Mind blowing MUSIC!

The blissful and soul touching music of the show is a master piece. One can’t just get enough of it. After really long time, the music of any show on Indian Television has been remarking! Background music is something without which the show will not be able to create its impact on the minds of the audience and I’m very proud to say that Byaah Hamari Bahu Ka team has absolutely HIT the jackpot in this term. The music of the show is a complete 10/10 for me!

Caring & Cute CHARACTERS!

Baa is a typical Gujju character and almost every household in Gujarat would be able to relate to it. Maa and Papa are very humble, down to earth and have warm feelings for their family. Maa has her own way of respecting elders and teaching youngsters to do the same. She wants best for her family and her kids. Even if she’d hurt someone, she’d not hesitate to ask for forgiveness. And that’s the best thing about her character. Her takiyakalam is “sahi kahaa baa aapne’. The little sister is too cute for words. Servants in the house are also typically gujju and ‘bhawai’ is something which is funny to watch! Krish on the other side is a complete modern person with rooted traditions in his mind. Paulomi is modern, broad minded, sensible, little childish (situational) but completely adorable. She shares a great chemistry with her mom which is outstanding! Many people will be able to relate to their emotional mother-daughter bonding. The research effort is clearly depicted on-screen, with the peculiar nuances of all characters.

Splendid SET!

The house (interior + exterior) is just GREAT! Right from the small thing to any big thing, detailed description in terms of screenplay is maintained. Color co-ordination, neatness, soothing properties and overall it does not look FAKE. Set design and art direction add a lot to the flavour of the show.

Curious CONTENT!

Writer Aatish Kapadia says, “Usually, a title gives away the concept of the show, but this one’s unique. It makes the viewers question it and builds curiosity.” And Producer JD Majethia adds, “This is a unique show with fresh content, characters and great performances. It’s a show of ‘today’ which will also attract the youth along with the family audience.”

Shows based on Gujarati culture are often a ‘safe’ game. Byaah Hamari Bahu Ka is a Gujarati family story based in Baroda (Gujarat). The family is conservative but progressive. They all have a family business under the name “Kanahaiya Dairy Ltd.” Krish and Paulomi are business partners as well. Their friendship is more like Rahul and Anjali from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Sure thing! The storyline so far has been simple yet interesting. The unfolding love of Paulomi for Krish has been revealed and Krish doesn’t know of his feelings yet. But he does sure likes her and that’s why agrees to get married to her. But he doesn’t want to hurt his mother’s feelings as he is also a mumma’s boy. So, he is ready to meet different girls for an arrange marriage in the “Vivah Aayojan”. Mumma, here, does know of the girl’s feelings, but doesn’t want to accept it until and unless her own son comes up to her and tells her the same. As according to her, she is not the right choice for this family’s BAHU to be.

Hatss off always comes up with path breaking concepts. They truly live up to the saying “the toughest talk can also be simplified and broadcasted!” Hats off to Hats off!

Sony TV’s next SUPER HIT!

Hats off to Sony TV for always trying and experimenting new and fresh content! I’m in love with your conviction for your shows and by offering Byaah Hamari Bahu Ka you have won not only mine, but a lot of other hearts too! It sure is a keeper in your kitty and it is going to be a splendid HIT.

So, how will Krish get married to her soul mate Rajnibala? What will happen to Paulomi then? Why Rajnibala will be remarried? All these questions shall be answered with the gradual progression of the story! But even after all this sorted stuff, “kyun ho raha hai vaishnav parivaar mein byaah unki bahu ka?”

Jaanne ke liye dekhiye Byaah Hamari Bahu Ka on Sony TV, Monday to Friday at 8.00 PM.

Cheers !!!

“Satyamev Jayate” episode after episode it’s creating a lot of buzz (on iDubba the show commands 5/5 ratings from 89 users and has received 41 reviews) and audiences have been exposed to the real world out there. The show is almost a mirror which is showing us the bitter truth of the society that we live in and just to take this to the next level, it was time for the 5^th episode of “Satyamev Jayate” .The earlier 4 episodes were about Female foeticide, Child sexual abuse and Marriages and dowry harassment and  Does Healthcare Need Healing? So it was time to focus on the 5^th social evil of our very own society.

The show started with a famous sher “Ishq Par Zor Nahin Hai Yeh Woh Aatish `Ghalib’”. And to add to that an 82 yr old (young) man did say Mohabbat ki nahi jaati ho jaati hain. Aamir did mention about the films that we watch and the romance that is created. But the main aspect was about the real life romance and love. The first story was about a married couple running for cover despite protection order. The story was a about two families and two people who fall in love. You might have guessed the story as it happens in the movies, but in real life it’s totally shocking.  Lokendra & Fehmida have lived in fear for the past 2 years without support from the police.

You might think that at least these two are alive and living their life, wait till you hear the next story about Priyanka and Rizwan, and their tragic ending. In this case Rizwan was not lucky enough to live with his love. Based on the story narrated by Rizwan’s Aami, you might ask yourself “What is the honor in killing someone..that too for falling in love?” Tears were just trickling down of Rizwan’s mother and from most of the audience in the studio. It is strange that Indian families like all the love stories & all the romantic songs from old movies but they can’t accept love marriage. If Priyanka’s family didn’t have so much hatred, Rizwan’s mother says she’d have her son & daughter-in-law with her today.

The first two stories were of two people falling in love who were for two different cast. But the next story was about two people of the same cast, but Manoj & Babli were killed brutally for marrying within the gotra. And to add more to this pain, Manoj’s family was threatened with death & ostracized from the community for filing a FIR.  But Seema , Chandravati & Jagmati . 3 women have stood against unimaginable odds, Khap Panchayat – HaryanaIs. Is this our real society is!!!

The show always talks about the problems and the evils of the issues that are being raised every week, but as always also talks about how we, we the people can discuss the issues and be a solution to our problems. And soon it was time for Aamir to speak to Khap panchayat members and know their opinions. It was shocking to hear their views and their thoughts. They refuse to believe in the Indian Law and make their own decisions and khap panchayat says that media reports about punishment meted out by them are false. Do you agree??

To have a detailed discussion on this issue, Aamir invited Dr. D. R. Chaudhuri and he was of the opinion that traditions can change with the need of the times. And there was also a shocking statistics that there are 25-30 cases coming everyday for police protection. Based on the stories you might think that such stories mostly happen in and around Harayana, but this is not the case. There are thousands of such cases from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

Soon Sanjay ji the founder of Love Commondo was invited and he opened with the statement “Pyaar karna paap nahi hai aur virodhi hamara baap nahi hai“. He mentioned that if a 18 yr old can choose the PM of our country, cant they choose their love !!!! So the question is Do you think inter-caste marriages should be encouraged to prevent the country’s fragmentation? Now it was time for the 5th song of this series and as always some amazing melody by Ram Sampath and Swanand Kirkire. Do let us know your views about this Show and also do follow us on Twitter (iDubba) for more updates about this show as and when it occurs.

It was time for Sony Entertainment Television India to bring on one of its most successful interactive reality talent show. Yes we are talking about Indian Idol Season Six. The show, which was dropped last year for the launch of ‘X Factor India’  has made a comeback this year and as mentioned in our earlier post ”Indian Idol is back again”, Mini Mathur and Hussain Kuwajerwala who have previously hosted the show are once again back to host Season 6 of Indian Idol. So have you managed to catch the 1st episode (Auditions)? Did it live up-to the expectations of the audiences? Will it shock the audiences with great talent?

“Kehte hain na, har kahani ke 2 bhaag hote hai. Pehla aur dusra. Pehle mein sab accha hota hai. 2 log milte hai, pyaar hota hai, phir shaadi. Dusre mein sab kuch  jo kahani kabhi kahi nahi  jaati and in the end they live happily ever after.. Har kahani wohin khatam hoti hai… Aur woh kahani ka beech ka hissa hai.. wahan se kahani actually shuru hoti hai..”

Confused? You should be not! Bade Acche Laggte Hain completes a year today; it’s time for celebration, to revive old cherished memories and to take a positive step forward to welcome the LEAP!

Happy 1derful B’day to Bade Acche Laggte Hain – The most popular and most talked about show on Indian Television since its inception till date! Party hard peeps! Big shout out for the entire Bade Acche Laggte Hain cast & crew- for making it possible, for the viewers- for watching it, loving it & admiring it and also for all analyzers and critics – for selling it in your own way. Well, it’s a collective team effort and everybody deserves a pat on their back. Where is the CAKE?

Let’s go down the memory lane. 30^th May 2011, Ekta Kapoor, Balaji Telefilms and Sony TV collectively came up with one of the most promising shows on Indian Television, Bade Acche Laggte Hain. The name soon became a household one with the promos itself. When it started, everyone was going ga-ga over it. Who thought Ram & Sakshi would make an awesome and a beautiful couple? Surely ‘K’ween of Television did! Her vision could never be questioned! Atleast, I’d never do that. Sincerely, adore her just too much for that. With every show of hers, she sets a higher bench-mark not only for others, but for her own self too. Today, Ram and Sakshi are better off known as Ram and Priya too or as fans like to call them “RaYa”. Yes, this is how fans are attached to the show. It promised to be different and a mature love story and obviously lived up to the expectations.

First took place the takraar, then engagement, then shaadi, then honeymoon, not to mention, our dear RaYa enjoyed the most Rayalicious honeymoon in Australia for good 2 weeks. It was such a delight to watch them in the beauty of Aussie. Ain’t it? Post this; their aesthetically shot consummation sequence followed by Holi and finally Priya calling her husband by his first name and not “Mr. Kapoor”! Kween Kapoor gave us almost all the fruits on the platter and now we are waiting for the cherry on the cake.

But, wait a minute; I guess the fruit platter just got over before anyone could put a cherry on it. Yes, call it a buzz, rumors or whatever, now that it is confirmed, the cat is definitely out of the bag. iDubba predicted RaYa separation which audience will see happening soon enough. But, LEAP was something which we were not expecting!

But as Harivansh Rai Bachchan has quoted “Mann ka hua toh accha hai aur agar nahi hua toh aur bhi accha hai…” Well, we should go by this, and positively accept a change with broader minds and keeping aside our wishes. If we have adored a show for a year, why not give it a second shot? Why can’t there be “ek nayi shuruwat”?

Well well well, the promo is so adorable; one can’t just get enough of it! The little baby is a complete replica of a chotu Ram Kapoor. Cuteness personified. ‘Ek Nayi Shuruwat’ is what we should be waiting for now! The storyline seems to be interesting as well as mysterious. It has definitely created an anxiety among the fans. Loads of discussion has been happening on various Television sites as well as social networking sites. The promo is a complete HIT with more than 80,000 views in less than 4 days! Do I need to say more?

Fans, be positive and enjoy a new joy ride with a new storyline and new characters. I’m sure, after seeing it, you’ll say to those adorable kiddos “Bade Acche Laggte Hain with your own RaYa…”

Cheers !!!! Happy Viewing!

GRPs !!! Wk’21 2012

Some other popular shows:

• DID Lil Masters (Zee Tv): Sun TVR: 3.4 (4.0), Sat TVR: 4.7 (5.1)
• Satyamev Jayate (Star Plus): Avg TVR: 3.0 (2.6)
• Satyamev Jayate(All 9 Channels) TVR: 3.7 (3.3)
• Adaalat (Sony): 1.7 (1.8)
• CID (Sony): Fri – 2.6 (3.5), Sat – 3.7 (3.4)
• Crime Patrol (Sony): Fri - 3.3 (3.5), Sat – 3.9 (4.2)

IPL 5 is over and its best positive effect has been witnessed in Diya Aur Baati Hum ratings! It had lot of drama last week and performances of lead actors were worth all praises. Surprisingly even with most interesting matches in its last week, Max ratings decreased!

Bade Acche Laggte Hain completed one year today. Last year the show was launched with great promotions and high expectations. And for a while, it lived up to it too but now the tables have turned. There is lot of happening on its front and a time leap is expected in the show sometime in mid June. Let’s wait and watch what ‘different’ or ‘new’ stuff is in stored for the audience.

Little presence of Barun Sobti aka Arnav in Iss Pyaar Ko Kyaa Naam Doon has got little increase in the ratings. Barun, your fans love you a lot, and we wish you finish your movie shoot ASAP, so you can stop playing hide and seek in your show.

Latest offering by Zee TV, Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke which replaced Choti Bahu season 2, has got an opening of 1.6 which is OK. The promos were good, first week story was more of establishment of characters and gradual story progression. The show does look promising. All the best to the team!

GRP wise Star Plus is still at number 1 in GECs; Sony TV has regained its number 2 position followed by Zee TV and Colors.

Well, that’s it for today. Let’s see what surprise next week brings. Till then, keep watching your favorite shows and keep yourself entertained!

Here are the top 14 contestants for you:

Isha Sharvani: She is a dancer and actress. Well known for her stylistic and difficult dance performances. She has also starred in some Bollywood films such as Kisna: The Warrior Poet, Darwaza Bandh Rakho and Rocky: The Rebel. She does have a strong chance to bag the top position this year, based on her strong command on this art form.

Talat Aziz: We all know him as a very popular ghazal singer and is also known to perform in front of large audiences. But will he be able to charm the audience with his dancing moves? Well only time will tell if he is able to do that.

Bharti Singh: Bharti Singh aka the “Lalli” of Indian television has certainly made an impact and is also all over Comedy Circus. It will be interesting to see her dance to the tunes of the choreographer.

Ravi Kissen:  Popularly known as Ravi Kishan, is an Indian film actor, voice actor and television personality, who works in Hindi cinema and Bhojpuri cinema. In 2006, he participated in Bigg Boss, the Indian version of Big Brother. This show might not be a tough task for him as he has done many films and dancing should come easily to him.

Sanath Jayasuriya:  Is a former Sri Lanka cricketer and was an all-rounder, who had an illustrious international cricket career that spread over two decades. He is also a politician in Sri Lanka. So will he be able to pull it off on this dance arena?

Darsheel Safary: He is best known for his acclaimed portrayal of a dyslexic child in the 2007 film Taare Zameen Par. It must be noted that Darsheel was selected for his debut film from a Shiamak Davar class, so needless to say that the 16 year old will be quite a force to reckon with on the show!

Gurmeet Choudhary: He has made his debut in the 2008 television series Ramayan as Lord Rama and was also know for his role in one of the most successful and popular show on STAR One Geet – Hui Sabse Parayi. Currently he is playing the role of Yash in Punar Vivah on Zee TV. So are you excited to see him put on his dancing shoes!!!

Karan V Grover: He is best known for his portrayal of Arjun Goenka in Saarrthi that aired on STAR Plus, establishing him as a household name. He is also currently working for Rajshri Productions’s show Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli opposite Suhasi Goradia Dhami. Will he be the dark horse?

Meghna Kaur (Gill) Malik : She is a TV and film actress, who is popularly known as the high-handed Ammaji of Na Aana Is Des Laado, a show focusing on female infanticide and other atrocities against women. Will she be able to rock this show with her woman power?

Manish Paul is an Indian television actor who gained recognition after he hosted singing and dance reality. He also hosted Dance India Dance Li’l Masters on Zee TV and he is currently hosting Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Singing Superstar on Zee TV.  Before getting into anchoring, manish paul has acted in many serials like Radhaa Ki Betiyaan Kuch Kar Dikhayengi on NDTV Imagine, Zindadil (ZeeNext), Ssshhhh…Phir Koi Hai on Star One.

Avika Gor: Our very own Anandi. Yes the child actress, famous for playing Anandi in the show Balika Vadhu will also be part of this show. Will this Child Actor be able to win the hearts of the audience with her dancing moves?

Pratyuksha Banerjee: Also know as Sr Anandi. Yes she is the one who had stepped into the shoes of Avika Gor will be seen in this show. Can she beat Jr Anandi? It will be interesting to see the two fight it out on the dancing arena.

Hina Khan : She plays a lead Protagonist role in the Indian TV drama series Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai on Star Plus. No doubt that she has won numerous awards as Favourite Bhabhi, Favourite Patni and Favourite Beti. But will she bag the title of Jhalak Dikhla Jaa Season 5?

And finally we have Giaa Manek, she is currently playing the lead role in Star Plus‘s serial Saathiya. She too is a popular household name, but will she be able to stand out on the dancing arena?

So who do you think has a bright chance to bag the title of Jhalak Dikhla Jaa Season 5? Do let us know your views on these top 14 contestants who will fight it out and take away your hearts with their dance moves. You can also follow us on Twitter (@iDubba) for more updates about this show as and when it occurs.

Happy Viewing.

The moment we hear  ”Madhubala”  we think of her as one of the most influential and talented Hindi movie actresses. It was the film Mughal-e-Azam that marked what many consider to be her greatest and definitive characterization as the doomed courtesan Anarkali. So is this post about “Madhubala” the actress? Well not really. But some what close to that. So lets find out more about ‘Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon’!

The episode opened with a shooting sequence where Balraj Chaudhary (Raj Zutshi) is practicing his skills on his own daughter Trishna. This is set in Motihari, Bihar, where Balraj balances an apple on Trishna’s head who then runs to her mother Padmini (Pallavi Purohit), who is Balraj’s second wife and is seven months pregnant. Balraj’s mother Ammaji (Shagufta Ali) calls up Guruji to predict her son’s future. Guruji (Lalit Parimoo) tells Ammaji that if Padmini delivers a baby boy, then Balraj will flourish but if a baby girl is born, he will perish! Ammaji then spares no efforts and calls for Badi Dai who predicts that Balraj and Padmini will have a baby boy. Both Balraj and Ammaji are very happy with the news and call for a celebration while Padmini secretly escapes from there and makes her way to Mumbai.

Sneha Rajani ‏ @SnehaRajani

Do people on Twitter realise that they represent less than 2% of the TV viewing audience in our country?

When it comes from Senior Executive Vice President and Business Head of popular TV channel, it got to have some weight. Well you might not care about “this” 2% of TV viewing audience (which turns out to be a whopping 8 million) as this does not affect your TRPs “yet”. But just to bring out this question today- Don’t you think this is anyway a subset of existing TV viewing audience? Also it is probably the only audience with a face and platform to reach out to you?

So what’s the real story behind all of this?

The show “Bade Acche Laggte Hain” till now (it’s been a year) offered an outstanding storyline and audience loved how this couple who got married and fell in love with each other and their consummation sequence. Not only that, there were such awesome episodes and most cherishing scenes of Ram and Sakshi, which one can keep on watching a million times. Even their phone-cut scenes were shot so beautifully, one could easily feel their happiness as well as sadness. The show had such interesting charm and was in top 10 shows for first few months. Bade Acche Laggte Hain is definitely ‘the-most-talked about’ show on social media (a rare feat in India). Everyone must not be watching it, but they all know about it. The freshness of the show was something that kept audiences glued to the show.

But, unfortunately, these days, fans feel, that the show has lost its charm and its original storyline. Not only the fans, but even the Director of the show felt the same; when she tweeted to a fan

sangieta rao ‏ @sangieta3

@heartrider_anu. I can only say u all were thr wid us in our good time… Hope u stay wid us now, as this phase shall too pass..

This is because the current track is sort of a separation of the lead couple. The loyal fans do not want to see the separation track and instead want to watch how the couple faces challenges of their life ‘together’. They surely do not wish to watch the same K-soapy stuff which is like ‘been there, done that’ sort of a thing for them!

rajalaxmi sahu ‏ @rajsah1982

@PositiveMe2 @sangieta3 Why d shows are being made? for fans and viewers?then it shd go in way we expect it.cut the crap pls, dnt ruin BALH

 Tullika ‏ @tullikarastogi

@PositiveMe2 people are suffering from heart attacks sadness syndrome please bring Ram and Priya together and bring love strong moments

 Priyanka Kannan ‏ @Kannan_Priyanka

@ramkapoor1973 @PositiveMe2 @sangieta3 The way the story is progresing – both the viewer interest n TRP wil DIP! 0-out of box thinking..SAD!

Also there is news about a leap happening in Bade Acche Laggte Hain. Just one article somewhere and FANS go BOOOM! The outrage has no END! They just do NOT wish to watch the leap. Few fans have gone to the extent of saying “we will stop watching the show if there is a leap”. This is insane! But that shows how strongly and emotionally fans are attached to the show and they do not like it being ruined in such a worse way. There is a petition which fans have created and have been broadcasting it to other fans, asking them to sign it if they don’t wish to see a leap in the a show:

@kogupta#noleapinBALH, show is too unique to be thrown into leap fest already. We want a happy pregnancy track with cute RaYa moments!!

Bade Ache Lagte Hain ‏ @BadeAchche_RKR

With rumors of 4 year leap coming up in the show, we have created a petition to let the creatives know that the…

So you have a got a fair bit of idea now, this in all probability looks like the first case where fans have taken the show-makers of a channel by storm (In India). Show makers are forced to reply to fans and since they cannot take the decision of changing their story-line based on few “thousand” tweets, they have gone defensive. Importantly, the show’s TRPs are not low and hovering around 2.4-2.6, which might be holding the makers to listen to this “2%” of TV audience.

Since people on Twitter might also get influenced by peers, we thought of taking neutral views of our audience at iDubba regarding the same issue. (In just one day we were able to register more than 150 reactions) Here are the results-

Q1. Do you feel Bade Achhe Laggte Hain has lost its content quality?
Yes- 58% (50)
No- 30% (26)
Maybe- 12% (10)

Q2. Do you think there should be a LEAP in the show?
Yes- 53% (46)
No- 42% (36)
I don’t know- 5% (4)

Surprisingly the results here indicate people would like to see a leap as it might give them some new content.

Here are some of the reactions from our users:

“It should continue like the way it had started, all lovey lovey.. no vamps/villaneous roles… should end off in another 20 episodes.. then maybe season 2 could start “

“They shud put some sensible plots in the shows n make RAM(the lead character) some head to think n see the truth….how can the lead character be so dumb….”

“Coolest show ever watched on tv u could add some funny stuff to have a good laugh with family. missing the sense of humor of the story writer “

“Show has totally gone boring. If nothing changes for good in next few episodes, I ll quit watching it. Make it something exciting. Like death of any characters or intro of new chars.”

Conclusion:

So as we can see the reactions about the show are mixed but one thing is clear- viewers believe the show has lost its original charm and quality and they want it to be back on track (which even show’s Director agreed to). Put aside TRPs, with platforms like Twitter and iDubba, TV viewers get a chance to make their voices heard. Whether some actions are taken or not is a completely different thing as it requires the involvement of various other stakeholders for same. But we believe that very soon show makers will consider including “qualitative” data too instead of just “quantitative” data while deciding the path of a show. In U.S. for example Nielson found out that TRPs of shows are in accordance with various social TV conversation analyzers like Trendrr TV. Which means you can NO longer leave people’s voices unheard. With internet users growing by leaps and bounds (in India) th3 trend is only going to get strong – from 2% to 20%, could you afford to neglect these viewers then??

The show has won many prestigious awards during this amazing journey. It won the Apsara Guild Awards – Best Drama Series (Fiction), 8th, 9th and 11th Indian Telly Awards for the best Child Artist Male and Female, Popular Daily Serial, Best Programme With A Social Message and many more individual awards. If you think the journey was a smooth ride, well you are wrong. Balika Vadhu took centre-stage in national politics when members of Janata Dal (United) raised serious objections to the show’s content and demanded it to be taken off air. They said the serial was glorifying child marriage and the I&B Ministry should ban it. So, to avoid going off air, the show started showing slogans at the end of each episode describing the negative effects of child marriage.

And this became a national discussion because it also highlighted the repercussions of ‘child marriage’ besides touching upon several thought provoking and sensitive issues such as adult literacy and women empowerment. The story did take lots of turns and twists portraying Anandi’s difficult times, Jagya’s betrayal and breakdown of her marriage. But despite all this it was finally time for Anandi to make a new beginning leaving behind the bitter past. The 1000th episode did make the story more interesting when a new man named Shiv (Siddharth Shukla) made an entry in Anandi’s life . The elders in the house thought that it was high time that Anandi moves on in life. Shiv is a well groomed charming young man with an army background. He seems to be an energetic yet impatient, good-looking and a self made man of today.

Only time will tell if this new addition will help the channel to attract more viewers and not to forget the TRP’s So Stay tuned to iDubba and set a reminder for Balika Vadhu and find out about Anandi’s life as she embarks on a new journey… Do let us know if you liked this new start in Anandi’s life.

Happy Viewing

It was time for the 4th episode of Satyamev Jayate and time for one more social issue. The earlier 3 episodes were about Female foeticide, Child sexual abuse and Marriages and dowry harassment. Hence as expected the 4th episode too was about serious issues that we are facing in our daily lives. The audience was eagerly waiting to know about this episode and it was about “Doctors and their intentions”.

The show started with Aamir Khan talking about health and how important it is for us. He had invited youngsters who want to become doctors. Most of them said that they want to serve the people who cannot get quality health care facilities in India. The show started with a shocking story of Venkatesh and Arvind and their story about how the treatment went wrong. Venkatesh lost his toe, more than Rs 2 lakh towards treatment & underwent severe trauma and Arvind developed a fear of doctors due to being misdiagnosed and forced to spend 1.4lac. How often do we hear this? I guess most of us might have heard it from friends or relatives who have gone through this. After hearing this it is obvious that you might ask this question “Has the noble profession of medicine lost its nobility?”

There was a shocking revelation that Doctors were asking for 40 to 50% commission to refer patients to path labs. And Aamir did also share a term called “Basin test”. In this the doctors refer patients for a blood test, even though it was not required and the blood given as sample was literary thrown in the basin. Yes Basin. There was also a story of Dr. Pichad who initially did resort to malpractices to run his lab, but he changed his stance later despite losses. Wait till you hear this “Dr. Pandit says big hospitals encouraged him to scare patients into opting for treatment” and he had to leave India because it was against his ethics to agree to what he was told. Shocking? Once again the audience in the studio was shocked to hear such stories. Are our doctor’s really becoming SICK?

Soon it was time to hit the nail on the head. Aamir had invited Prof. K.K.Talwar who is the Chairman, Board of Governors of Medical Council of India. And it was time to ask tough questions and show the real world.

How many licences have been cancelled permanently for medical malpractices? The answer is Zero since 2008. And on the other hand almost 60-80 licences have been cancelled in England. So does this mean that Doctors in England are worst that the ones in India? There was one more issue that was raised “Capitation fees for medical colleges”. Do you think the high amount of capitation fees for medical colleges is responsible for this issue? No wonder Doctors end up trying to recover the money that was invested.

PS: Aamir did repeat many times that the idea is not to defame the doctors but to ensure that the doctors give justice to their profession.

Dr. Gulati says that more government hospitals need to be set up & medical care needs to be given top priority. And soon Aamir was ready with statistics about Medical Colleges in India. Guess What? In 2001 there were 31 Government Medical colleges in India and 106 Private Medical Colleges in India. Strange? 

Dr. Gulati says that 6% of GDP must be spent on health care for medical care to be given to all, like Belgium does. And India spends 1.4% on the GDP on Health Care. Dr. Devi Shetty was also invited to talk about the programs that they are currently running successfully. Dr.Devi Shetty’s Yashaswini scheme no doubt is a super example of coming together and support each other’s healthcare needs.

The show always talks about the problems and the evils of the issues that are being raised every week, but as always also talks about how we, we the people can discuss the issues and be a solution to our problems. No doubt being a Doctor is a very Nobel profession but now a days it’s a business and many are misleading their patients. Now it was time for the 4th song of this series with some amazing melody by Ram Sampath and Suresh Bhatia. I’m sure that the audience who watched the show on their television sets must have gone through some of these cases. Be it visiting the doctor, or buying expensive medicines or paying extra money as donation to the medical colleges. But it is in our hands to stay safe and be aware of the events around us.

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