Band Baaja Bride..

..is the name of a show on NDTV Goodtimes. I have been following the programs on this channel since they launched it three years ago. They have some really good shows that cover a variety of topics -- food, travel, beauty, fashion, pets, fitness, technology, spirituality, to name a few.

The program in question conceptualizes the idea of providing the perfect makeover a bride-to-be ever dreams of. The team dons the garb of Santa Claus in transforming a girl-next-door into no less than a Bollywood diva on her D-day. From perfect make-up to designer outfits, the bride gets it all. “If you are getting married and would like to have a dream makeover, do write in to us and we may contact you” goes the ad campaign for this reality show. Of course there is a teeny weenie disclaimer that says, yes you guess it right, *conditions apply*. The episodes I have watched have generally featured brides-to-be from quite affluent families who can anyway afford expert advice. So there may be something to suggest there.

Nevertheless, BBB makes for an entertaining show. It begins with the introduction of the to-be bride and her family along with their expectations from the makeover. The makeover is usually segmented into three parts- first, ironing out the imperfections in the overall physical appearance of the girl, second, her hair and facial-make-up and lastly her outfit for the occasion. Experts- like Shahnaz Hussain, Samantha Kocchar, Neeta lulla and such other eminent names- are consulted for the relevant segment. For instance, in a particular episode, the woman in question had a prominent gummy smile of which she was extremely conscious of and wished it could be corrected. And voila! The team arranged for a dental surgeon who fixed the problem with a minor surgery that lasted about 30 minutes to give the woman the perfect smile. Another girl who had a problem putting on weight and had eating disorders had counseling sessions with a nutritionist who gave her valuable tips to improve her health. A plump bride aspiring to slim down dramatically just days before the D-day was given a designer lehenga with appropriate silhouette to make her broad frame look slimmer. Yet another anxious bride went through pre-marital counselling sessions to help her prepare herself for the next phase in her life.

While this show definitely raises the bar to look better than your best on your wedding day, it also makes the achieving part seem fairly simple and within your reach. I watch this show for fun but generally wonder if such shows put unwanted pressure on the already-pressurized young girls to achieve the perfect 10 in the looks department. It would prudent to remind impressionable minds that while it is great to have a dream wedding, it does not really matter in the long run. For a dream marriage, it takes a lot of hard work; a perfect body, perfect make-up, hair-do and designer outfits really cannot help you there.

10 comments:

  1. Nice description Uma, and I like your postscript too! Who doesn't want the perfect look for your wedding day, and so few who don't have atleast a few bad make up photos to look back on :(.

    I'm a sucker for reality shows (Amazing Race, All cooking related ones like Top Chef, Masterchef (not the Indian version), the list is really long!) - haven't tried many Indian ones (after Emotional Atyachar couldn't quite stomach trying too much else out), but I am surely going to check this one out soon :).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aparna: thanks a lot! Seriously..I had a bout of acne just before my wedding and the stress about it didnt really help..so I have more than a chunk of bad photos to look back on although the make-up did cover some of it..:-( that apart, now when I think of it, it does not really matter..:-)

    Goodtimes has a good measure of well-researched shows. Lot of cookery shows as well. Do watch when you get the time..:-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. hey umma....nice blog u have..keep it up.i also have a blog http://allcaretips.blogspot.com/. its about all the care tips..hey umma i like ur blog very much.can we do one thing why dont we share our links in our blog? so that my users will come to know about ur blog and vice versa.Thanks alot..i will wait for ur reply.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gunjan: thanks for reading. Glad you like it! will drop in at your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  5. hi uma...i do follow d show regularly...u rly have given a good feddback on d show:)...btw....they say dat 'do write in to us'...but they havent mentione danywhere on d website or in d show about contacting,.....so do v go ahead wid dat??

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Shivani, welcome here and thanks for reading!
    really? haven't they mentioned their email id or something on their website? surprising...
    maybe you can go write to ndtvgoodtimes itself and try to get thru the show people...
    good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  7. An impressive share! I've just forwarded this onto a colleague
    who has been doing a little homework on this. And he in fact
    bought me lunch due to the fact that I discovered it for him...
    lol. So allow me to reword this.... Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending time to discuss this
    subject here on your site.

    Feel free to surf to my weblog - autism awareness bracelet

    ReplyDelete

Would love to hear from you :-)
Also, please click the subscribe by Email link below the comment form to get follow-up comments to your inbox..