Jul 18, 2005 03:48 PM
7626 Views
(Updated Jul 18, 2005 04:48 PM)
Imagine................
If you have to run and cross a stream by jumping on stones placed haphazardly. And here’s the catch : Some of the stones are dummy stones.The moment you step on them, they float away. Hear that splash ? Yes ! That’s you falling in the water face down. As you swallow some pond water, there are winners running to the winning post. You’re out, buddy. And that round is called Slipping Stone.
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Wet paint :You are given a giant brush, dipped into black paint. You have to run up the wall, reach the top, paint a certain shape on an inclined wall, come running down. Easy, huh ? Just you wait till you hear this. The wall is slippery as an eel’s back. So start ! Ulp ! You ran up and before you could paint a single stroke, you are sliding downwards, a blurred bundle of arms and legs, the brush flying in the air. Try again, mate.
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Surfer :Now stand on the edge of a surf board that’s rotating on an axis like a clock’s hands. And watch out ! Here come the obstacles – in the form of a ledge, a whale, a duck. Jump over them and try to rebalance over the surfboard that does NOT stop rotating while you were doing those jumping antics. Could not maintain your balance ? A beautiful somersault, hands flying in the air, a big splash ! Out …again !
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Show of hands :You are bundled in a tight fitting body suit that is shaped like a giant glove and made to stand in front of tiles with numbers engraved on them placed randomly on the ground. You have company. There are many others attired in similar contraptions. Someone speaks out a number and you allrun, helter skelter, as fast as you can and fall face first on top of the tile that has that particular number. Now you can’t get up since you are pinned into the glove. So wait for huge, beefy men in black to come and roughly pull you up your feet. Someone made it before you ? Out again. You will be shoved roughly away by the men in black. Are you the winner, by some fat chance ? The men in black pump your hand !
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That’s Takeshi’s castle for you.
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It was a rainy afternoon when I switched on TV (with nothing better to do), started changing channels idly, trying to dodge the saas-bahu sagas, stopping at the movie channels for a while, then moving on. And then I hit gold !
I sat up and watched, my excitement growing with every round, cheering, laughing till tears came in my eyes, enjoying every moment of that brilliant game show at POGO TV.
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About the show :
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Takeshi’s castle, a Japanese game show, is about a count called Takeshi Kitano who owns a huge castle which is being infiltrated by 100 people (the contestants). He throws these ingenious, crazy challenges at them which not many survive – and then we have just about a handful of them who actually storm the castle riding on some strange looking cars (at least that’s what they looked like to me) and they are further attacked by laser guns by the guards of the castle. There is a running commentary going on in the background by Javed Jafferi (which is probably dubbed) and he is his usual wicked, funny and whacky self.
All the challenges are interesting to watch and some are downright hilarious. Watching the contestants plodding their way through clumsily will have you laughing constantly. All the contestants are Japanese and you can make out that they are having a blast while playing those games. You can bet that you’ll have a blast too – just watching them !
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Whether you watch it alone or with your family / friends, Takeshi’s castle is entertainment plus.
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Timings : Mon - Fri 7.30 PM + Reruns almost all the time ! (I watched it at 5 PM on Thursday and 6 PM on Sunday)
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