Review of Koffee with Karan: Volume 2

Introduction

Between the first episode in November 2004 and when it was put on hold due to Karan Johar`s directorial commitments in May 2005, `Koffee With Karan` was the highest rated English language show in India. It`s success can largely be attributed to the appearance of superstars of Indian cinema on the show, who were willing to talk about their personal lives on TV.

This disc is entitled `Bollywood Divas` and contains interviews with some of the most glamorous people in Indian cinema. The three episodes feature:
Rani Mukherji and Kareena Kapoor
Bipasha Basu and Lara Dutta
Arjun Rampal and Priyanka Chopra

Video

Crystal-clear visuals with fantastic colour definition although there really isn`t an awful lot going on on-screen - basically just shots of Johar, his guests and the studio.

There are no subtitles.

Audio

A perfectly adequate Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. Although much of the dialogue is very clear, some of it is very quickly spoken and some sentences are in Hindi. It`s still just a chat show after all, so there`d be little point in a DTS ES soundtrack!

Features

The bizarrely named `Offtakes` are outtakes from the three shows and last for just over a minute each. They are largely Johar missing his cues and fluffing his lines - hardly side-spitting stuff.

Conclusion

Hands up if you`ve never heard of Karan Johar. Good, then I`m not alone. He is, apparently, an up and coming Bollywood director, producer and writer who has his own chat show where he sits in a studio with other Bollywood notables, asking them questions about their careers and personal lives.

The first thing you notice about `Koffee With Karan` is that there is no studio audience, so revelations, funny quips and jokes are met with a deafening silence, rather than the applause and laughter they would receive on an English or American chat show. I imagine the popularity of cinema and the huge interest in actors would make distributing a couple of hundred tickets to the filming of a TV show in a country with over a billion people would be tricky, to say the least, and probably logistically impossible.

I have never seen a Bollywood film, so had never heard of Karan Johar, any of his guests, or any of the people referred to on the show. However, I got the distinct feeling that Rani Mukherji and Kareena Kapoor aren`t exactly the best of friends, given the body language - if they sat any further apart they`d be off the couch and sitting on the floor! Johar escalated tensions by asking their peers to give each marks out of ten for their sexiness and acting abilities.

I am clearly not in the target audience for this disc, so please don`t take the low score as an indication of quality, just unfamiliarity, as someone born, bred and living in India might be left cold by a DVD of Jonathan Ross or Michael Parkinson`s chat shows. Clearly, if you`re a fan of Bollywood and its` stars, then this disc is going to be of interest to you, but otherwise you`re going to be as disinterested as I was.