What’s going wrong with Movers and Shakers?

Movers and Shakers on Sony Entertainment Television used to be the most talked-about stand up comedy show a few years ago. But its latest avatar on Sab TV doesn’t seem to be catching on with the glory.

That, inspite of bagging celebrity guests like Anupam Kher, Govinda, Isha Khoppikar, Kader Khan, Mahi Gill, Mika Singh, Nupur Mehta, Om Puri, Sameera Reddy, Saroj Khan, Satish Kaushik, Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Sonu Sood, Sukhwinder Singh, Pakistani starlet Veena Malik and the Indian hockey team!

So what’s going wrong with M&S this time? The look, feel, format and suave host Shekhar Suman’s trademark wit is almost at par with the earlier edition. But the jokes, gags and punches are contributed by a different team now, apart from the show having a new director Shashant Shah, who also directed the touching film Dasvidaniya and the successful TV series The Great Indian Comedy Show.

The show’s earlier creative director Abhigyan Jha has moved on to direct his own show Jay Hind on the internet, followed by The Late Night Show on Colors with Sumeet Raghavan; the same host of Jay Hind.

Many feel that the similar formats of Movers and Shakers, Jay Hind and The Late Night Show have divided the viewership and diluted the M&S brand loyalty. Moreover, Shekhar’s favourite mimicry characters, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Laloo Prasad Yadav, are more or less absent now, as they are no longer viewed as frontrunners in Indian politics.

Also missing from the team is Dale Bhagwagar, now the Bollywood PR guru, who used to be Shekhar Suman’s personal publicist as well as the media manager of M&S for quite some time during its first innings. The public relations specialist is often credited for branding Shekhar as the First Superstar of Indian Television in the media.

Copyright © 2012 - ScrutinyByKHimaanshu