Ten girls — out of which only seven are left now - vie for the attention of five boys and their moms in this desi version of the Italian show, The Perfect Bride. The search is for a perfect bride (if she exists) and the contestants are leaving no ada unturned to woo the boys. But while the young men have already set their ‘focus’ -that’s what they call it when they zero in on a girl - their mothers keep shifting that focus as they dismiss their boys’ choice as “Woh abhi baccha hai, usse kya maloom hamare ghar ke liye kaun theek rahega.”

Each week as per the viewers’ choice, ‘the mummy of the week’ is selected who takes care of the ‘Mummy mahal’ where the girls too are housed. She delegates duties and gets work done (including getting dirty toilets cleaned by the girls) and also sets up tasks like asking each girl to make a recipe of their choice and then getting them rated by the boys, or like a few days ago when the girls were asked to play different characters like Nandini of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Babli of Bunty Aur Babli a nd Geet of Jab We Met and then each of them performed before the boys and their moms then decided the winner. The winners get to go on a date of the boy of their choice. Similarly, the guys have to perform a weekly task and the winner gets a chance to meet a girl of his choice. The tasks include physical activities like rock-climbing, overcoming hurdles, making jewellery boxes etc… At the end of the week, the mummy of the week eliminates one girl who she thinks is not ‘suitable’ for her boy.

It’s an interesting show especially for those who like to watch boy-meets-girl-and-then-what-happens-stories. It’s like watching an arranged match being set up on television. Like it did in case of this guy Rajbir and a girl called Priyanka who was twice voted as the bride of the week by viewers. Rajbir had even won two tasks consecutively to go on a date with Priyanka. Unfortunately, last week, his father turned up as a ‘surprise’ guest and advised him to look at the other girls too! Result: Their few-days-old romance went kaput. You also see the prejudices and biases coming up as a result of social conditioning. Like a girl is not favoured only because she gets up late (a prospective daughter-in-law can’t be sleeping till so late reasons one mum) or throws a tantrum for food (kitna bachpana hai) or has refused to give up non-vegetarian food or is too young or even dark and hence not suitable for the boy…Luckily, during the elimination episode, the three mentors - Shekhar Suman, Malaika Arora Khan and Amrita Rao - do not take these things lying down and try to drill some sense into the mummies. While Suman and Khan bring in their experience, Rao is earnest in her debut role on TV as she rolls her eyes and takes up for the girls at the slightest pretext. The reasons given for eliminating a girl have so far not been satisfactory enough but at the same time, someone has to go and so the mothers would rather show the doors to those girls who are out of focus of their sons. Interestingly, even as you read this, Priyanka who has got the power to eliminate one boy and his mom, would have exercised her right.

What we like about the show is the grit and spunk of the 10 girls. Almost everyone has a mind of her own and do not believe in compromising on their beliefs, likes and dislikes. Though most are from small towns, they come across as confident, strong go-getters. We particularly like Nandita, a doctor who is forthright and always speaks her mind. The mummies too are a nice mix of the traditional and the modern/progressive. Like Vivek’s mother, who doesn’t mind Nandita going abroad for further studies after marriage or Hitesh’s mother, who comes across as a happy-go-lucky and moving-with-the-times lady, though it remains to be seen if all that is just for the camera.

What we do not like is the limited choice of boys as also the limited opportunities for interaction between the contestants and the boys. But we guess these constraints only mean more room for drama and conflict of interests. Also, we really wonder if some of the contestants (both boys and girls) are serious about this enterprise because why would anyone want to restrict his or her choice to just five guys or 10 girls because the field is larger outside?
Verdict:
Watch it just as another time-pass reality show...