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February 05, 2010

The Republic of Karmistan - Day 8, 24

Mr. Anil Kapoor, in Season 8 of the show “24”, plays the role of Mr. Omar Hassan, the President of the Islamic Repubic of Karmistan. In the first five hours (episodes) of the show, while in New York, he has already survived an assassination attempt by his brother who has since vanished, his American mistress has been arrested, mentally tortured and then released, his wife has left him to go back home, he has started a purge against his plotters in Karmistan, and he has recently learnt that his brother is about to buy Uranium 235 from some Russians to make his country go nuclear. The best part is that Mr. Kapoor has gone through all this, uncharacteristically underplaying his role, without his Indian / Middle Eastern English accent sounding too fake.

What is also heartening is that Mr. Kapoor gets 3rd billing in the credits, immediately after Mr. Kiefer Sutherland, who plays Jack Bauer, the main lead and Ms. Mary Lynn Rajskub, whose character Chloe O'Brien, a data analyst with amazing computer but poor emotional skills is probably the best anti-heroine currently on television.

It is a bit sad though that 24 has never been popular in India, considering that it is one of the most tightly directed, action-packed television shows of the last 10 years. Each season is made up of 24, one-hour episodes that chronicle events occurring over the course of one particular day, each episode actually detailing only what happens in those 60 minutes (e.g. 8.00AM-9.00AM).

24 revolves around Jack Bauer, a counter-terrorist agent with nerves of steel, who over the last 7 seasons has always managed to avert major terrorist attacks against the United States, within the time-frame of a day, working with or against the Government, usually with his team, but often alone. He is a modern-day, angst-ridden, "Batman”, who eventually wins against all odds, but unlike Superman, has to rely only on his human abilities to deal with the usual cast of villains that includes terrorists, American super-patriots, the Russian mafia and Mexican drug-dealers.

Despite knowing that he will eventually win, each season has continued to be gripping. My wife and I usually start each season, watching one episode on DVD, every 2-3 days, until by the 10th or 11th episode, the excitement becomes so palpable that we just clear off an entire weekend and then finish-off the balance 12-14 episodes back-to-back, ending up unwashed, bleary-eyed and jelly-brained.

Season 8 promises to be even more interesting with the return of Renee Walker, played by Ms. Annie Wersching, who was fired as an FBI agent at the end of Season 7, but has now turned up as an emotionally drained ex-agent, living completely on the edge, along with the presence of Ms. Katie Sackhoff, who in the past has played Kara Thrace, one of Battlestar Galactica’s most popular characters, BSG arguably being the best sci-fi show ever on television.

I have been lucky that I could catch these 5 episodes while traveling recently. Unfortunately, in India, we have to usually wait for a year or perhaps even more to be able to see shows like 24, Lost or Heroes, on Star World, AXN or Zee English, assuming that they are aired at all, in the first place. My appeal to the English-language Indian channels would be to at least run the current season of 24 right away. Given that President Hassan is a pivotal character with enough episode time, I am sure that Mr. Kapoor’s presence will generate enough viewer interest in India. Is anyone listening?

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Posted by bhavinj at February 5, 2010 07:02 PM

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