Last year, the reality dance show, Nach Baliye, in its inaugural edition made for big-time viewing, with its Rs 50 lakh prize, publicity blitzkrieg, et al. Real life 'A list' (read, of successful soaps) television couples twirled, pranced and pirouetted, garnering additional votes from public text messages that propelled them from debut to semi-final to final, knocking out competitors along the way. This time, the sequel itself received a few knocks in Round One by Sony's better mounted Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, inspired by its more famous sibling, Dancing With The Stars. It not only timed itself just before NB2 but flaunted a minor celeb gang doing their 'jiggle' and jig instead of lesser known soap stars. And despite the vulgar canvassing of votes (in both shows), wild card entries and overlong grand finales, the regular saas-bahu duels took a bit of a TRP beating for those few weeks.

Some honest reflections on Jhalak...'s participants: Akashdeep Saigal, the sore loser, who ranted endlessly at the judicial trio of (ex-flame) Farah Khan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Shilpa Shetty, whom he openly accused of not having a mind of her own! Really bad attitude.

Pooja Bedi, for all her apologies at being an indifferent dancer did not deserve to be ousted at her first attempt and it is a mystery how Sanjeev Kapoor, the chef who can cook but cannot caper, was allowed to cling agonisingly to the stage for so many rounds till he was finally yanked off. Of Rati Agnihotri, what can we say? Very brave. Sheer guts. The judges (and junta) all found Mahesh Manjrekar 'so entertaining' - though the director looked like he was on the brink of a coronary attack post each performance - that he has to be commended for his tenacity and spirit, especially 'at his age'.

And despite winner, Mona Singh's bravura gigs, instilled with a little bit of oomph, a little bit of innocence, a little bit of mischief, it was Shveta Salve's - the little known TV actress whom Bhansali compared to Madhuri Dixit - outstanding performances that came out tops from beginning to end. Also, she was 'technically' (Farah Khan's critical term) far superior than the combined gyrating skills of Yana, Celina and Amrita who did their tedious item numbers as fillers. Mona, as we are well aware, carried home the coveted trophy (and the dosh), more on the strength of her Jassi avatar and ebullient personality, than any fancy footwork.

The true sport of the show? Ajay Jadeja, who post his ouster, feelingly said he would have been truly embarrassed had he been retained in the presence of the more accomplished participants.