In the last few years, television viewing has gone down considerably as it has not been able to compete with the global content and also has been stuck with age-old soap operas and TRP-hungry reality shows. With OTT platforms on the rise and many people discovering great content on these platforms, television viewing is being seen as a time pass with people viewing them only for news, sports, etc.
With all this happening around and people moving out of television viewing, a show that has caught and consistently maintained the attention of everyone, right from small kids to paatis and thathas, is Cook With Comali. A lot of us have been following the show right from its first season in 2019, but the latest second season has had a far more reach and acceptance than the first, making the fans of the first season (and the show) genuinely happy for the show getting its due recognition. For those who aren’t aware of the show, it is a cooking show with a comical twist where cooks are paired with a Comali (joker) and will have to compete with other contestants who have a Comali of their own.
The USP of the show has always been the way entertainment being used in its real sense, a form that would connect to every age groups and be in a way that does not hurt anyone’s feelings consuming it. Of course, the people involved in the comedy have to take up the counters and insults that are being thrown at them, but never in the show’s entirety did it insult the audience watching them. The kind of understanding every cook and comali have on each other, the kind of effort that goes behind creating genuine content, really requires a group of dedicated yet open-minded individuals whose only aim is to entertain the audience, but still, maintain the dignity and the standard that the makers of the show have set.
The show has been the greatest pill for many people to come out of depression, and a lot of us have also come out of a very critical period of lockdown by watching the episodes on Hotstar multiple times. The show takes up a form of comedy that has no adult jokes (which has become increasingly but unbearably prevalent nowadays) but only situational comedies, which definitely makes the viewers feel comfortable and enjoyable.
The show has been consistently churning out brilliant episodes every week, a literal Rolling-on-floor-laughing at various junctures of the episodes, all credit to the people involved in the show, both in front and behind the scenes. It was the grand finale yesterday with Kani Thiru being deemed as the winner of Season 2, and for the fans, the finale episode felt like a series finale of a sitcom like FRIENDS, it was very emotional for us to see the season getting over with the snippets of the entire season shown as montages. But nevertheless, just like how we quickly circle back to the first episode, after the series finale, to start over, we have all the episodes streaming on Hotstar to revisit whenever we want, but just that there isn’t going to be a new episode going forward, and we aren’t going to get that excitement on a Saturday morning, waiting for the episode being uploaded on Hotstar.
The makers of Bigg Boss boast that their show would be a path-breaking one for its contestants but the show did not reap what it sowed, but Cook With Comali did not boast itself as the greatest show, yet proved by creating a path that very few reality shows have done in the past. This show proved that when there are genuine hard-working people who strive for genuine entertainment, they will be rewarded with the most towering success, as opposed to striving very hard for the TRP of the television, which is going to be temporary any day.
All the love and affection that each of the contestants have been getting shows the yearning they have had during their struggling media life, and they would always be indebted to the show and the fans of the show.
Every person on the show has a comic side and standout aspect as well. Kani Thiru, fondly called as Kara Kozhambu Kani, is a deserved title winner, has been consistent throughout the show with her cooking. Ashwin Kumar, Ashwineyyyyyy, has been a heartthrob, he has impressed everyone with his genuineness. We all wish we are even half as active as Baba Bhaskar Master at his age, his over-the-top energy is contagious. Deepa Akka makes us realize that people with innocence are the most genuine-hearted and the cutest. Pavithra, Ritu & Darsha have been the dolls of the show, great participants, and content generators.
Pugazh & Bala have been the true pillars of comedy for the show right from the show’s inception, their antics on the show have earned them fans all over the world, are being termed as the next-gen comedians. Sakthi, fondly called as Portuguese Pombala Police, has been a great participant in the show. Sarath, fondly called as Part-time Payithyakaaran or Sarvadesa Psycho, has been the punching bag for Pugazh & Bala, but has grown out of Motta Rajendran’s imitation shadow from the KPY show to create an identity for him. Sunita Gogoi has been a revelation to us all, is becoming a budding Tamil Pulavar and singer stringing with words of her own. We need to commend her constant effort to learn the language of the state that has given her a life. Madurai Muthu & Thangadurai have been great to keep themselves on the sidelines by letting go of the seniority term and striving hard for content along with the others. Manimegalai’s “Vali mame Valip, puli manga pulip” sequence has become a phenomenon these days, she has been the cutest as Chotta Bheem, has been a genuine entertainer by providing some of the best content after Pugazh and Bala. Shivangi, fondly called the Genuine Kozhadha, has been the Angel of the show, a sister/daughter of every household. Sivaangi has repeatedly reminded us that innocence brings out genuine and unbiased love for all, and will be loved by all. Rakshan, the host of the show, has been one of the most genuine people on the show, has always been a support to everyone on and off the show.
Last but not the least, the two judges and chefs Venkatesh Bhatt and Damodharan have been the reason this show has maintained its standard right from its first season. They have been exceptional in handling the cooking expertise but have been appreciated for being in line with all the antics happening on the show.
That said, the biggest life-changing experience has been that of Shakeela‘s. We all know the kind of background she has been associated with within the industry, but the perspective on a person changes only when we see the heart and true character of that person. That’s the power and, in fact, the purpose of any Reality Show. A reality show has to be in a way that shows the real heart of a person and CWC did what it was supposed to do in the form of changing the people’s perspective on Shakeela. I truly hope this also changed the perspective of the people within the film industry. This show has created life-changing paths for all the cooks and comalis, but this one of Shakeela’s is the biggest achievement of this show, and an equal credit has to be given to the other cooks and comalis for being accommodative and making her comfortable. Before this show, she would not have had the confidence to step out in public, but now she can step out with freedom, she is bound to get all the recognition that a celebrity is going to get. Truly happy for her!
I really wish, hope, and pray that each and every cook and comali attain greater heights in their respective careers. I do not remember a show that has connected with so many people in the world, and every success these people are going to attain is going to feel like our own. This deserving lot is going to inspire a lot more people to confidently take steps towards their passion, by giving them all hope and belief that talent and hard work will take you to places that you have only dreamt of.
Cook With Comali has been many things for many people, but for me, this has been a show that spreads Hope, Positivity, and Happiness around, which the World is in dire need of right now.
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