And where is she, Indian Idol?

t’s definitely not cricket, It’s Not Rocket Science either. Nor is it biryani. Manju Malhi’s version resembles rice mish-mash (is there any other kind?) with tomato ketchup chutney. Who in this big, bad, mad, wide world, cooks a vegetarian biryani that needs tomato sauce to make it go down in the most delightful way (thank you, Mary Poppins)? And why would millions of Indians who, by Malhi’s count, know of 49 other ways to cook biryani, want this 50th one?

In Malhi’s words, Cooking Is Not Rocket Science is a kitchen for British cuisine — what’s that? She’d be better off teaching us about ham and eggs, watercress sandwiches, crumpets, scones... scrumptious. But this is NDTV Good Times and if you don’t like it, fly away with Kingfisher perched on its shoulder. The new lifestyle channel has other food shows such as Highway On My Plate. Here, two hunks, always hungry, eat up the miles looking for food. The plump one does all the talking, the muscular the eating; their relationship with food is one way — they consume it. In Amritsar, how they ate — Golden Temple langhar, betki fish tikkas... That you don’t learn how to cook should bother you as little as it does them.

Food stars on Good Times: The Single Female Traveller sees Ambika Anand sampling Goan food while she see the sights; a show about weddings, also in Goa, had plenty about wining and dining — maybe that’s why it’s called The Big Fat Indian Wedding. Us locals have attended enough weddings to know what they are about — and what they are about is not this wedding in Goa that was designer labelled for NRIs only. The last time you saw a Wedding Planner was in the film by the same name

If you eat so much, you have to exercise. Suniel Shetty got plenty of fat off obese individuals on The Biggest Loser (Sahara). Here, he leads you through to a Sweat, while lesser mortals huff and puff up an appetite.

Good Times looks good enough to eat, a desi Travel & Living without its humour. Nothing is out of place — not even a strand of hair. You get the feeling everything is too, too that — natural as hair styled with mousse.

Oh yes, Lounge lizard Rajat Kapoor is all over the place. A talk show host asks questions and guides the conversation in different directions. Kapoor is weak in geography so he doesn’t know where the conversation is leading.

A few ads the minister of information and broadcasting may like to ban next. The first has a fetching blonde eating strawberries. Mouth-watering, until she adds: “flavoured condoms”. Should we be advertising the taste of condoms? Another has a crowd of Tibetans rush into a holy sanctuary, with a reverential “Rimpoche” They kneel, bow before a small boy who sits with a halo around his head. The boy hastens to join them leaving behind a shining bulb. Don’t think the devout will find this amusing.

Sony’s Indian Idol 3 made news before Prashant Tamang was declared winner: Aaj Tak, CNN-IBN, NDTV 24x7 and Star News crooned with Prashant and Amit Paul all Sunday, heightening the frenzy that has seized the North-East. The night’s entertainment was longer than Amit and Prashant’s kurtas but fun enough, although judge Javed Akhtar wore an expression that said, "And I thought I had seen/heard it all" and the Delhi audience was lukewarm. This is the most heavily-politicised talent hunt so far with PM and Congress President Sonia Gandhi meeting the two boys in a battle between Shillong and Darjeeling. Also, a female is still to win Idol or Sa Re, c’mon, Chak De, girls.

source: http://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=17353