Day 8 – Overrated

I was reading through the comments on the idiot box post I had written a few days ago, and it struck me how some shows are so grossly overrated, of course, in my personal opinion. And that got me thinking about all things that overrated – TV shows, movies, even food items. And then that got me thinking about how I could actually make a post out of it, because why not?

Since I started with TV shows, I think it is only fair to start with them. I watch a lot of shows, a lot of them. I mean, I think I am almost addicted to TV shows, which is interesting because we were so particular to not let that happen when we were kids. And I am forever on the lookout for new shows to watch. And most of the shows I have tried, I have enjoyed – especially if they are highly rated. Barring a few – two to be exact.

One is, and I’d want you to hold your breath for this, Game of Thrones. Ok. Please don’t over react and close the page, because I might actually explain myself here, but the issue is that I have absolutely no reason for this.It’s just that The Dude and I watched 3 episodes in season 1 (with great difficulty I have to add) and then gave up. We tried again, this time reaching 5 episodes, but couldn’t carry on. Then my sister said I had to wait for the  season to get over and for half of the cast to die to love the show. But I did not have any enthusiasm to give it a shot.The other was True Detectives. I thought no show could be too bad if it had Matthew McConaughey in it, but oh boy, was I wrong. I lasted exactly 2 episodes before I got all nostalgic about Krishi Darshan on Doordarshan.

In terms of movies, and I am talking Bollywood here (considering my love for all the cheesy, unrealistic things they churn out), I never got myself to like or understand Hum Aapke hain kaun. One of the biggest hits that year, I remember that I had zero excitement about watching it, and so I didn’t. Also, despite the rave reviews, I found the music exceedingly meh, and still do. And this is big coming from the one who watches Maine Pyar Kiya and listens to it’s music even today.

In terms of food, I think the most overrated dish I have come across has to be Haleem. I am a converted non vegetarian, and sometimes I feel that to make up for that, I am open to trying all sorts of meat. And I love most of it. But somehow, Haleem never made the cut for me. People in this city, wait for Ramzan to be able to gorge on all the Haleem they can, but I look at it as an immense waste of calories.I’d rather have my Tandoori chicken and be happier.

On the same note, I have to say that I am a true-blue Hyderabadi who loves her mutton biryani. Which is why I also need to say that while Hyderabadi biryani is by far the awesome-st; Paradise is extremely hyped. I understand that it’s grown from nothing and was probably the best at a point of time, but there are way too many places in our city that give you better biryani. Bawarchi is one. And so is ShahGhouse (which I feel is AMAZING, yes, capital letter deserving amazing). But Paradise is visited only when we have firang visitors particular about where they sit and eat.

Now I am sitting and thinking of other things that I find overrated, and turns out, as expected my life and opinions are limited to food and entertainment only. Which is why I cannot for the life of me think of anything else I want to add to this list. And then I remembered books – and by that – The Alchemist, which I thought was so overrated I wanted to hang myself for having bought into the whole deal. But right when I was about to type that, I had a sense of dejavu, that have I said this before? Here, on the blog? So I searched and here we are, from 6 years ago. Where I announced how unimpressed I was with cheesecake. The same tone, the same sense of disbelief, the same vehement opposition to accepting something mediocre (in my opinion) as awesome. So I guess somethings just don’t change.

Except some things that do. Like my not-so-new found love for cheese cake.