Last Monday, a few Chennaiites woke up at 5 a.m. to watch the Emmy Awards, while many more caught the repeat later in the day.
This year, as the awards were given, for the 66 time, to the best of U.S. primetime television programmes, there was a lot of rejoicing, and some discontent.
Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper of the wildly popular ‘The Big Bang Theory’ won his fourth Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series. While some on Twitter were happy to see their favourite nerd win yet again, a lot more were disappointed. ‘Can’t believe the TBBT cast is even invited to attend the Emmy’s’ said one, while others complained that the Emmys seemed stuck on default mode and said ‘more deserving’ candidates such as Louis C.K. for ‘Louie’ should have won. Parsons himself, while receiving the award, said, “There’s no accounting for taste.”
‘Modern Family’, which won its fifth consecutive Emmy for best comedy series, too came in for flak on Twitter, with viewers wondering why the show, which has dipped in popularity lately, won again this year.
However, for ‘Breaking Bad’ — a drama revolving around a struggling chemistry teacher who turns to a life of crime and eventually becomes a drug lord — which won five awards on Monday, the support was unanimous. The show, which has consistently been rated as one of the best ever produced, has wrapped up its run with a total of 58 nominations and 16 wins.
Twitter was full of praise for the show, whose lead actor and supporting actress both won, calling it ‘the greatest moral tract’ and the ‘best show’ of all times.But with the awards all out and endlessly discussed, the big question on Twitter now is: who will host the show next year?
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Back in 2000, a 58-year-old Amitabh Bachchan took to playing the host of Sidharth Basu’s ‘Kaun Banage Crorepati’ on Star Plus. It proved to be a phenomenal success, resurrecting his then sagging career and transforming the small screen platform to an immensely lucrative one.
With the television series ‘Yudh’, Bachchan has returned to the small screen and marked his debut in a fictional TV series. He plays the character of Yudhisthir ‘Yudh’ Sikarwar, a business baron around whom the show is centred. Caught amidst a raging corporate rivalry, not only does Yudh have to save the empire that he worked so hard at building, but also has do this while suffering from the rare Huntington’s disease.
With big wigs like Anurag Kashyap backing the series, and a talented supporting cast including the likes of Sarika, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Kay Kay Menon, the show rode on high expectations. However, it has underwhelmed audiences in many ways.
Divya Solgama, a film critic based in Mumbai, said, “The first few episodes were a bit confusing. It was only after the third episode that it found its rhythm.”
Others complained that the timing of the show was what worked against it. Ambika Sukumaran said, “It aired at 10.30 at night, which was too late. I used to end up recording the show and watch it the next day. I doubt others would have put in so much effort to follow it.”
Despite all these shortcomings, the show is recognised as an effort to change the dynamics of dominant television content programming in India. Solgama said, “People watching TV in our country either watch English sitcoms or ‘saas bahu’ serials. Giving us the option of engaging with something different is the only way we can expect better entertainment.”
