above it all. Great depth and other-worldly kindness with a simultaneous total non-attachment to everything that plays out. Total essence of Shiva.

I just love it!! Oh my gosh!!!

[And now I'm worried I'll jinx it! Please noooooo, don't let that happen ]

In latest promos, they show Shiv and Sati finally meeting for the first time, so I'm looking forward to that

There was an article on IF talking about how the actress playing Sati is apparently causing problems, not showing up on time to the sets and so forth...I hope they don't replace her. It's a bit jarring when suddenly the replace an actor you're accustomed to in a role on a serial.
Eventually the new person wins me over though, most of the time, I must admit

A couple pics of Bholenath from the scene where Daksh summons him to the palace at the start of the serial:





Since I am on a mythological series kick in true old-lady style here [grandmas watching mythologicals FTW hahaha:p ]...anyway, since I can't seem to help it, might as well post these very cute pics from the end portion of Jai Shri Krishna:

Krishna and Radha by the river-bank:



Yashoda and Krishna on a hillside:



Yashoda & Krishna sig, so adorable:



Switching gears from mythological to normal serials for a minute, at the Akash-Payal sangeet, Khushi performed some clips where she was lip-synching to Sridevi's Havaii song and then to Madhuri's Devar song from HAHK.

And someone on IF in the IPKKND forum posted pics of BuaJi from that song, apparently she is the lady in pink suit and sunglasses?!!!

I always thought that lady was so cute and funny, but I thought she was Bindu? The Bindu who played all those villainesses in yesteryears movies.

But apparently people on IF say that actress is the same one who plays BuaJi on IPKKND:







BuaJi and Manorama at the sangeet:



Anyway, I've no idea if BuaJi and the pink-suit-sunglasses lady are the same actress for sure, but if they are, how cool is that haha:p

[los angeles]

Greetings to Soaps Division from Los Angeles, California, USA!!!

Okay that was an overly enthusiastic intro sentence for this post, I don't (as usual) have anything particularly exciting to say haha

Anyways, my update:

Due to time constraints I have had to remove a bunch of the shows I was watching so now I'm down to Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev (which is so far AWESOME ) and then Iss Pyaar, EHMMBH, MJHT, Saathiya and music videos.

And then I tape Jai Shri Krishna reruns on Sunday mornings as well as Raavan reruns when they show up. I had to fast forward the last Raavan episode I had on teh timer, Ram and Lakshman were passed out in a cave or something and Hanuman went in there and met some Bandini lady and then was fighting the soldiers to free Ram and Lakshman or all this.

Okay, so moving onto Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev, Sati and Madanika are heading out into the forest. And in tomorrow's ep, or maybe the one on Tuesday, Shiv and Sati are going to finally meet [Wooo Hooo!!!! ]

Sati's sister, who is either named Rohini or Revathi, is unhappy with her marriage and talking to Sati's mom about this.

By the way, the Sati actress danced to "Radha Kaise Na Jale" from Lagaan with Maan from Geet on the show Bandini when it was on I remember seeing that episode with my mom. A pic from their guest appearance:



Meanwhile on Kailash, Bholenath had sent Nandi away with his father but Nandi was very unhappy and so Shiv brings him back.

Co-Prez Parul had mentioned previously the tradition in India of people whispering to Nandi the things they want Shiv to hear, and on the show they incorporated this, which was SO lovely!!!!!!:D

After bringing Nandi back, Shiv tells him that one of his duties will be to listen to the prayers of his bhakts, and that from now on, any prayer sent with an extremely sincere heart through Nandi will surely reach Mahadev

A Shambhunath and Nandi sig from IF:



Bholenath w/ Nandi:



Nandi is very important and has his own Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nandi_(bull)

Another quick link for Nandi: http://www.puja.net/wordpress/nandi-shivas-bull/

A lovely Flickr pic of a little boy in India with a statue of Nandi: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paragsankhe/58001816/

A tiny little modest home or desk murti of Shiv and Nandi (I should get small Krishn and Shiv murtis like this, and maybe a Durga one too, for like a desk type scenario, but I haven't properly searched out nice ones in Little India, must do this one of these days):



Another pic of Bholenath and Nandi:



And since I am embarrassing myself left and right with my obsession with Hindu mythological stories [ ] then I might as well finish off this post with a couple Jai Shri Krishna pics...on latest Jai Shri Krishna eps, Little Kanhaiya has started playing his flute quite often

Also, little Krishn and Radha are spending time together and Krishn and Balram are discussing lots of things including their very badly behaved Uncle Kans

Monsieur Makhan Chor:

 

Kanha with Vasudev:



TTYL

[BollyWHAT?]

Just popping by to say thanks for the tip on watching these online. A very dangerous tip, actually. I'm supposed to be working. Instead I'm catching up on three and a half months' worth of Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai. Aaargggh.

Is it my imagination, or is this serial filmed in sync sound?

(Gotta add -- Manvi annoyed the hell out of me for a few hours. Now she's my favorite. How did that happen?? Love the actress's delivery! )

[los angeles]

^ That's awesome!!:-)

And re Maanvi that happens to me all the time with serial characters. Someone I think is very annoying later becomes my favourite.

I am watching reruns of a show called Miley Jab Hum Tum which Anjali and Parul had watched when it first came on TV. There is this ridiculous clueless bodybuilder guy on there named Uday and when I first started watching I was like "Who is this clown? Plz get off my screen."

But he grew on me and now he makes me laugh so much:D I totally enjoy his absurd comedy bits which are interjected between the more serious angst-ridden scenes of the lead jodis.

Parul and I are huge Virat-Maanvi fans by the way, they have  some hilarious dialogues and wicked banter where they constantly put each other down and keep trying to one-up the cross-blow insults, it's very entertaining hehe:p

Guys, re Iss Pyaar show, I had to forward the whole part in the latest ep where Arnav goes onstage and dances with Khushi because her friend Sarita doesn't show up at the last minute

Arnav dancing just seemed so weird! It didn't fit with his character (in my opinion) and that part just didn't work for me somehow.

I should've had fun watching their sangeet segment, I don't know what happened, normally I LIVE for dance and romance in Hindi serials. But here I felt rather embarrassed watching this and I was sort of even cringing and couldn't make it through

On a random very tangential sidenote, with certain jodis (like Arnav and Khushi) I must say I also prefer if they keep the comedy to a minimum, I think their numerous comedic scenes weren't as cool as their more dramatic ones.

Coming back to the sangeet, some guys look really out of place and totally weird when they dance. [I sounds like a narrow-minded old lady here but this whole bit was not my cup of tea. I knew from Friday's promo that I wasn't going to like it too much and then yea, I forwarded every bit of it.]

Maybe I'm the only viewer who has this opinion, the IF posters seem to be liking the latest developments.

The precap was odd too--Shyam is going to put a lethal insect onto Anjali while she's sleeping so she dies?!!! Ummm okay then.

I've been forwarding all Shyam tomfoolery these days as usual anyways, I never watch his scenes.

On MJHT, Nupur and Gunjan have left for Morena, and Mayank and Samraat are still in Mumbai.

Mayank has realized he was wrong in the argument he was having with Nupur, he thought she told everyone about their relationship and she totally hadn't. And Samraat is trying to find Gunjan so he can tell her he's in love with her. They showed Gunjan remembering all the little moments she shared with Samraat during earlier college days, it was kind of adorable.

By the way due to further time constraints, I've removed Saathiya from my timers, as well as a slew of music video programs.

So now I'm down to these shows only:

1. Devon Ke Dev Mahadev
2. Jai Shri Krishna (on Sundays)
3. Miley Jab Hum Tum
4. Iss Pyaar

And that's it!!

TTYS

P.S. Re this question:

Is it my imagination, or is this serial filmed in sync sound?

I can never tell haha (even with movies I can't tell how they do this, and I've no idea what the protocol is with television shows)

Maybe Parul or Anjali will know though

[los angeles]

Hey guys, thought I will give another random Vice-Prez serials report

On Iss Pyaar, they are still putting too much hair gel on "Nanav"....omg it looks so odd to me...dear show stylists, plz remove some of the hair gel on this actor, you are making him look so weird

Anjali's sangeet is going on and there will be an Iss Pyaar maha-ep this Saturday, yay:)

There is a (plastic haha) scorpion loose in Raizada Mansion, Shyam brought it to sting Anjali but it wandered away. I am glad they used a fake scorpion instead of a real one for the show, the real ones should be left in the wild and not put into little jars to bring on TV programs.

I hate when they make animals perform in movies and televisions, leave them alone and make fake replicas for the shooting and the taping of episodes.

Okay my vegan girl help-the-animals rant is over haha:p

I am still loving Devon Ke Dev Mahadev.
The Sati girl is beautifulest and the actor playing Bholenath is so handsome and so well-cast in his role here as Shiv *swoon*

In latest eps, Mahadev protected Sati during a sandstorm and now Sati has found out that Shiv was invited to the palace for some huge meet-up by Daksh, so she is excited and waiting for his visit. Madanika knows Sati is in love with Mahadev (and she is horrified by this)
In the precap they show as Sati confesses to Madanika that she loves Bholenath

Narad and Nandi are still trying to coax Shiv into entertaining thoughts of meeting Sati.

[Random sidenote: Luckily by the way the snake they wrap around Bholenath's neck in the Mahadev program is not real. It is a synthetic non-alive one and sometimes it sticks out at an odd angle while the Mahadev actor is delivering dialogues, but I am so glad they aren't using a real one and making a poor snake sit there for hours and hours while they tape the scenes.]

Some pics below from my favourite show maybe ever.

Narad:



Nandi:



Bholenath and Sati together when Sati was separated from Madanika after they left the palace:



They had a marvelous part during the sandstorm where Sati briefly touches Shiv's shoulder...it was one of those extremely gorgeous romantic moments that you see on Hindi serials and you just melt completely. Omg guys, your Gauri Di was so gone hahaha:p

By the way it occurs to me that I ought to be more partial to long hair on guys since Mahadev always has it. Dreadlocks too. But I'm not! I hate long hair and dreadlocks on guys. I think they only look right on Shiv. [I can't even imagine Shiv with short hair--every picture, every depiction I've ever seen since I was a little girl showed the long hair on Shiv, always. Even on Krishn, he has shoulder-length hair, not very short. But in real life I only like guys with short hair, for sure.]

By the way, re Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev, I love LOVE the music in this show too--it is so gorgeous and fantastic I want to purchase the soundtrack, I wonder if that's possible. I'd love to buy the Jai Shri Krishna soundtrack too, I've no idea if that's possible either. I really love the music in these modern-day mythologicals though, it is simply fantastic

Life OK promo piece:



Mahadev when he turns around to look at Sati during the sandstorm:



And because I can never resist posting pics of this little rasgula who played Kanha:



By the way, Happy Republic Day to Soaps Division!!!:D



In other news I am a few eps behind on MJHT, will update that later when I catch up.

TTYS  

[los angeles]

More small VP Gauri Di updates:D

A random cute Jai Shri Krishna sig I came across:



Okay so haha you guys, your Vice President Gauri Di almost threw her shoe at the TV today...they had a poolside scene on Iss Pyaar where Arnav kisses Khushi briefly on the cheek. He was pulling her towards him with her chunney, while they were sort of arguing and then he catches her unaware. Totally adorable, right? But, exactly at the moment where he's about to lean in, the channel puts a huge red banner covering up half their faces to say which program is coming up next.

For WHY Star Plus?!!!!!!!!

Omg so annoying!!! They always do things like this, it's so weird!!

There was another very cute and adorable scene where this happened also, I can't remember when.

I mean they could've easily placed that advertisement a few minutes earlier, would've been so much better, no? Maybe during a less romantic scene. Gosh I was so mad Lol *eyeroll seizure*
 
Anyway, I'll post Bholenath pics from Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev below in order to recover from this grave injustice hahaha:p []

Also, tomorrow is the Iss Pyaar maha-ep, in the precap they showed Anjali asking Khushi why the letter "A" in on her hand in mehndi. I haven't skimmed the maha-ep info threads on IF because sometimes they give away the whole plot of the upcoming episode, which makes it not-so-fun to watch.

Khushi's anarkali suit in latest eps was so cute, it reminded me of a similar one I saw Madhuri wear to some event
But along with it she had on these huge red and silver tear-drop earrings that looked rather odd
Large earrings--in a pretty style--can look fantastic, of course. But I don't know what on earth these enormous things were, they were like big Christmas shields hanging down on either side of her head. Nooooooo:p

By the way, I haven't caught up on MJHT yet.
I have like four or five eps on the DVR now. I will try and watch them plus the maha-ep for Iss Pyaar tomorrow or Sunday.

Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev











By the way, I have read some comments where people are saying the Shiv-Sati story is very bad and stupid, and they criticize Sati's character in general for being weak-minded and so desperate to please her parents (the self-immolation after Mahadev is insulted by Daksh as being the worst of it as she's playing the ultimate victim/martyr.)

I don't agree with this at all!

I completely relate to the Sati character, who tries so hard so be what her parents want and tries so hard to do what they want. It all fails when she falls for Shiv, she can't help herself.

I grew up with extremely strict, academic old-school Indian parents who were conservative as hell and very very controlling. They pushed me so hard to go into science and I tried really hard but I failed miserably at that and nearly killed myself from the depression and sadness at not being able to be what my folks wanted. In the end I came out of the depression, started over in my thirties, and became a dancer. But it was a painful path and the guilt and shame of not living up to parental expectations was immense and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Ever

So I just really relate to this whole sort of extreme conundrum/dilemma of a character like Sati, where the parents are so demanding and so harsh in many ways and the very idea of not being able to be or do exactly what they want is so devastating as a daughter. I can understand opting for suicide in such a situation, especially in olden times people were even less understanding than they are now about how to raise children and how to nurture and support them.

Anyways, these stories last through the ages and are re-imagined over and over for a reason...some of us relate to them all too well. It is somewhat healing almost to see shows that depict all this. [Okay that last part sounded kind of absurd! But hopefully you guys know what I mean.]

Dakshayani Devi Sati:



lklk



I am a pathetic nerd-fangirl of mythologicals so much that I am drowning this thread in pics of Shiv and Krishn (sorry!)

I'll try to rectify that with a little Mayank and Samrat from MJHT:







And I love this over color-coordinated picture of Mayank, so cute!!



Okay that's all for now

P.S. Nakhrewali!! Just saw this tweet from the serials Twitter account you have:

And when Arnav kisses Khushi on the cheek, "woah I think you missed a few steps in the middle there buddy!" #ipkknd

^ Okay you know what I totally agree with you!!!!

(So much so that I had to bold that hahaha:p)

Now that I'm thinking it over, it might've been way cooler if they'd started their romance with something much less OTT.
Maybe a hand-holding type of scene, or a half-embrace or an accidental embrace or something like that?
Not sure what I think about the serial creatives going straight for the kiss-on-the-cheek moment right away...maybe that could've come later.
I dunno...I know they've taken a pretty long time to develop the interaction between these two leads on this particular program, but still, I'm wondering if they could've saved the entire kiss-on-the-cheek scene for a cooler/later occasion.

Edit Part II:

Forwarded through the maha-ep for Iss Pyaar, mostly I just watched the Arnav-Khushi scenes, and those were cute!!
Except there was one scene where they used a close-up on Arnav from a previous scene for a later scene and the first close-up didn't match the two-shot of him and Khushi in the doorway
That was a bit odd, maybe there was some problem in editing and they couldn't fix it in time for the broadcast.
But other than that minor issue, the Arnav-Khushi scenes were quite adorable.
Anjali and Naani have caught on to the fact that Arnav cares for Khushi and in the precap for Monday's ep, they are shown talking to Arnav about her I think this is awesome--I've been waiting and waiting for Anjali to realize what's going on with her Chhote
Now if I can just catch up on all those MJHT episodes omg haha []

[los angeles]

Hey guys!:)

Brief update as per the PMs from earlier

So on MJHT, Mayank and Samrat are in Morena to visit Nupur and Gunjan.

Nupur is being kind of somewhat annoying with demanding that Mayank tell her he loves her in front of everyone. Why ask for that when his personality is so clearly not the type to make public declarations?

Anyway, Gunjan has realized that Samrat has no idea how she feels about him [she had confessed earlier when he had his back turned and she thought he was listening but actually he'd been wearing head-phones and hadn't heard a thing.]

I've been forwarding lots on MJHT lately, I don't like Nupur's bossy loudness sometimes (though I like Mayank's more reserved personality quite a bit.) And then I've also been skipping over other random scenes. I watch most of the Samrat-Gunjan parts though, because I like their jodi the most.

Samrat-Gunjan offscreen (White pumps...? And I don't know what kind of a huge neckline and very shiny fabric shirt Samrat is wearing here? ]





On Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev, Sati is torn between her parents and her love for Shiv. As I stated in an earlier post, I so relate to this struggle due to my decision to become a dancer!! It's like you either have to kill all your dreams and kill who you are inside so you can please your parents. Or you can disobey them and follow your heart but with massive guilt and shame over your decision. It's such a nightmare--you feel horrible, worthless and selfish and sometimes paralyzed with agony for years.

When Sati has these impassioned dialogues where she is anguishing over her feelings for Mahadev but trying to pull herself away in order to be an obedient, dutiful daughter to Daksh, I just DIE. I so completely understand the whole thing--I understand all the emotions involved to the fullest extent. It feels like one of those things you can never explain to people who haven't gone through it themselves. I think there are many such situations in life and this is one of them for sure.

Sati with shivling:



Madanike is an interesting supporting character, she is the only one who knows about Sati's love for Bholenath so she is the only one Sati is able to talk to and confide in every day. And she is a Shiv bhakt too, though she hid that from Sati at first.

Daksh has put some kind of shraap or something on Mahadev, though I usually forward the more political parts of the show.

I did see one part where Daksh was taunting Bholenath for not understanding the importance of family since he has no family of his own. Which is interesting because when you know the story, then you know that Sati will be reborn as Parvati in the future and she will be with Shiv forever and they will have Ganesh as their son. So Daksh's insults later will make not make sense at all.

Incidentally, I have a huge soft spot for Ganesh (in general) because he is the son of Mahadev:D

Bal-Ganesh is so so so cute, and I esp love the pics of Shiv and Ganesh together, so adorable, like this one:



And this one:



From DKDM, Bholenath meditating:



By the way I was looking at IF pics in the Mahadev Forum and someone posted a ton of off-screen pics of the actor who plays Mahadev. They were mostly like these very cheesy modeling stills I didn't like them at all!!!! I Noooooo

I guess I only I like him in character as Shiv on DKDM

Anyway, he is very amazing and handsome on the show at any rate

On Iss Pyaar, lots of cute romantic moments with Arnav and Khushi these days, so I've been liking that quite a bit. (Though, I don't know if it's just me, but they seem a bit less skillfully executed than before. A little less understated or something. I dunno. Could just be me.)

Anyway, it's still fun to see their love story continue, though I do forward lots of the other characters on the show (especially Shyam!!)

I don't watch too much Manorama but when I catch a bit of her conversations here and there, I still find her funny, unique Hinglish rather amusing.

I like how Anjali and Naani are now totally playing Cupid to milao Arnav and Khushi They like high-five each other all the time when they catch the two together, it's so ridiculously cute:D

I'm kind of waiting now for the grown-up Krishna to make his entry on Jai Shri Krishna. I really liked some of the Krishna-Radha scenes that are in this part of the serial, there's even a lovely Krishn-Radha dance that I love SO MUCH and I watch it all the time on Youtube. Actually there are two of them. So gorgeous, so gorgeous, just marvelous.

Shucks I need a mythological serials intervention at this point [hahaha:p]

TTYS

Edit:

Okay, saw today's eps on the Tivo and had to come and say something...

One thing that really irritates me on IPKKND is how childishly argumentative they make Khushi's character. It's so odd

Like today she kept asking Arnav why he bought her bangles, she just went on and on like a little kid

The part where he bought her the bangles was adorable, and the part where he sees she's wearing them was fine too (well...they kept the looks going between them for too many minutes, but they always do such stuffs on serials:p)

But then after that Khushi keeps following him around asking him if he bought the bangles (obviously!) and then she keeps asking WHY (um...isn't this also obvious.)

It's just so weird

Silence would communicate volumes in so many scenes here, there's no need for all this superfluous dialogue where she's a petulant five year old child asking why and what for everything.

I am probably criticizing and complaining too much but haha oh well.

Also, Khushi was wearing a billowing neon yellow anarkali suit for today and yesterday's episodes...it was so bright! Hurtz the eyez I tell you

Since I have edited this post a thousand times, might as well add another Shiv and Ganesh picture which is so lovely and adorable:



On yesterday's episode of Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev, Bholenath came to Daksh's palace, and Sati sees him first, and she runs to embrace him...oh it was so romantic!!

One of the sig from that part on IF Creation Corner from the Mahadev forum:



Edit Part II:

Well, since I can't seem to resist, a few more awesome sigs from Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev forum on IF:







Okay I'll stop now hahaha:D

[los angeles]

Hi guys!!

I have been reading Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev forum, it is big fun [hahaha:D]

But seriously, lots of interesting info posted there

Shiv and Sati embrace from a previous episode:





There was also a lovely Mahadev-Sati dance on latest episode, which was so nice to see!!!!!!!!!!

Madanike had taught Sati to dance and she and Sati's mom watch this performance along with Sati's sisters. Daksh comes in at the end, he is angry.



I also found some cool stuffs in the DKDM forum (in a general thread about Bholenath) and one poster wrote this about Shiv's meditation, which I really liked:

"Shiva is almost constantly in the yogic state known as 'Nirvikalpa Samadhi'- a state of samadhi where one is supposed to lose all sense not only of body consciousness but also mind consciousness such that the there remains no distinction between the knower, the act of knowing and the object known.

Shiva doesn't pray - because when you pray, there are emotions, feelings, words, and above all one is still attached to the body and the world. You know that you exist and you are different from the entity you are praying to.

Going into Samadhi means erasing  the distinction between the body/mind/ ego and the relationship in which it stands to the world and the thought that there is such a distinction. Thekshetra merges into the kshetrajna

Nirvikalpa Samadhi  is supposed to be the  highest form of consciousness."

^ I think this same state is possible even outside of so-called "formal" meditation, in the act of being intensely present and in the moment, as a general practice in life (as oppose to being caught up in mind/ego/maya/illusion all the time.)

This all rings true with the stuff I've liked and read in Eckhart Tolle's book "The Power of Now" which is a nice easy, simple philosophical text with practical, helpful day-to-day advice. I also have another one or two of his books and I like them too, but "The Power of Now" is the coolest one, I think. He quotes Krishnamurti, the Gita, Christ, Rumi and Zen masters and so on, they all say the same thing, just in different languages and stories. It is extremely awesome:D

By the way, I stumbled across something called a Mythological Masti forum on IF, and there's a creations gallery in it where people make sigs from all sorts of mythological serials, it was so fun looking through those!!

This is a Mahadev-Parvati sig from a show I've never seen:



And a general Mahadev sig from a huge statue in India:



I'm still watching Iss Pyaar, where Arnav is helping Khushi at her home for some sort of pre-wedding ceremony for Payal or something.

Shyam is still trying to end things for Anjali at every turn, it is quite absurd, in latest ep he was rewiring underneath her car or something (I still forward all Shyam-related scenes )

Due to time constraints on certain days, I've been forwarding a lot of MJHT too. The Mayank-Nupur and Samrat-Gunjan jodis are still going strong (though I prefer the Samrat-Gunjan one.)

Okay I will probably be back with more Shiv-Parvati (Mahadev-Sati) stuff in a little while since I can't seem to get enough of that these days []

TTYS

[los angeles]

Hi my little kadus of Soaps Division of Bollywhat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay so still watching Mahadev show, Jai Shri Krishna and Iss Pyaar show, with a side order of MJHT, where Samrat has told Gunjan that he loves her. It was all like "Nerd, I have feelings for you" and "I can't let you go this time, nerd, I just can't." And so on and so forth with ROFL subtitles [hahaha:D]

Arnav and Khushi continue with their cute romantic moments while Shyam continues to try and murder Anjali (can't believe him, omg, he needs to be in JAIL.)

Anyway, on Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev, I am kind of obsessed with the Mahadev-Sati dance that aired a few days back. I have watched it several times, I watched an interview with the actors about preparing it several times, and I'm of course saving all the fabulous sigs made by the smart kids in Creations Corner on IF, those kids are quite talented!



You know, I think I realized part of the reason why I like the actor playing Bholenath so much--he seems really sincere and humble. ("Seems" being the key words as usual, I suppose, because I've obviously not met any of the Mahadev serial actors in person hehe)

But yea, he does seem kind of genuine. It comes through in the interview segments I've seen and it even comes through in the dance with Sati at Daksh's palace, where he just seems to be giving it his best, and he seems to be really sort of giving respect to the steps and to the picturization. It just seems like he's taking it very seriously, which I really like. There's nothing perfunctory or blase about his presentation, not even for a second.



It's such an appealing quality when an actor has that, I think, when they're totally appreciative of the performing opportunity they've been given and they're doing their best to just make it as awesome as they can. It comes through in their body language, their work, how they talk, the way they present themselves and the way they present the character. I love it!! It's just very very very cool

Another thing too--I think it's that same sincerity which allows for the innocence of the character of Shiva to come through in the way this actor portrays him. Because though Shiv is the destroyer (of illusion and ignorance) he also has a gentle stillness and profound innocence to him at all times. And that is ever so important to convey. Even when just seated on Kailash while listening to Narad or Nandi ramble away, something in the eyes and in the expressions of this actor shows those qualities so perfectly. It's really gorgeous and heartfelt and beautiful in a way. It's there in his voice modulation and speech intonations as well, when he delivers his dialogue





I was trying to find more interviews with this Bholenath guy and I stumbled across some video mix songs from another serial he was on with the girl who played Khemi, Santu's sister on Bandini. Khemi was the one who almost had a romance with Hiten, who was the son of Santu's husband by his first wife. So even though the whole thing was age -appropriate and they weren't related by blood at all, she was technically sort of about to have an affair with her nephew because Hiten was her sister's step-son through marriage. So they stopped that storyline and married the characters off to other people. (It was too bad because Hiten and Khemi had a bit of chemistry and would have made a cool jodi, had it worked out.)

Okay I will be back with more stuff in another day or two wooo hooo []

[never_evil]

Hey dee, sorry I haven't had the chance to read some of these posts. But I saw Sanaya in this video and I thought I'd share it with you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swscC4k7vSQ
I knew she was in Fanaa but I can't remember if I ever mentioned it on this board.

On another note, happy valentines day I feel like I should be littering this post with mushy serial VMs or something...

so here goes! In no particular order, some of the jodis I've been following lately:

Sapnon Se Bhare Naina
Sarphira Sa Hai Dil: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrKTUipYJWo
It ended recently so I went back to ep 1 from dec 2010 and am now around apr 2011. I love these two way too much! I know Daksh aka Gaurav is a bit goofy looking and Naina aka Parvati isn't some gorgeous stunning model, but that's what's so appealing about them! Their love story was just so ...normal and nicely developed. Gah!

Phulwa
Nahin Hona Tha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEUz4Bwi6GA
Holy moly, I still think this was such an explosive combo. A cop and a dacoit together, what a stroke of genius!

Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai
Ek Teekhi Teekhi Si: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PKEAryA-VA
Viraat and Maanvi! Perfect song! I wish this VM was longer
To compensate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej1hWpvIgSQ | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl6dxySP69I | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZMoQDx4Bpg | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MI9KbfbJoM | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_n6XazwALY
Accha chodo mazaak, this one is a sweet one - Darmiyaan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHO1Dz3CyN4

Main Lakshmi Tere Aangan Ki
Tune Jo Na Kaha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUZvBCKcJno (I guess this is to explain the context of that >) | Kya Pyaar Karoge Mujhse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ojvJQpF74Q
The sweetest serial on the small screen right now, I'm sure.

Hitler Didi -
LOL Mere Saamne Wali Khidli Mein: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ilTWerYQ7A
Cheeni Kum Hai: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJqj9Sgtiww (so to hai, but we like her like that!)
Sau Dard Hain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCk2JsJJRHQ

Left Right Left
You know what the most amazing thing about Rajveer and Naina was? They weren't a romantic couple until his very last shot in the show. Now, THAT was brilliant. He developed feelings for her despite being a friend of her brother's,

Spoiler (hover to show)

the brother he had to kill

, and her teacher and she never did. Or at least she never quite realised it till it was too late to say.
Ik Tu Hi Tu Hi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKnADCUpf2c
Ae Dil Dil Ki Duniya Mein: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BChl7KouuA
In the beginning I was always for Huda and Naina - same age group, and they pushed all the regular romantic track buttons but it was impossible not to be taken in by the pureness and sincerity of Rajveer's emotions - Rajeev Khandelwal, no matter what else you do THIS is always going to be The Role I (and countless LRL fans) will remember you for.

DMG
Yuvi and Naina, Iss Deewane Ladke Ko: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmBoQ8g5BLE
Throwing that in there, aiveyin. Plus it was quite well done (and I guess nice to imagine the story without all the angst, much as I love conflicted loyalties and love complicating revenge plots etc!)

'k it's 1am, so I'm done

[los angeles]

Hey dee, sorry I haven't had the chance to read some of these posts.

Haha no worries sweet thing!!:-)
It's mostly me going on and on and on about the Shiv character from Mahadev: Devon Ke Dev.
[It's actually kind of nauseating hehe:p ]

And awww Parul thanks for all the video links!!
I am going to watch all of them with my vegan latte next time I have a break, looking forward to it.

On another note, happy valentines day I feel like I should be littering this post with mushy serial VMs or something...

And Happy Valentine's Day To Little Kadus!!!! Woot Woot!!!:D



Edit: Finished my work early this evening so I'm watching all the linked vids and the Virat-Manvi ones are my favourite--they are so cute!!

But I saw Sanaya in this video and I thought I'd share it with you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swscC4k7vSQ
I knew she was in Fanaa but I can't remember if I ever mentioned it on this board.

^ This vid has been removed by user or something, but yea, I've seen her in Fanaa in one of the songs

By the way you guys, I've fallen back into watching a million shows again. At first I had pared everything down and I was only watching a few programs like a sensible, proper person. But your Gauri Di is the furthest thing from a sensible and proper person so that of course only lasted a little while and one day I suddenly missed seeing more desi TV stuff.
So I put all my old shows back on the timers. And then I put a ton of new shows on the timers too!! So now I'm drowning in soaps once again. It's so fun to be back hahaha:D

Okay so I think I'll post brief updates on some of the shows I've set to tape:

On Choti Bahu, Radhika is back in her body and Kanha is now guiding her in his usual (God-like) avatar as she attempts to thwart Bharka's evil plans to harm the people in Dev's house.

On Dwarkadhish Krishna, Sudama has left the palace due to the unkind words of some other fellow, and Krishn misses his friend quite a bit. There was a lovely sequence where Krishn danced with Radha and the gopis in the forest again.

On Main Lakshmi Tere Angan Ki, Lakshmi is now romantically with Arjun (who she thinks is a guy named Ajay who works for Arjun, I believe.) So she doesn't realize that she's with the guy who is the actual Arjun, at this point.

On MJHT, Mayank's mom lost his job, Mayank and Nupur temporarily split up and Mayank left Morena to go back to Mumbai. Samrat and Gunjan are finally together. And Uday and Benji are still quite amusing with their sidekick tomfoolery haha:p

I caught up on EHMMBH with the weekend omnibus telecast--omg I how I've missed the feisty, lively, vivacious Manvi!! And I missed Virat and Manvi together. How did I stay away from this show for so long?!! I am an idiot!

Anyway, I'm back to watching it now.
Manvi helped Inder Uncle win some kind of property case or something and she and Jeevika have reconciled.
Manvi is also going for some tests at the clinic with Dr. Manan, but it seems he is not telling her grandmother the truth about the results...so maybe Manvi is ill and no-one knows:(

Manvi Actress:





On Sasural Simar Ka, the villainous ladies in the house are setting up huge misunderstandings between Simar and Roli. Roli and Siddhant (or is it Siddharth?) had a cute Valentine's Day scene where he buys her an enormous stuffed teddy bear.

On Ram Milayee Jodi, Anukalp has perished in a car accident and it looks like Mona might eventually marry Aditya, once his fiancee Ramya is out of the picture. So this would be a repeat of the Alekh-Sadhana jodi except now it's Aditya and Mona.

On Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev, Sati has slipped into some kind of coma type of thing and Mahadev was the only one who could bring her out of it. Still need to watch the two eps that came after that to see what happened.

On Jai Shri Krishna, a little boy in the village named "Sunder" was missing, but he is found and returned to his mother. Kanhaiya is having fun with his brother Balram and playing his flute and he's up to all his usual mischief

I have the Saathiya Omnibus still on the Tivo and I'm trying out Preeto and Bheend Banounga show too, haven't seen the taped eps yet. And there are other serials I'm taping too, I just can't remember all the names now, so yea, as you guys can see, this is getting ridiculous haha:p

Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev

Previous soap pics of the Mahadev actor:







Bholenath and Sati after he pulls her out of the coma:





In position during their dance:



^ This pose gave me chills...this is so classically Shiv and Parvati (So Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!! )
And when you see Sati next to Mahadev like this you totally realize with a vengeance that no matter what Daksh does, she is Parvati Devi in a previous incarnation and there's no way she won't be with Bholenath in the end. I think when you see this pose, you can almost see her death and rebirth and that she'll come back to Shiv in the next lifetime. It's heartbreaking and also gorgeous

[Yes I know I sound like the biggest mythological serials nerd in the world, but where else aside from Soaps Division could I even begin to admit how much I adore all these stories haha:D]

Ok I'll be back soon with more soaps pics and updates!!:-)

[never_evil]

Heh no, I'm glad you have a wonderful mythological serial to love these days

Agreed - Viraat and Maanvi are adorable and I totally need to look up the rest of their scenes on youtube.

Main Lakshmi Tere Aangan is moving so quick! I really didn't expect Lakshmi to understand her feelings so quickly. Seriously, the hero is ready, the heroine is ready, umm where can they go from here lol.

On Sasural Simar Ka, I liked that scene where they got stranded in the middle of the road. I think it is Siddhant.

Yeah RMJ fans have been saying that they expected Anukalp to die when Angad started working on the show. Kinda sad that they got rid of their own OTP to portray a OTP from an older serial. Where's the logic!?

ETA: Um this is random but I somehow ended up on this post and I just found this fascinating:

you get (or used to get) all sorts of different types of names in the villages (in my mother's village, one man was literally named something that translates into "wrinkles," while another one was named "seventh one" being the seventh child, and yet another was named "throw-away" since he was born so long after his siblings). Of course, it could also be her nickname; on a recent visit to the village, I met a brother and sister (kids) nicknamed "jumpy" (boy and girl versions of the word), because they liked to jump a lot when they were younger. 

So I thought I'd share

[LinKarish]

Re-Names.

It's not really all that weird in a historical context. A lot of the names that are commonplace today in the Judeo-Christian world originally had "interesting" meanings.  But now it's just seen as a regular name.

[never_evil]

Heh, it just struck me as so true because I know people in India with the randomest pet names too - like a family friend's son is called Rally (and we all use that name instead of his real name) because he used to like car rallies as a kid. So I can only imagine how much more bizarre the names in a gaon are. Even Talli is an example - simply meaning "young one" in Gujarati as that post says.

[BollyWHAT?]

Shyam is still trying to end things for Anjali at every turn, it is quite absurd, in latest ep he was rewiring underneath her car or something (I still forward all Shyam-related scene

He cut the line with the brake fluid, I think - brakes failed, of course she survived with minor scratches, now she discovers she's knocked up right after Arnav has seen Shyam embracing Khushi and overheard her yelling at him (to paraphrase), "If your marriage to Anjali means so little to you, then why don't you just leave her?" --Which, you know, is a pretty odd thing for Khushi to say, so I'm not blaming Arnav at all for being mad as hell at both of them.

The spoilers for IPKKND suggest they're about to go even more OTT... which means I'm SO there.

[los angeles]

He cut the line with the brake fluid, I think - brakes failed, of course she survived with minor scratches, now she discovers she's knocked up right after Arnav has seen Shyam embracing Khushi and overheard her yelling at him (to paraphrase), "If your marriage to Anjali means so little to you, then why don't you just leave her?" --Which, you know, is a pretty odd thing for Khushi to say, so I'm not blaming Arnav at all for being mad as hell at both of them.

^ Yea I'm glad Arnav finally knows the truth about Shyam's personality, and I agree, his reaction is totally understandable.

Can't believe the Anjali pregnancy situation though, I adore her character and this is just the worst thing that could happen to her at this point in time

The spoilers for IPKKND suggest they're about to go even more OTT... which means I'm SO there.

Me too...and I want Arnav to realize Khushi is not involved with Shyam as soon as possible *fingers crossed*

Heh, it just struck me as so true because I know people in India with the randomest pet names too - like a family friend's son is called Rally (and we all use that name instead of his real name) because he used to like car rallies as a kid. So I can only imagine how much more bizarre the names in a gaon are. Even Talli is an example - simply meaning "young one" in Gujarati as that post says.

Haha yea sweets, Indian nicknames/pet names are so interesting and often so cute. I like seeing all the different ones they have on my serials for various characters

[LinKarish]

First -- Parul, the link to that post doesn't work--at least for me.  And this is after removing what looked to be not part of the url.  
http://http//www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1698921

And to the topic.. BollyWhat asked if EHMMBH was in-sync sound.  I thought many of the serials were shot in-sync. It seems that way from the the segments shown, and also it would seem more practical.  When I notice dubbing is usually in a noisy area, outside.  Or when they add in some dialogue, which was obviously added in separately.  Sometimes the dubbed dialogue is the actors' own voices, other times it's someone else's.

[never_evil]

Catching up to old posts...

Hey guys is this the right place to start my fangirl squeeing about Humsafar the Pakistani drama with Fawad Khan? Or is there another thread for Pakistani dramas?

Humsafar is just amazing! It was recommended to me by a friend. It's my first desi drama or movie or anything to watch without subtitles... just so great!

I'm now thinking of watching Dastaan

Cool, I'm glad you enjoyed Humsafar Pardesi! I LOVED Fawad Khan in Daastan so I started watching 3 of his other shows like Akbari Asghari, Humsafar and Kuch Pyar Ka Pagalpan Bhi Tha and he's been brilliant in them all, but I also stopped watching them all in the middle because I decided they were so awesome that I'd wait for the DVDs to be released rather than see them on crappy youtube.

^Hey Pardesi! Yup, this is the place-- we only discovered Pakistani dramas fairly recently, but Parul has watched quite a few already. I'm in the middle of Dastaan now and plan to check out several others, including Humsafar. Please post as much as you want about Humsafar and any other shows you watch! Seriously, you can never be too obsessed and fangirly around here 

By the way, guys, I'll probably get back to posting regularly next week or so. I've been watching IPKKND whenever I remember to record it and I'll go back and watch at least the Arnav-Khushi scenes as soon as classes start up again and I need to procrastinate. I've watched a few episodes of Ruk Jaana Nahin and it's interesting but I'm not quite hooked yet. Been randomly checking out Life OK, but I'll write more about that stuff some other time...

Awesome Anjali I didn't know you had made a start on Dastaan!!! How did you find it? I know the second half is pretty brutal, I felt physically ill watching it but the first half was so gorgeous. And there were still amazing moments in the second half.

As for Ruk Jaana Nahin - I saw some and I agree it doesn't immediately hook you but it did seem interesting if I had the time.
I definitely love Main Lakshmi Tere Aangan Ki from Life OK. I want to try Hum Ne Li Hai Shapath when I have the time and I've given up on trying to catch up with Mahadev even though I think that it's pretty good, but there's always Gauri dee to tell me how it goes on there On that note, thanks Gauri dee for all the updates - I just saw the pics and read through them!

And someone on IF in the IPKKND forum posted pics of BuaJi from that song, apparently she is the lady in pink suit and sunglasses?!!! Cheesy

I always thought that lady was so cute and funny, but I thought she was Bindu? The Bindu who played all those villainesses in yesteryears movies.

I agree the HSSH lady is Bindu while ISPKKND's buaji is someone else.

Co-Prez Parul had mentioned previously the tradition in India of people whispering to Nandi the things they want Shiv to hear, and on the show they incorporated this, which was SO lovely!!!!!!:D

Wow really dee? What did they show? Cool!

BTW I wish I had time to catch up with that quiz show Gyan Guru or something about indian traditions - I bet I'd learn heaps.

Awww loved this pic you posted: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paragsankhe/58001816/

Just popping by to say thanks for the tip on watching these online. A very dangerous tip, actually. I'm supposed to be working. Instead I'm catching up on three and a half months' worth of Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai. Aaargggh.

Is it my imagination, or is this serial filmed in sync sound?

(Gotta add -- Manvi annoyed the hell out of me for a few hours. Now she's my favorite. How did that happen?? Love the actress's delivery! )

w00t, more serial watchers yay! I still get randomly obsessed with shows and then spend weeks catching up to months worth of eps
Yep, sync sound def'ly. No one has time to spend doing actual dubbing with serials in any case, these actors spend far too many hours on set just getting their daily shoot done.

Nia as Maanvi does so well. I agree, there was full possibility that she could get annoying but they gave her such awesome dialogues and Nia made it all her own.

^ That's awesome!!:-)

And re Maanvi that happens to me all the time with serial characters. Someone I think is very annoying later becomes my favourite.

I am watching reruns of a show called Miley Jab Hum Tum which Anjali and Parul had watched when it first came on TV. There is this ridiculous clueless bodybuilder guy on there named Uday and when I first started watching I was like "Who is this clown? Plz get off my screen."

But he grew on me and now he makes me laugh so much:D I totally enjoy his absurd comedy bits which are interjected between the more serious angst-ridden scenes of the lead jodis.

hahaha glad you enjoy Uday now dee. I think Benji used to find him irritating too - calling him "B grade film ki kati hui reel" on one occasion but then Uday even grew on Mayank so how could he not on Benji hehe

Parul and I are huge Virat-Maanvi fans by the way, they have  some hilarious dialogues and wicked banter where they constantly put each other down and keep trying to one-up the cross-blow insults, it's very entertaining hehe:p

What dee said.

Guys, re Iss Pyaar show, I had to forward the whole part in the latest ep where Arnav goes onstage and dances with Khushi because her friend Sarita doesn't show up at the last minute

Arnav dancing just seemed so weird! It didn't fit with his character (in my opinion) and that part just didn't work for me somehow.

Hah as per my latest post on Serious About Serials, maybe if he was drunk we could have swallowed it Actually maybe not even then. I think lip synching to songs in serials works sometimes (like I enjoyed it in the Phulwa link I posted on my blog and actually a lot of other occasions) but in this particular case with Arnav and to the song Teri Meri - no way.

I should've had fun watching their sangeet segment, I don't know what happened, normally I LIVE for dance and romance in Hindi serials. But here I felt rather embarrassed watching this and I was sort of even cringing and couldn't make it through

On a random very tangential sidenote, with certain jodis (like Arnav and Khushi) I must say I also prefer if they keep the comedy to a minimum, I think their numerous comedic scenes weren't as cool as their more dramatic ones.

Coming back to the sangeet, some guys look really out of place and totally weird when they dance. [I sounds like a narrow-minded old lady here but this whole bit was not my cup of tea. I knew from Friday's promo that I wasn't going to like it too much and then yea, I forwarded every bit of it.]

Maybe I'm the only viewer who has this opinion, the IF posters seem to be liking the latest developments.

The precap was odd too--Shyam is going to put a lethal insect onto Anjali while she's sleeping so she dies?!!! Ummm okay then.

we had a merry laugh when the scorpion ends up on him XD

I've been forwarding all Shyam tomfoolery these days as usual anyways, I never watch his scenes.

On MJHT, Nupur and Gunjan have left for Morena, and Mayank and Samraat are still in Mumbai.

Mayank has realized he was wrong in the argument he was having with Nupur, he thought she told everyone about their relationship and she totally hadn't. And Samraat is trying to find Gunjan so he can tell her he's in love with her. They showed Gunjan remembering all the little moments she shared with Samraat during earlier college days, it was kind of adorable.

Awww now they all decide to go to Morena! I remember that Sammy, Candy, Uday and Benji had to drive there and there was this hilarious scene where Uday said something about aam ke ped and Samrat or Benji said something about iska kuch nahin ho sakta ... actually you know what? Let me go dig that line up in my file - it was too hilarious not to quote. 

Dee, copy/pasting from my MJHT log about that ep:

30 SEPTEMBER

Mayank's mom (Shilpa aunty I think?) gives him great advise about sudhaaroing his galti.
"yeh devdaas vevdaas ka zamaana chalaa gaya, Dev D ban!"
"Morena hi gayi hai na Montreal to nahin?"
"jaa apni filmi girlfriend ko ek filmi style mein manaa ke aa"

Sammy reaches college and the gang are discussing how much they miss Morena sisters among themselves while Samrat is man hi man worried about what reason made Gunjan leave. Finally a point comes where he gets annoyed by Uday's jokes and the gang talking and goes "just SHUT UP guys! Tum mein se sabse zyaada use main miss kar raha hoon. Kyunki I love her!" and everyone stands up at this while Samrat says some more "yaad aa rahi hai" stuff. And thus went Samrat's izhaar for Gunjan - too bad she wasn't around to hear it. But I adored everyone's reaction! Dia was so happy she hugged Sam (just like she hugged Mayank - she's so cute). And she tells Sam "yeh sad hone ki nahin, happy hone ki baat hai" which cheers up Samrat immediately. I love their friendship! When MJHT first started we were simply told they were good friends but now I really could see it y'know?

We see Morena sisters arrive in Morena and all their friends and family welcome them adorably.

Oh and there was SUCH a cute scene between Mayank and his mom - I won't be able to explain it fully so watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj-iacsAFxg
my fav bit:
"mosquito ointment bhoolke jaa rahaa hai? Morena mein pataa nahin kitne bade bade mosquitoes honge"
"jitne bhi honge Nupur ko dekhkar bhaag gaye honge"
and then they both start to laugh lol
and there's a bit before this video which isn't in that YB clip:
*Mayank packs*
"maa tum mujhe aise kyun dekh rahi ho?"
"dekh rahi hoon ke jis ladke ki zindagi kitaabon se shuru hoke kitaabon pe khatam ho jaati thi aaj kisine usse kitna badal diya hai"
"maa agar aap Nupur ki baat kar rahi ho to haan (omg squeeee you know how normally he'd be all -aisa kuch nahin hai maa-) kyunki Nupur cheez hi aise hai jo kisiki bhi tapasya bhang kar sakti hai"
"accha to yeh baat hai hmmm?" *she gives him a knowing look*
"maa uss sense mein nahin haan. Mera matlab hai ke woh bolti hi itna hai ke koi kisi cheez par concentrate hi nahin kar sakta"

Oh and there's a scene where we see the gang travelling at night in Samrat's car which is so MJHT gang style it's adorable! Also just to mention while I remember this - I like how Sam decided to go to Morena with his friends while Mayank is going alone. It feels so consistent y'know? Sure Mayank is a lot better friends with the gang now but still he's the kind of guy who keeps his plans to himself. I can't wait till he runs into Samrat & co. in Morena!! It'll be awesome 

U: deeds woh dekho woh ped - yaad hai bachpan mein hum usse aam todke khaaya karte the
D: really dodo!? hum morena se abhi bohat door hain! (< just the tone with which Dia said it was funny XD)
B: well mujhe ab pata chalaa ke Uday ka top floor khaali kyun hai.
D: kyun?
B: kyunki jo insaan naariyal ke ped se aam todne ki baat karega uska top floor khaali hi hoga naa
D: guys, seriously though. yahaan pe sab kitna beautiful hai na. pata hai mein yahaan last tab aayi thi jab main six years ki thi (< I thought Dia just told Uday they were nowhere near Morena haha )
U: haan aur us waqt deeds frocks pehna karti thi
B: teri deeds to abhi bhi frocks pehnti hai (LOL! Benji. How much do I love that him and Dia are totally gonna be an item)
D: hello!? frocks nahin dress!
*Samrat stops the car*
B: Dude tumne gaadi kyun rok di?
S: kyunki tum log serious nahin ho
B: obviously dude! agar hum serious hote to iss waqt hospital mein hote, morena mein holidays nahin manaane aate

(hahaha reminds me of another B-S exchange:
S:Jail mein jaane ke baad pata laga ke college is more cooler than jail
B:ofcourse dude! jail ke andar pankha nahin hota na isliye)
I don't know why I felt like writing all that out   

Oh gawds how I loved the MJHT banter.

By the way, re Devon Ke Dev: Mahadev, I love LOVE the music in this show too--it is so gorgeous and fantastic Cheesy Cheesy I want to purchase the soundtrack, I wonder if that's possible. I'd love to buy the Jai Shri Krishna soundtrack too, I've no idea if that's possible either. I really love the music in these modern-day mythologicals though, it is simply fantastic Cheesy Cheesy

It's actually far more plausible that you be able to buy mythological shows on dvds than others (I don't think they do soundtracks though sadly). It's interesting that most mythological shows are available as box sets - I guess there's more of a market for them!

Reposting a pic Gauri posted because this actress is soooooooo gorgeous

I'll try to rectify that with a little Mayank and Samrat from MJHT:

Here, let me help you with that Gauri dee
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1163367

He cut the line with the brake fluid, I think - brakes failed, of course she survived with minor scratches, now she discovers she's knocked up right after Arnav has seen Shyam embracing Khushi and overheard her yelling at him (to paraphrase), "If your marriage to Anjali means so little to you, then why don't you just leave her?" --Which, you know, is a pretty odd thing for Khushi to say, so I'm not blaming Arnav at all for being mad as hell at both of them.

The spoilers for IPKKND suggest they're about to go even more OTT... which means I'm SO there.

wow careful BW? lest you become a serial addict, or is too late already 

First -- Parul, the link to that post doesn't work--at least for me.  And this is after removing what looked to be not part of the url. 
http://http//www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1698921

And to the topic.. BollyWhat asked if EHMMBH was in-sync sound.  I thought many of the serials were shot in-sync. It seems that way from the the segments shown, and also it would seem more practical.  When I notice dubbing is usually in a noisy area, outside.  Or when they add in some dialogue, which was obviously added in separately.  Sometimes the dubbed dialogue is the actors' own voices, other times it's someone else's.

Hopefully this works: http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1698921

urgh it sucks when they decide during editing stage that actually instead of just having the character say that one line they are going to add a couple more dialogues, so they show a backshot of the actor and in this horrendous random voice throw in a dialogue or two. Scenes would be way better if they didn't bother doing that!

Also for anyone who read all that, here's a bonus link at the end heh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRArELsRSAA
Dutta and Nakusha during the jungle eps set to Behne De. Awww those were the days. I hear it went boring later on.

[never_evil]

I forgot to mention, after only 3 eps I fell in love with Na Bole Tum Na Main Kuch Kaha!
Um, not that I don't always do this - declare that a show is AMAZING after just a week but I swear this one really is
It started 9 Jan, I'm up to 23 Jan now. I'm so glad to see that cadet Yudi from LRL is now some reporter Mohan Bhatnagar.

I probably never posted the promos so here they are:
http://www.india-forums.com/video/television/177315-na-bole-tum-na-maine-kuch-kaha-promo-01.htm
http://www.india-forums.com/tv-show/807/na-bole-tum-na-maine-kuch-kaha/video/177316-na-bole-tum-na-maine-kuch-kaha-promo-02.htm
http://www.india-forums.com/tv-show/807/na-bole-tum-na-maine-kuch-kaha/video/177317-na-bole-tum-na-maine-kuch-kaha-promo-03.htm
http://www.india-forums.com/tv-show/807/na-bole-tum-na-maine-kuch-kaha/video/177318-na-bole-tum-na-maine-kuch-kaha-promo-04.htm

It's very slice of life rather than heightened reality/stylised serials, and I like that now we have choice on our screens y'know? We should be getting all sorts of shows and we do - I think Parvarish on Sony and Kya Hua Tera Vaada are also meant to be slice of life.



'k I'm done

[los angeles]

Ahaha I was totally going to turn in early and then I saw this post and started reading it and now I must reply like the lunatic I am Lol! []
By the way Parul, pata nahin kya likdia on your blog last night, bohot late tha and I went back and read it today and it sound so ridiculous haha
Anyway I will try for more coherent blog comments in future *ahem* yessss:p

I agree the HSSH lady is Bindu while ISPKKND's buaji is someone else.

^Yea I should Google and figure out who is who exactly, I will do that later.

Wow really dee? What did they show? Cool!

They show Shiv telling Nandi that his foremost duty from then on will be to listen to the prayers of Shiv-bhakts around the world and he is to bring the ones said with sacche mann and with a truly sincere heart back to Mahadev. It was so lovely!! I loved it!!!

BTW I wish I had time to catch up with that quiz show Gyan Guru or something about indian traditions - I bet I'd learn heaps.

Yea me too, I'd be able to see more stuff if I wasn't so scatter-brain and all over the place. I need to get more organized, I have been horribly disorganized and not able to allot time to anything properly lately, it is dreadful I must fix it ASAP actually, not just for serials-viewing though that will be a huge side-benefit, but just for life in general. I'm turning 38 in June so this would like be a very VERY good time to get my act together in zindagi ki serious matters etc and so forth omg haha

Awww loved this pic you posted: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paragsankhe/58001816/

^ I'm glad you like it, I love it too!!!!:-)

The Nandi statue is so marvelously decorated and the little boy is soooo adorable!!

w00t, more serial watchers yay! I still get randomly obsessed with shows and then spend weeks catching up to months worth of eps

Yea, this is how the addiction starts

Yep, sync sound def'ly. No one has time to spend doing actual dubbing with serials in any case, these actors spend far too many hours on set just getting their daily shoot done.

^ Oh I see, this makes sense.

Nia as Maanvi does so well. I agree, there was full possibility that she could get annoying but they gave her such awesome dialogues and Nia made it all her own.

Yea I agree, Maanvi = Awesome

Dee, copy/pasting from my MJHT log about that ep:

I remember this!
Yea MJHT has the cutest dialogues in so many scenes, I really enjoy it

Oh gawds how I loved the MJHT banter.

Yea, it's very cool. Virat-Maanvi scenes have really good banter too--in a different way than MJHT because the characters of Virat and Maanvi are always aggressively combative whereas on MJHT the convos are more low-key and friendly. But both very cool banter shows, each in its own style!!

It's actually far more plausible that you be able to buy mythological shows on dvds than others (I don't think they do soundtracks though sadly). It's interesting that most mythological shows are available as box sets - I guess there's more of a market for them!

^ Yea, maybe because parents can show them to little kids as educational tools to learn about their religion and culture and all. And plus they can be shown in schools and all this too, so I imagine that helps as well.

Reposting a pic Gauri posted because this actress is soooooooo gorgeous

She is supermodel!!!!!!! And Mahadev Shiv is so so so handsome!! So therefore they have most gorgeous jodi I've ever seen on TV, wow.

Some off-screen pics of her, she is so pretty:

Oh and there was SUCH a cute scene between Mayank and his mom - I won't be able to explain it fully so watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj-iacsAFxg

^ So cute!!!!
Mayank and his mom are adorable there, and mosquito bit so cute and funny! "Itne over-possessive banne ki zarurat nahin hai" ---haha that is cute Hinglish too:p
And Lol at the part where he tells his mom that she's not even filmi, that she looks like a TV actor. [Anyone who has a cheezy cornball mom--or didi haha, whistling--can relate to that part quite a bit:D]

Sammy reaches college and the gang are discussing how much they miss Morena sisters among themselves while Samrat is man hi man worried about what reason made Gunjan leave. Finally a point comes where he gets annoyed by Uday's jokes and the gang talking and goes "just SHUT UP guys! Tum mein se sabse zyaada use main miss kar raha hoon. Kyunki I love her!" and everyone stands up at this while Samrat says some more "yaad aa rahi hai" stuff. And thus went Samrat's izhaar for Gunjan - too bad she wasn't around to hear it. But I adored everyone's reaction! Dia was so happy she hugged Sam (just like she hugged Mayank - she's so cute). And she tells Sam "yeh sad hone ki nahin, happy hone ki baat hai" which cheers up Samrat immediately. I love their friendship! When MJHT first started we were simply told they were good friends but now I really could see it y'know?

^ I remember this!! So cute!! And I agree with you about Dia, her character is very appealing and upbeat

I like that car scene too--they just have funny little dialogue pieces like that all throughout this show. When combined with the sound effects and cute settings, they are just so fun to watch.
I remember when Benji and Uday were watching Rannvijay trying to frame Samrat and he pulls out a gun and Uday got all nervous and was trying to leave and Benji was like "I don't think that gun looks too scary" and Uday was all "The bullets coming out of it will be scary though, I'm outta here" or something like that. Ahaha!!
[Okay typing it out it doesn't seem even remotely amusing but you had to see the delivery and facial expressions accompanying the words Plus I think I got those lines totally wrong, I'm paraphrasing to the point of not even being close to the original haha]

Here, let me help you with that Gauri dee
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1163367

^ Just clicked that link, thanks, cute Mayank pics!! I'm a fan of Mayank's personality on this show, he's so serious and sincere, I really like that.

wow careful BW? lest you become a serial addict, or is too late already  

Wooo Hooo please let me be ridiculous as usual (haha) and roll out the red carpet to welcome Bollywhat to Soaps Division!!
Parul and Anjali are Co-Presidents and I am Vice-President but we could always use a third Co-President to make a proper triumvirate of awesome Hindi serial expert-ess (okay that wording and grammar makes no sense but the position comes with an emblazoned sash and engraved name-plate hehe:p)

I'm actually going to get us all mugs that say our titles one of these days, I think we need to have that. Then wherever we are, as have a latte or hot chocolate, we will remember Soaps Division in all its spectacularly absurd glory Lol:p

Edit: That reminds me guys, in April we're going to be coming up on our three year anniversary of soaps madness! It was April '09 I think, when the craziness began I remember being too bashful and diffident to even say which shows I was watching when it all first started!! Well, no such qualms now, how times have changed Lol!
These days I discuss everything very openly and write huge gigantic enormous essays on every detail from hair gel to romance-scene analysis and everything in between woooooo

urgh it sucks when they decide during editing stage that actually instead of just having the character say that one line they are going to add a couple more dialogues, so they show a backshot of the actor and in this horrendous random voice throw in a dialogue or two. Scenes would be way better if they didn't bother doing that!

^ Omg haha I know!! The voice never fits when they do that, it sounds so ludicrous Lol!!
You know Parul, they often will also do this thing where they'll shoot the main actor's close-up properly for a scene and then for the wider/longer shots they'll have some stand-in wearing the same clothes who is shot from the back only the whole time. And you can totally tell it's not the main actor (who has probably gone home for the day though the supporting characters are all still there in the scene.)
Though the stand-in is given the same clothes as whoever they're impersonating, they're usually wearing some weird wig or toupee and are not the same height or weight as the main actor. It's very funny to pause and notice when this is going on, it happens on every show.
How pathetic by the way, this is how I get my old-lady kicks, by noticing bad stand-ins on horrible serials *adjusts monocle and drinks more prune juice* hahaha:p []

Re your second post Parul, I've seen a few eps of Na Bole Tum, and it looks cute, but I think I have too many shows to add another one though I'm trying to check my timers to see if I can fit in a few more, maybe I can.

I am a bit behind on Iss Pyaar and must catch up soon, and I think I have a couple MJHT on the Tivo as well.

I will catch up with everything in the next three or four days and then come back with an update. I know Arnav thinks Khushi is having an affair with Shyam so he marries her in some six month contract marriage or something (haven't seen the ep yet.) Though obviously he will hopefully soon find out that she is doing nothing of the sort [this is such a bad misunderstanding--how awful for Khushi I hope this major plotline is resolved soon]

Okay TTYS