Is Koffee with Karan becoming the worst TV show ever? : Blog #280

Is Koffee with Karan becoming the worst TV show ever?

I am a self-confessed Bollywood buff. Not the kind that gets intrigued only by Gurudutt’s Pyaasa or Shyam Bengal’s Zubeida or Mahesh Bhatt’s Arth. I enjoy a Veer Zara and a Devdas and a Kal ho Na ho and a Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and a Barfi and a Ye Jawani Hai Deewani too. I understand the business enough to know why movies like Chennai Express and an Ek tha tiger exist and how they work the box office.

I understand the fact that Karan Johar is an astute film maker. He understands the world of cinema in a way few other directors of his time does. This does not mean he is the best director around. What I mean to say is his grasp of cinema is far superior to his contemporaries. I am one of those who enjoy his kind of cinema – light hearted, emotional stories with soul touching music and dance with good looking people and stunning locales. I used to look forward to Koffee with Karan the way we look forward to an episode of Crown these days or Game of Thrones in the recent past. 

But the episode with KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya, the cricketers have found a new low for the show. How could Hardik Pandya be so uncouth and lacking in class. He said all the wrong things. If he chooses to speak so on a national platform, what kind of a person will he be in private? More importantly, Cricketers are Demi god's in our country. What influence is he leaving on the youngsters? 

This is not the first time Koffee with Karan is indulging in such lack of class.Remember the Koffee with Karan episode featuring Ranbir Kapoor and Ranvir Singh ?

My grudge is not against the innuendos or the insider jokes or the gestures dripping with vulgarity. Those are what the ‘complete-freedom-of-expression’ brigade calls “comedy”. The bone I have to pick with is regarding the utter pointlessness of the whole interview. After watching it for an hour, there was nothing worthwhile at all. It had nothing to offer but a void.

To begin with, the overt familiarity between the interviewer and interviewees was too appalling to say the least. If the idea is to showcase Karan and friends having a banter, then put up a home video on YouTube. There is no need for a show on TV! There were no sensible questions. And the answers were equally senseless too. Most of the time, the three of them kept talking together making it difficult to know what they were talking about.

You might say that well, Koffee with Karan was never meant to be a sensible show. I beg to disagree. There were times when some tough questions were asked and some very brave answers were given. In one episode, Sanjay Dutt asks Sushmita Sen as to why she hadn’t given up smoking. The one with Juhi and Madhuri was very interesting to watch. It was intriguing to see them taking an effort to be appreciative of each other and yet not succeeding much. The one with Mahesh Bhatt and Alia Bhatt was honesty at its best. The ones with Abhishek Bachchan were quite witty and entertaining. So were the ones with Priyanka Chopra.

From those interviews filled with fun, entertainment and trivia to wither away to something of today’s format which can be described as hollow at best is truly saddening. What is worrying though is how most of today's popular shows are following suit. But then again, when we ourselves spend time in finding the best selfies and keeping track of the narcissistic reinforcements through 'likes', how can we complain!

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