Thoughts on Surya TV'S 'Laughing Villa'

                   

Image Courtesy-hindu.com

                     Surya TV has been struggling with poor TRP ratings for some time.None of their recent soaps have really been able to garner much eye balls and the stiff competition from the likes of Flowers tv and Mazhavil Manorama has been making matters worse(Asianet,the market leader is undoubtedly miles ahead in the rating game and the chances of beating them shall remain a distant dream!). Laughing Villa was tauted as Surya TV 's reply to Asianet's highly successful Badai Bungalow.I was curious to know the result .If the couple of episodes which I watched are any indication,'Laughing Villa' looks like yet another failed attempt from Surya TV to beat Asianet at their game. Since the show format(a villa inhabited by comedians and celebrity guests paying them a visit at regular intervals) and the time slot are pretty much the same as that of Asianet's 'Badayi Bungalow' the comparisons are inevitable.While the former scores with neat jokes (sometimes way too silly, but still, largely devoid of double innuendos and corny lines aimed at cheap laughs) and earnest performances from the cast (Ramesh Pisharody,Arya,Mukesh et al), 'Laughing Villa' ends up as nothing but a cheap imitation. The jokes fall flat, the corny lines pretty often have sexual undertones, the performances come across as way too artificial (which is a pity, as the show has some of the best talents like Manju Pillai,Surabhi,Manian Pilla Raju, to name a few).About the short skits which are presented in between,the less said, the better.The main problem with laughing villa lies in it's writing. It's sad to see talented performers like Surabhi and Manju Pillai going over board and screaming their lungs out with the sole intention of making people giggle. The situations are stale and  flat, laughs are far and few in between and the x-rated one liners are not helping the matters either. C'mmon, how much you can endure the same old puerile joke on unwanted pregnancies and illegitimate children? Inshort, the show is a massive disappointment!

-nikhimenon