Women dominate in Bigg Boss 3

Its women-power all the way in the third season of Bigg Boss with stars like Shamita Shetty and Sherlyn Chopra outshining the lesser known male housemates. The reality show is high on glamour with women outnumbering their male counterparts.

Apart from Shamita and Chopra, the other women contestants include yesteryear's Bollywood actress Poonam Dhillon, doctor-turned-model Aditi Govitrikar and most surprisingly, 'drama queen' Rakhi Sawant's equally dramatic mother Jaya Sawant.

On the other hand, the male bastion includes names such as Dara Singh's son Vindu, fashion designer Rohit Verma, comedian Raju Srivastav and director-actor Kamal R Khan of Desh Drohi fame. The only major name in the male team is that of music composer Ismail Darbar, who has films like 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' to his credit.

Actress Shamita Shetty did make her grand entry into the Bigg Boss house with her sister Shilpa Shetty's tips as a weapon to use in handling life in confinement for 84 days.

Shamita had made her debut with Yashraj banner's Mohabbatein in 2000, but failed to make any mark in Bollywood. The starlet was last seen in 'Cash' alongside Ajay Devgan in 2007.

Welcomed by Amitabh Bachchan into the house, Shamita said, "I used to think that it is like living in hell, after all that my sister went through in 'Big Brother'. But never say never and I'll try not to cry in the Bigg Boss's house."

Jaya Sawant came in with a vengeance, using the emotional point that her daughter did not invite her for her 'swayamvar' on national television. "My own daughter has abandoned me, but people who have no relation with me have shown me sympathy," she told Bachchan before stepping into the house.

Season two of the reality show had the likes of Rahul Mahajan, who had a controversial past making him one of the most-watched celebrity on the show. Actress Shweta Tiwari's ex-husband Raja Chaudhary also claimed his own place with a family scandal backing him. But this year's male housemates lack the controversy quotient.

The winners of the show for the past two seasons have been men, actor Rahul Roy in season one and Roadies winner Ashutosh Kaushik in the second installation. With women power ruling the roost, one can only hope that the third season will have a female contestant taking the crown.

‘Dil Bole Hadippa!’ a huge let down

Film: “Dil Bole Hadippa!”

Cast: Rani Mukerji, Shahid Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Poonam Dhillon, Rakhi Sawant, Sheryln Chopra; Director: Anuraag Singh

Somewhere down the line in this mish-mash of “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi”, “Chak De” and what have you, Shahid Kapoor, looking as intense as a man who has just discovered he has acute molar ache, scowls at Rani and says, “You should be an actress in films”.

Actress she is. And a highly competent one. Rani has worked really hard on getting the Sardar-ji’s act together. At times she’s quite funny and poignant. But her attempts go waste in a film that seems to move in a rudderless stupor.

Rani is sorely let down in her made-to-order vehicle by a script that’s as phony and pasted-on as the moustache she pastes on to infiltrate the all-boy’s cricket team helmed by a Britain-returned dude from a broken family.

Shahid’s dad Anupam Kher lives in Amritsar, while his mom, Poonam Dhillon, lives in London.

Backgrounds are not very high in the list of this messy and annoying mishmash about cross-dressing and sporting spirit. While Shahid’s character we know is from a broken home, only god and the scripwriter know where Rani’s character Veera/Veer comes from.

While Hillary Swank, as a girl dressed as a guy, got the Oscar for “Boys Don’t Cry”, Rani misses her award-winning turn by a wide margin, thanks to a script that meanders like a bumbling bumblebee which doesn’t know whom to sting.

The story of the spirited girl’s sprint into a men’s game and into the coach’s heart lacks bite and humour. The dialogues are ultra-pedestrian, some of the exchanges between the rustic Rani and the posh Shahid shamelessly taken from “Jab We Met”.

What were the makers of this film thinking? Not much, as we can easily see in the slithering progression of the material and dismaying lack of motivation. After the interval, the wobbly narration just collapses in a tired heap, with scenes in a nautanki featuring Rakhi Sawant plunging to the bottom-most rung of mediocrity.

The climactic cricket match between India and Pakistan is as exciting as watching “Kaminey” with the soundtrack turned off. In “Dil Bole Hadippa!”, the soundtrack is so loud it drowns any finer point that the narration may possess.

Don’t waste your time looking for silver linings in this dreadful cricket film. Someone said cricket is a game played by 12 fools and watched by 12,000 fools. No we know what he meant.