Mika + Himesh = Music Ka Maha Muqqabla

MkMM is threatening to become a full fledged entertainer after a somewhat slow start.

How is this happening? Primarily a few judges have aligned with the camp of the show, but more on that in a little bit.

The outpouring of nutty behavior from a few has been infectious. Almost everyone regularly has WTF moments and the show hums along nicely. Because it appears that everyone might have smoked a doobie before appearing on TV, I hereby will call this show Zoobie Doobie Taram Pum.

A few weeks ago, stung by his defeat in one of the frivolous contests that propel this show, Shaan came out in full Zoobie Doobie mode. Wearing a sleeveless white shirt and prancing about on stage with the energy of a dancer, he flexed his muscles. No, literally. Several times. Thus indicating that he sings with his biceps. Powered by this jordaar display, Shaan won the contest and has happily retained his table thumping enthusiasm since.

Himesh, we all know, is a reality show man for the ages. He has been in fine form - primarily because he senses Shreya Ghoshal's constant irritation at him. Not one episode goes by when the camera will not catch Shreya issuing a subtle eye roll at Himesh's antics. Once we saw Shreya holding her head during one of Himesh's terrific bhaashans.

Thus needled (it's NEVER Himesh's fault), Himesh has become a philosopher judge. "What should I judge" he asks constantly. "Performance? Singing? His singing? Your singing? Why? What? Whyfor?" So scared is he of being judged himself that he feels the need to explain, clarify and ask for permission before handing out scores. Often he'll also say "ROJI ROTI BARKAT!!" and make a tiny puri with his shaking fingers.

But the judge who has really ramped up the fun on MkMM has been Mika. A week or so ago, pitted against Mohit Chauhan (who we all thought would be a pushover), Mika decided to sing a song and serenade Priyanka Chopra who was wearing a short, smart bob and an even shorter and smarter skirt. Admirably Priyanka kept her modesty intact but Mika, inexplicably caught in the moment, starting sobbing like a baby. He couldn't finish the song, swore loudly, then apologized and slunk back to his seat - using his scarf to wipe his tears.

This moment of loopy vulnerability touched me. Later Mika emerged in the final medley portion of the competition to do his famous helicopter move - where he spins around and appears to be trying to torque his head off his shoulders.

Brilliantly enough this week both Mika and Himesh entered the fray as competitors. And predictably it resulted in MkMM's greatest episode yet.

This competition was close: Himesh's first entry - Vineet faltered badly. Toshi appeared for Mika's team and opened up a three point lead. Himesh's smile disappeared. Gloom and doom settled into The House of Reshammiya. But you can't keep a fierce competitor down and so Himesh threw little Aishwarya in the maidan in the second round. Aishwarya delivered a superlative performance - forcing Himesh to maro thumkas in the background and issue a number of sideways claps (first pioneered by Bappida for an entirely different reason: physical limitations).

The lead exchanged hands. Finally we all got to the home stretch where everyone from a team shows up on stage and sings a medley. Himesh ran out on stage and issued a bhaashan with fervor. He said a number of things that sounded passionate and important. I didn't understand any of it. Then he scampered off and returned in his long mothballed topi to sing one of his famous hits-in-a-row medleys. He sent the crowd in a frenzy - revealing that there are more rickshawallahs in Mumbai then one might be inclined to believe.

Galvanized by this dramebaazi Mika jumped up on stage and told the audience: "If you vote for me, I promise to sing Mauja Hi Mauja next time!" The competition had thus become a full fledged election with candidate promises. With this fell swoop, Mika elevated MkMM to TV greatness. He then delivered a mix of Punjabi songs so infectious that I sloshed my chai around everywhere.

Mika won the muqqabla and Himesh then delivered the first loser's speech I've seen on the show. It didn't matter - MkMM delivered entertainment in spades thanks to these two great reality competitors.

The rest of the judges - Mohit, Shreya and Shankar - try to keep up will you?