Twinkle out of sync

She plays the lead role of Lakshmi on Zee's Ghar ki Lakshmi: Betiyann. Earlier, Twinkle Bajpai was seen on Challenge 2005 as one of the finalists.

Recently, the channel invited her for a special episode of Antakshari with other leading actresses like Bani (Prachi Desai) of Kasamh Se, Saloni (Rajshri Thakur) of Saat Phere and Vidya (Divyanka) of Dulhann.

It is learnt that Twinkle turned down the offer as she didn't want to share the stage with her one-time rival, Himani, who is hosting the show.

A source from the channel reveals, "Twinkle developed cold feet when she realised Himani was hosting the episode. Initially, she seemed to be excited with the idea of competing against other actresses, but she later backed out."

Apparently, Twinkle was unhappy with the fact that she wasn't hosting the show. "During Challenge, both Himani and Twinkle were competitors and didn't get along well. The fact that Twinkle had to share the stage with her didn't go down too well with Twinkle."

Lost interest

Now an in-house production, Antakshari was initially produced by Gajendra Singh who has now moved on to Star One. It is reported that Twinkle had even approached Singh to show her interest in hosting the show.

We spoke to Bajpai who was in Jodhpur, "Yes I wanted to host Antakshari. I wouldn't deny it. But I lost interest after Gajendra Singh left the show. I would have loved to work with him."

When asked about her refusal to be a part of the special episode, she says, "I am shooting for Betiyann day in and out. There was no way I could devote time for the shoot. In fact, the channel too supported me in this decision."

When asked if she gets any free time, she says, "I hardly manage to get any time on my own. Work keeps me busy all the while. But I do manage to chill out whenever possible."

http://www.mid-day.com/hitlist/2007/january/149570.htm