I Want My MTV

Pink Slip-Time for MTV Desi? (MTVDesi.Com)

Rumor has it MTV World (home to MTV Desi, MTV Chi, and MTVK) is the latest victim of the firing frenzy at Viacom.

If reports are to be believed, the plug is being pulled completely on the channels. The “Classics Department” at VH1 has also recently been on the chopping block. MTVu will, however, remain relatively intact.

Dhoom Machaoo Dhoom!

Shah Loungin’ (Santosh Verma for The New York Times)

Ghanshyam P. Shah spends about eight hours a day camped out in his bedroom, watching TV (prayer services, financial news, whatevs, really). “I’ll become really agitated if I can’t watch,” Shah, 82, explains to Vikas Bajaj of the New York Times.

I understand completely.

Bajaj’s Sunday Times feature, “In India, the Golden Age of Television Is Now,” tells us the state of television there is amidst change. The rise of cable channel networks continues, and American networks work to bring classics like Sesame Street to an Indian audience (Globalization. Sigh).

Bajaj also introduces us to Dhoom Machaoo Dhoom—a Disney show made for Indian teens. “It is about four teenage girls, one of them from New York, who want to start a band so they can represent their school in a talent contest. They face a number of challenges, including an arrogant classmate who is determined to derail their plans.”

Does Diddy know about this?

Be sure to check out the article’s accompanying video produced by Jigar Mehta (we blogged about Mehta a few weeks back—remember? Course you do), and let us know what you think.

More:
India’s Disney Channel
SRK’s New Gig As TV Host

Kaling Snags SAG

Kaling (right, with bangs) at the awards-ceremony. (ImNotObsessed.Com)

Mindy Kaling and her “officemates” were recognized by the Screen Actors Guild Sunday night for their “outstanding performance” as “an ensemble in a comedy series (NBC’s The Office).”

Kaling, who plays Kelly Kapoor, also writes for the show.

Shetty Big Winner In Big House

Shetty emerges from Big Brother’s house victorious. AP Photo (Yui Mok)

Shilpa Shetty has just won Celebrity Big Brother.

When it was announced she’d successfully secured the public’s vote, the Bollywood actress burst into tears, saying she found the Big Brother experience “incredible and overwhelming.”

The win comes after Shetty, 31, was subjected to racial bullying in the house (she was mocked repeatedly, and referred to as “the Indian,” and “Shilpa Poppadum”) creating a subsequent uproar.

As the New York Times reports, Celebrity Big Brother generated “300 newspaper articles in Britain, 1,200 in English-language newspapers…around the globe, 3,900 foreign-language news articles and 22,000 blog postings. Around 40,000 people – the highest on record – made complaints to the television standards regulator. Six cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Tony Blair, commented publicly on it.”

“It’s truly been a roller coaster ride,” said Shetty, who received 67% of the viewers’ votes.

Padma Lakshmi Likes Her Paca Lolo

Rasta Padma. Best Week Ever

Top Chef hostess and ex-model Padma Lakshmi has a penchant for pot, and apparently likes to get her ghanja on during tapings of the hit Bravo TV show.

The folks at Best Week Ever think this explains a whole lot–like Lakshmi’s large appetite, “detached, soulless vocal inflections” and “insane outfit choices.”

We wonder if all that moocah smoke wafting through the air could lead to some giddy, ridiculous decisions during next week’s finale .

Who are you rooting for?

More:
Lakshmi a fire hazard in the kitchen
Rushdie likes Lakshmi’s lady fingers

Sunita & Crew Give Martha Tour Of Expedition 14

Lopez-Alegria and Williams chat with Stewart (NASA TV)

Martha Stewart chatted with the crew of Expedition 14 Monday morning, including Sunita Williams, in an event shown on NASA TV.

More:
Blast Off! Sunita Williams Heads Back to Space
Working Woman: Sunita Williams, Nirali 2004
Emeril Lagasse chats with Station Crew (video)

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Khan In KBC Hot Seat

It began with a music video starring Shah Rukh Khan (his idea) and continued with trivia questions (standard fare on Kaun Banega Crorepati).

Last night, millions watched Khan’s debut as the host of India’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

Khan, who began his acting career on television, has taken the Crorepati reigns over from another Bollywood great, Amitabh Bachchan.

“Khan came across as a friendly anchor, who high-fived with a contestant when he got the answer right, spoke in another’s native language and even gave a back massage to a third who said he was too nervous,” reports the BBC.

But not everyone enjoyed the debut.

“Shah Rukh persistently tosses us a smirk we haven’t quite deciphered yet. Is this condescension towards these contestants, nervousness, or defiance against the Big B?” asks India’s Rediff.

We’re not sure, but suspect all this could add fuel to the fire of their raging feud.

Check out King Khan’s moves in yesterday’s KBC opening dance number (so hott yaar!):

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Kolbert

Stephen Colbert revisits last week’s decision to side with Shah Rukh Khan in The Colbert Report‘s continuing segment ‘We the MEdiator’:

More:
The Colbert Report
Comedy Central
KKKG
Lal Badshah = Box Office Bomb

Put Him On The W(riter)-List

Joely Fisher, Brad Garrett

Add Vijal M. Patel’s name to the growing numbers of “South Asians getting ahead in non-traditional fields like TV writing,” described in “Masti See TV.” After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in engineering and business, Patel moved to Los Angeles and entered the entertainment profession. Working his way up from production assistant to writer’s assistant, he was eventually offered a position as staff writer. Currently, he writes for the FOX network’s new comedy series ‘Til Death, starring Brad Garrett of Everybody Loves Raymond. Have you seen the show? What do you think?

Vijal Patel

Another passion of Patel’s is music. He has two albums, the debut mostly acoustic-rock “Down With Misery”, instrumental album “Pose”, and additional singles on his Web site. Judging by his cooking show “Who Invited You?” which includes a budget-minded recipe for a Mock Tandoori Chicken Pita Pocket Sandwich, Patel is a sort of Renaissance man, with diverse creative pursuits in addition to screenwriting.

Mirza Takes The Mic

(Steve Ullathorne)

Shazia Mirza headlines this week in San Francisco at the Punchline Comedy Club through the 20th. In addition to her stand-up routine, she acts and writes for TV and theater. Later this month Mirza will be presenting a BBC Radio 4 documentary on “Humour Around the World.”

A Luxembourg news magazine interviewed Mirza last year when she was in town for a festival that celebrates alternative and fringe female artists and performers (Can Somebody Plug Me In?), and described changes over time in her act.

More information:
ShaziaMirza.org
Punchline Comedy Club