After a lot of publicity, finally, Vaibhav Mangale’s TV serial ‘Majhe Pati Soubhagyavati’ has arrived on Zee Marathi channel. The versatile actor, in the company of  Nandita Dhuri, playing his wife, has already displayed his skills, as a struggling actor, in the initial episodes. There were some interesting happenings covered so far, to show his frustration clearly. Even, the shooting episode and his interaction with his father in law played by Uday Sabnis , were well presented. But, audience is more eager to see his make over as a female actor.

In ‘Nanda Saoukhyabhare’, on the same channel, Swanandi is still facing the err of her adamant sister, in spite of her engagement to Indraneel. The serial is yet to pick up, as it is moving in a typical Saas bahu style, with the character of Vachhi Maushi, playing her games, to take revenge against Indraneel’s mother. Some of the dialogues in this serial are just repeated again and again.

Runji on Star Pravah, certainly needs a revamp, as there is nothing interesting left in this serial. Same is the case with  ‘Kamla’ on Colors channel, as behavior of Dev is not at all acceptable. One could understand his orthodox thinking mother’s attitude; but behavior of Dev in not at all convincing. Don’t really know, what the author of this serial has in mind.

However, in another serial ‘Asa Sasar Surekh Bai’ on Colors channel the greedy uncle of Yash has come to know, the background of Jui, after reading her palm. So, now we expect him to support Yash, after some melodrama expected from lady members of the family. But, on the other side, Gautam Joglekar, who has started playing elderly person’s role, perfectly suits as Jui’s father, offering variety through his performance.

Till now, we have been watching  Asmita, desperately in search of her father’s killer, in the serial ‘Asmita’. Now, she has  almost come close to proving the involvement of her own father in law. But, will that happen ? Let us wait and see.

After watching the Ganapati and Gauri Pooja performed by our artistes, in their respective serials, last week; now, we saw a good message passed by the makers of the serial ‘Honar Suun Mi Hya Gharchi’. While Janhavi’s father  explained his illiterate and adamant wife, about preservation of environment, for getting good rains; Shree explained to his aunts, about the methods of water conservation. He seemed to be more critical about wastage of water, when it is freely available to people.

One way, it was a good lesson to learn, for those, who waste water, which is the most precious commodity, today. On one side, we find people from city wasting a lot of water , while taking shower or tub bath, on the other side, in villages facing drought, we see women walking miles and miles, to fetch water in a small container, lifted over their heads. TV serials being watched by almost all the Maharashtrian households, this is a very good way of passing a timely message. For the past few years, we saw the awareness created by many TV serials, about environment friendly Ganesha idols and it has really helped, to spread the awareness message. Now, why can’t some serials with good subjects, create awareness about corruption and greed for money, in day to day life  of people and  how it affects country’s economy?

In a serial like ‘Nanda Soukhyabhare’ we find the mother of the lead hero, just wanting to know, how much she will benefit financially, through her ‘would be’ daughter in law. In ‘Asa Saasar Surekh bai’, we find the uncle of  the lead hero, encouraging his nephew to marry a rich girl, so that he would be able to spend money, on his own daughter’s marriage. Isn’t that something strange? Why can’t he himself work hard and raise funds on his own, to meet the expenses of his daughter? Such money minded selfish attitudes of some of the prominent characters in the serials, are sending a wrong message. They keep on dragging the gimmicks of such negative characters, till the concluding part of the serial.

It is not necessary that every serial should have one strong negative character , dominating the ongoing story. It only encourages those viewers, who try to emulate them. Instead, it is better to have a total comedy subject or a detective or police investigative serial, where the people involved in all such harassment or criminal acts, are put behind the bars, in just 2 or three episodes. TV serials play a very important role in passing a social message. “As you sow, so shall you reap.” 

Come Ganapati festival and we witness almost all Marathi TV serials worshipping the idol of Ganapati Bappa. In ‘Assa Saasar Surekh Bai’ on Colors Marathi, we have already seen decorations going on in Yash and Jui’s office, to welcome Ganapati Bappa. We also saw Jui helping Yash to make the idol of Ganapati from clay. But, we don’t know, whether it is environment friendly idol. That is yet to be announced.

Traditionally, we find most of the serials, creating awareness about environment friendly idols. On the same channel in ‘Kamla’, it will be interesting to see, who will perform the Ganapati Puja. Sharu or kamla, if at all, there is Ganapati Puja in their house? And, what will Shubhra do in ‘Majhe Mann Tujhe Jhale’? At present, she is busy teaching a lesson to the actress, equipping herself with perfect choreography. But, we will surely see the Aarti being held either at Jai- Aditi’s office or at their so called kaka’s house.

In ‘Asmita’ on Zee Marathi channel, we saw, Asmita’s husband getting ready to bring home Ganpati idol. By the way, they already have a little guest in their house, whom they have treated as God’s messenger. Though Asmita is dressed up in Saree, to get ready for festive season, there is no holiday for her, as ‘Work is Worship’ in her case. By the way, she looks very nice in Sarees. On Star Pravah channel, we are likely to see Ganapati Puja in serials like ‘Runji’ and ‘Tumacha Aamcha Same Asata’. On the same channel, we are watching Dr.Amol Kolhe, visiting various Ganapati Mandals across Pune, to check their preparations. By the way, he is taking lot of interest in presenting this programme. He just loves anchoring.

In Zee Marathi laughter show, ‘Chala Hava Yeu Dya’, we saw something different this time. The concept was ‘Same to Same’, where we saw all those lookalike faces of well known actors, from Hindi and Marathi film industry. Some of them had a lot of resemblance, but we have seen them in so many Hindi programmes in the past. The programme should have given chance to newcomers, especially our own Marathi speaking artistes, like those three, who resembled Nana Patekar, Makarand Anaspure and Govinda and also one, who did mimicry of all big stars. Most of the participants could not speak Marathi. So, it was almost like a Hindi programme, losing its Marathi identity. And, that was the only disappointment,, as the programme concept was good.

Dr.Amol Kolhe who came into limelight, through his admired character of Shivaji Maharaj in Star Pravah’s popular serial ‘Raja Shiv Chhatrapati, is returning on the same channel, with a new programme.  Through this new show,  titled ‘Mandal Bhari Aahe’, Amol will host  a competition among various participating Ganesh Mandals , to celebrate  this Community festival in a big way.  This programme will begin its  telecast on Star Pravah channel,  from 14th September 2015 onwards, Monday to Saturday at 6 pm.

Another versatile actor Vaibhav Mangle , who entertained  in the past on Zee Marathi’s programme ‘FuBai Fu’ and a serial ‘Shejari Shejari Pakke Shejari’,   will be giving a surprise, through a a female character. Earlier, watching  the teaser of this serial, it was not possible to identify him. But, in the latest promo released, it has almost become clear,  that he is playing either double role or double part. However, to get our doubts cleared,  we will have to wait till 8.30 pm on  28th September 2015 . By the way, this also indicates that ‘Julun Yeti Reshimgathi’, will say good bye on 26th September , after completing a marathon run.

On coming Sunday i.e. 13th September at 7 pm,  there will be two different events to be telecast by the rival TV channels, Zee Marathi & Colors Marathi.  Zee Marathi will telecast their latest event  ‘Unch Majha Zoka’ awards, felicitating  10 women,  for their achievements in different fields, supported by some entertaining programmes;  while,  Colors Marathi channel  will present an entertaining programme, ‘Garja Maharashtra’,   filled with dance and music .The promo of this show,  has also indicated participation of popular Marathi celebrities. So, it is for the viewers to decide, their choice. Incidentally , Maiboli channel, have yet to announce  their Sunday evening movie. Sometimes, even they offer  a surprise at the eleventh hour.

Zee Marathi’s  detective serial ‘Asmita’ which has completed 265 episodes recently, is going strong, with new  interesting subjects.  It was nice to see, some prominent television faces, in different stories, which sometimes extend to more than 3 episodes. In the recent past ,we saw Anuja Sathe, Tejaswi Patil and many others , playing such  characters,  for a change. And, that clearly indicates popularity of this serial. Credit goes to Mayuri Wagh and the entire team of this serial, for being so natural, through their respective characters.

Only few days ago Colors Marathi channel presented a new serial ‘Assa Saasar Surekh Bai’ starring most popular artistes like Mrunal Dusanis and Santosh Juvekar . And, it is certainly offering good entertainment. It is certainly pleasant , to notice the smile of the face of Mrunal, all the time, in this serial. Otherwise, she gets all serious type of roles, where, she is made to suffer in the screenplay. Hope, that does not happen in this serial.

Now, Colors have also introduced an entertaining celebrity reality show ‘Dholkichya Talawar’. This show offers variety, combining dances with humour. The dances are presented by versatile Marathi actresses like Neha Pendse, Shruti Marathe, Bhargavi Chirmule ,Manasi Naik, Megha Ghadge and others along with other talented new artistes like Ashwini kasar and Gayatri Soham.

The initial episode was found very interesting, which offered the traditional Marathi folk culture. With good performances by male artistes like Abhijeet Chavan, Arun Kadam and others, through a skit. The show is anchored for the first time by singer duo Aadarsh Shinde and Nandesh Umap, who are also doing a good job.

Looking at the introduction of these new programmes, one expects Colors’ channel to replace their old shows like Asava Sundar Swapnancha Bangla’, ‘Majhe Mann Tujhe Jhale’, and ‘Kamala’, which are really testing the patience of home viewers. Also on ‘Star Pravah’ channel , their serial ‘Runji’ which has moved off the track, needs to say good bye. One expected this serial to revolve around the central character; but, that’s not happening.

On ‘Zee Marathi’, ‘Honaar Suun Mi Hya Gharchi’ is also testing the endurance of the home viewers, with wastage of time, on Pintya’s marriage, now. But, their other serial ‘Dil Dosti Duniyadari’, which is targeted on youth audience, has gained popularity, with the presence of the character of Aashu, played by Pushkraj Chirputkar, who is very popular among young and old. Incidentally, the title song rendered by Arya Ambekar for this serial, has popularized so much, that youngsters have started using it as ringtone, on their mobile phones.

Last year 9x Jhakaas presented their first season of ‘Jhakaas heroine’ in seven episodes, to decide the winner among the ten shortlisted aspiring young Marathi actresses. They had received 3500 entries from all over Maharashtra , for this reality show. This year, we understand that, they want to make it still bigger. This year the Season 2 will be hosted in mid September 2015 . But, the entries and registration for the same begins from 3rd August 2015.

Last year, Prarthana Behere won the contest and got an opportunity to work in the lead role in the film ‘Mitwa’ . Now, it remains to be seen, who will get an opportunity to play lead role opposite Swapnil Joshi, in the forthcoming Marathi film of a big production house ? Incidentally, Swapnil himself is the producer of this 13 episode show, with Arjun Singh Baraan and Kartik Nishaandar of GSEAMS. So, those young Marathi aspiring actresses may log in their website www.jhakaasheroine.com

Last week Colors channel paid tributes to well known Marathi lyricist Jagdish Khebudkar, who remained associated with Marathi film industry for 50 years, since 1960. His songs from the film ‘Pinjra’ were super it , which helped in the film’s success. Therefore, in this programme, popular Marathi actresses presented the dances on the songs based on his lyrics, besides his grand daughter also performing on one of his songs, This wonderful musical programme was anchored by Prasad Oak and Kadambari Kadam .

Popular TV actress Mrunal Dusanis did make her comeback on television through her new serial ‘Asa Saasar Surekh Bai’ on Colors channel during the week. Her entry was also appealing; but, we failed to understand, as to why she was wearing long Party designer clothes, while attending office and that too while riding a scooter. But, her pairing with Santosh Juvekar suits well; as noticed in initial episodes.

In another new serial of Zee Marathi ‘Nanda Soukhyabhare’ , Rujuta Bagwe has found a good central character of Swanandi ; but some female viewers have started comparing her with Shubhra played by Swarada Thigale of ‘Majhe MannTujhe Jhale’. However, others feel that the serial would go ‘Runji’ way, presenting a typical Saas Bahu drama.