DADAGIRI Unlimited: The review

By Nayeem Islam

We basically like unlimited supplies of everything good. During Ramadan, we love to throng Pizza Hut for unlimited pizzas even if we have to pay exorbitant prices or toil through traffic jams.

When Sourav Ganguly retired from international cricket on the back of an acrimonious row with coach Greg Chappell, his diehard fans in West Bengal were left disappointed. They desperately wanted their demigod's unlimited presence in their lives and the two month cameo of the Indian Premier League was not good enough! So it was only a matter of time before a private TV channel and some companies cashed in on the popularity of the Indian national cricket team alumni and hence a money spinning quiz competition titled 'Dadagiri Unlimited' hosted by Ganguly himself, was born. As the name indicates, it satiates fans of the former Indian cricket captain with seemingly 'unlimited' presence of their favourite 'Dada' (elder brother).

In the year 2009, Dadagiri Unlimited came and changed the reality of Bengali reality shows. Overwhelming response from the audience soon made Dadagiri the Numero Uno reality show in India. About 857 contestants, the greatest ever, in any game show from 19 districts of Bengal came together to make Dadagiri Unlimited an overwhelming success. This year it is back to thrill the audiences again.

Dadagiri Unlimited is not your ubiquitous quiz competition where the participants lock horns to answer only general knowledge questions. Instead it banks on the charisma of its vivacious host and his arsenal of brainteasers. The central theme of the show is cricket. Thus different rounds of the show are named toss, googly, slog over, etc. The maximum point scored for a correct answer is 6 - the maximum runs that can be scored from a single, fully legitimate delivery in a cricket match. The winner of each show is given a small silver plated bat as a trophy. There are also special prizes for contestants scoring half centuries and centuries of points respectively. In between the rounds of quizzing, Ganguly usually engages in cheerful badinage with the contestants. Last season, he had to face lots of sticky questions surrounding Kolkata Knight Riders and Greg Chappell.

A season of Dadagiri culminates in a grand finale, where winners from all the episodes fight to make his/her district champions of Dadagiri Unlimited. Unfortunately Dadagiri comes with a bucketful of ads sandwiched in between different rounds of quizzing. No wonder it runs for 90 minutes! However, Dadagiri provides the refreshing package of amusement and erudition that the intelligent audience has yearned for so long from channels like Zee Bangla.

(Reference: en.wikipedia.org, zeetv.com)

Kidstars

The Fairy Club

By Nabiha Karim

After school Ruby, Goldie and Amber were chatting. "So do you want to come over for the weekend?" asked Amber.

"Sure" replied Goldie.
"No problem" answered Ruby.

On Saturday morning Goldie and Ruby were on their way to Amber's house. It was a wonderful trip. They saw apple trees and strawberry bushes and most of all the bright shining sun. Soon they were in front of Amber's door.

"Hi guys" welcomed Amber. Her room was beautiful and she was like a princess.

While the girls were having a chat, Amber's mum called "Amber would you and your friends like to give your grandma some help with the juice competition?”

"We'd love to!" said Amber "grandma makes the best juice" she added.

Soon the girls rushed upstairs to get dressed. When they were in Amber's room suddenly a fairy with a sparkling pair of wings appeared. "Hello, I'm a fairy exactly like you three.”

"Wait, you’re telling us that we are fairies that can transform?" asked Goldie.

"Yes," said the fairy.

Just as Goldie was about to say something else Amber's mum called again, "Hurry up before the judging starts". The fairy hid in Amber's hair while they ran down the stairs and hurried off to the juice competition.

At the competition an excited old lady walked over and said "Hello Amber!"

"Hi grandma" said Amber.

Amber introduced Goldie and as she was about to introduce Ruby a gust of wind blew her on to the ground.

"Ouch!” said Ruby.

“Oh my! We better get you inside before another gust of wind comes" said grandma. So the girls followed grandma inside.

Later Amber told her grandma that they had to go and left. As soon as they came out the fairy flew out of Amber's hair and said, "Laverna must have cast a spell to make strong wind on Earth."

"Who's Laverna?" asked Ruby.
"A mean witch who wants to rule the world" replied the fairy.
“Then we must stop her." said Goldie.
So the girls transformed and followed the fairy.

Soon they were standing in front of Laverna's horrible castle. Then they had a plan. Amber snatched the wand from Laverna's hand and passed it on to Ruby and Goldie who were ready to break it. The fairy cast a spell to banish Laverna for years. They'd done it; they had destroyed Laverna's nasty spell.

When it was time to say goodbye Amber asked a question that she should have asked before, "What's your name?" asked Amber.

"Brigit" replied the fairy as she waved goodbye and flew away.