Semi takes on Simi on MTV

It's not often that you see a 6'3" tall woman strutting down the street, but don't besurprised if you happen to spot one at the MTV studios in central Mumbai -- dressed in an off white suit with a very odd shaped broach and wearing flip flops, the lady seems out of place in an otherwise informal environment! In all probability, the lady could turn out to be MTV's own Cyrus Sahukar sharing a smoke with the members of the channel's soon to be launched show, Rendezvous with Semi Girebaal. The show goes on air on 19 March, every Sunday at 9:30 pm (it's not a coincidence, we presume that the original is slotted at the same time on Star World). The show's a funny man's interpretation of the chat show hosted by the lady in white, Rendezvous with Simi Garewal. The ambience is the same, and so is the tone of the host, but Cyrus stresses that 'no harm was intended'. "We, at MTV don't do shows, they are all mistakes...there's no research...just old men and Parsis coming up with whacky ideas," laughs Cyrus. "See, there's no deep rooted meanness intended, and frankly, people now are more open to understanding humour! Anyway, I am very clearly stating that I have nothing to do at all with this spoof at all! I am just a guy dressed up as a woman! If you want I'll give you the numbers of those who did it!" says Cyrus. Being a woman perhaps comes easy for this maverick VJ. He's played a nanny, a housewife, Shania Twain, a nurse and a Kashmiri girl! "I am longing to be Cyrus again. I write my name again and again to remind myself that I'm Cyrus and not a woman!" points out the VJ, adding that his own mother watched Rendezvous...but doesn't watch his own shows. "Simi's show is often spoofed because it's a successful show! And quiet frankly, we are not spoofing the show, but we are talking about the lovely levels of hypocrisy that exist in society," says Cyrus. The show, although quite hilarious, takes on contemporary issues and seems to be a thinking man's show -- to go beyond the headlines! The episode that was being shot at the MTV studios on 10 March was an interesting one. The guests on the show were George Tush (who has a brother called Mulberry Bush) and Funmohan Singh. The trio spoke about war, bombs and nuclear weapons - and no one forgot to be sentimental about the issues! Semi... will last for 13 weeks...and what a laugh riot it promises to be!