Dance off

There are times when one becomes clearly conflicted. As a self-confessed American Idol fan, I watch every new episode of that show, sometimes even watching a re-run in parts because the music did the trick for me. But these days, I find that I am getting good at the surf shuffle, as I like calling it, zipping between channels to optimise my viewing of two shows, especially on one day. That day comes here on Friday every week, when the elimination on American Idol clashes woefully with the contest episode of an Indian version of Dancing With the Stars, locally called Jhalak Dikhla Jaa. So which do I watch? How can I not know what goes on in one as opposed to the other? Very simple. Look at cnn.com on Thursday and you know who is gone from Idol and how. Sometimes the spoiler alert is sounded even on Wednesday. Since I don't really like watching fond farewells and tearful scenes, I prefer not watching how it happens as the episode unfolds on television, even though I cannot resist taking a peek for some usually pretty good music. So now the routine is set, more or less: Idol on Thursday night, Jhalak on Fridays with sneak peeks of Idol eliminations, and then Jhalak eliminations on Saturday night. Sounds like an exciting life? Actually, it is sweet and smells wonderfully of home, which is a good thing in my book.

How did I get into watching television so fanatically? Trust me, it is fairly fanatical, since I do not like anyone calling me during that hour that I am glued to one channel or the other (or, sometimes, both), but I will answer text messages during the commercial breaks. It started with a friend who was stuck on Jhalak. Watch it, she insisted, you will like the dance and music and general liveliness. Then she said I needed to watch one episode so I could tell her what happened, since she was out that evening. I did. And it was fun. What made it better was that a friend of mine was participating. He lost, but it was interesting to see him do something that was so out of his ken. The next thing I knew, I watched not just that show, but also others like it, from Nach Baliye to Saas vs Bahu to Zara Nachke Dikha to...

This particular season of Jhalak has a special interest for me. Not only are the stars unusual - Bhaichung Bhutia, the football player, Mohinder Amarnath, the cricketer, Gauhar Khan, the model, and others not usually seen shaking a hip, Bollywood-ishtyle - but the judges are too - Saroj Khan the 'mother' of filmi choreography, Vaibhavi Merchant, who now rules pretty sharp in tinseltown, and Juhi Chawla, perhaps one of my favourite Bollywood stars where comedy and repartee are concerned. For now, some of the players have been eliminated - Bhagyashree, Anand Raj Anand, Ugesh Sarcar, Mohinder Amarnath, Ram Kapoor and, in the last episode, Gauhar Khan. There have been many tears, some laughter, a generous amount of bitching and a huge amount of learning, but who wins eventually is still up for grabs. The wild card round could bring back one of the celebrities who have left the show, up to dance against the likes of Parul Chauhan, Monica Bedi, Karan Singh Grover, Shilpa Shukla, Hard Kaur and Bhaichung Bhutia.

Winner could take a lot home, including a new fan club, but for now, I wait and watch. And clutch the remote control for the TV in one sweaty hot hand as I shuffle between the stars and the search for an Idol.