The DIRECTV Guide doesn’t say much, only MTV Desi, i.e.; presently you can’t really see a schedule of the shows, but has programs like MTV Bakra, Heavy Mental, Top 10 Desi Countdown, Bollywood on Ice and the omni-present Video Khichdi. On the most recent instalment of “Bakra”, they very neatly made a “bakra” of Mandira Bedi – I mean she really got hassled, and then they (Cyrus, Vivek Oberoi and other actors) tried making a bakra of Amrita Rao and her Mom, and she didn’t fall for it at all. Entertainment, that. Note that recent instalment does not mean that it’s actually recent – apparently this is stuff which aired on MTV India in 2003. So, the programming is a mix of (old ?) stuff from “MTV India” (like “Bakra”) and stuff they concoct here. There are also little MTV News snippets, a la MTV India. And they have no commercial advertisements; just the usual bizarre/surreal MTV ads – you know with little globs of something turning into little globs of something else. Such a precise description, but then you know me.
Frankly, am delighted with MTV Desi ; its like finding an oasis in the desert, because the Star Trio are absolutely bereft of good Desi Music/Bollywood info. There is one show called “Masand ki Pasand”, but that is not much. Compare that with the “AVS” show on Sony TV, and it pales into rhythmless insignificance. Masand is no match for those wired AVS women !
As for artists they (MTV Desi) play, there’s Rabbi (Bulla ki jaana – apparently the first track played when MTV Desi debuted), Raghav, MIA, Karmacy, Colonial Cousins, Bally Sagoo, Sanober, Harry Anand, JoSH etc. My only complaint is that the songs played seem kind of old, circa 2003-2004. OK, MIA is new, but what’s with the “Bombay Vikings” oldies, like “Chod do aanchal” ? I mean its a good song and everything, but where are the newer hits ? We do seem to have a lot of songs- no dearth the last time I listened – so why don’t they play them ?
The anchor scene – there’s Brit. Tim Kash (hosts the Countdown) and American Niharika Desai (hosts “Live from…”). There’s the very Indian Cyrus Broacha who hosts “Bakra” and “Heavy Mental”, and there are a bunch of others (like Suchin Pak and Sway Calloway – see more at mtv.com) doing the MTV news.
