Hum chup rahenge
Sources claim that India Calling actors Vipul and Manasi are not on talking terms anymore
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| mazboot rishtaa? Vipul Gupta and Manasi Parekh in India Calling |
Tushar Joshi
tushar.joshi@mid-day.com
They may be playing a married couple on Shrishti Arya's India Calling, but off screen it seems they're caught up in a tangled web. According to unit members, the relation between lead actors Vipul Gupta and Manasi Parekh has soured to such an extent that they refuse to talk to each other on the sets.
No problemo
Things were quite different in the beginning, but off late, the actors seem to have developed issues with each other. "It's quite funny to see them like this all of a sudden, as they were the best of friends in the beginning. Things were not this bad during the start of the show, but only they know what has caused the situation to turn bad," says a source.
Vipul, who plays Aditya on the show, refuses to acknowledge having a problem with Manasi. "There is no such thing between Manasi and me. We are quite compatible when it comes to working with each other. Both of us are professionals and are here to do our work."
As for his off-screen friendship with Manasi having changed over time, the actor maintains, "There has been no such change in my working equation with her. It's still the same."
Incommunicado
Manasi, who recently got married, is believed to have stopped talking to Vipul on the sets. Reveals an actor, "Yes, they don't talk as much as they did before. That could also be because of the fact that they are shooting non-stop with each other. So when you keep looking at the same faces day in and out, you may not want to communicate beyond a point."
We tried to contact Manasi for her version, but she was unavailable for comment.
WORKING IN TV HELPS"
Manasi Parekh says she can now face any problems in real life
Mansi Parekh has changed a lot, indeed. From the nervous, media shy girl, who wouldn't venture a line beyond the query's brief, when we first met her during the launch of India Calling a few months ago, today she is loquaciousness personified. Gone is that nervous, naivet, as she answers more confidently with an occasional take on the working of the TV industry. Perhaps, she restrains herself a bit, only when she is canning the "coy and blushing bride to be scenes" for the day's shoot.
It's been quite a bull run for Mansi as Chandni, the protagonist of India Calling, which recently crossed the 150-episode mark on Star One. Starting with a lot of promise and an innovative backdrop, India Calling took the soap storyboard out of the predictable glam kitchen and bedroom set up to a more relatable and contemporary call center. It's another story that the serial today has lost that USP.
"India Calling started in a different way, with the story set in a milieu, the urban audience could relate to better. But the current backdrop isn't bad either. Our rural takeoff shows that it's cool to be Indian," says Mansi. Politically correct, it has to be, coming as it is from the soap's lead actress, but doesn't it now look like a 'me-too' show, it so wanted to contest at the time of the launch? Mansi agrees, but she sees no reason to complain either. "I don't know why this change has happened, but it was and still is Chandni's story." More so, with Chandni now getting married to her original bete-noire Aditya. However, she seems to be as comfortable in her simple salwars, (a character dictated sartorial misfit amongst the chic call center crowd) as the resplendent lehengacholi with all the attendant jewellery as she gets ready for her onscreen marriage.
"Chandni's story still is that of the triumph of the underdog, without going through any physical transformation," she says. The dig isn't unintentional. When India Calling was launched, insinuations abounded on her plain Jane lost in the chic call centre act, being another me-too of the Jassi effect.
"Five years ago we had Ekta Kapoor and Balaji.
Now is the time for another big change, which means getting beyond the stereotypes," says Mansi, as she seems to do her bit of crystal ball gazing for the TV industry, adding, "As regards my favourite TV soap, it's Ally Mcbeal which balances all aspects of life with humour." Mansi who had hopped onto the acting bandwagon (India Calling is her third serial but the first as lead) just after graduation, as part of a year-long break, reveals of having had only one holiday between work, since then. "TV actors working in a daily don't really have a life, but if you love what you do then work doesn't seem like work anymore," a predictable raga one would often hear from the busy TV stars of the daily genre. But she has a different take on her working schedule. "Working 14-16 hours a day, on a daily basis, has made me much more patient as a person. Earlier I used to be very restless and lost my temper quite often, but now I am used to the pace of the industry. Working in TV has prepared me to deal with any problem in life." She's also become quite a natural before the camera. Mansi even offers suggestions to the photographer, on the how and why of clicking a mutually satisfying photograph. "Life is not always about what you want, but what happens is for the better," she signs off.
We couldn't help but agree with her — as the change is there for all to see — and thankfully it's been for the better.
TV belles and wedding bells
(Posted on 11 August 2006)
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| I returned from the frostbitten frigidity of DD shows to the mind-numbing warmth of satellite channel soaps to discover the marriage season on in full swing this week. Even more surprising was the fact that the nuptials weren't being celebrated on the usual suspects (read weepy Balaji family dramas or Rajshri extravaganzas) but on shows one least expected them on. How the world changes. These were shows that started with a 'different' premise and held out the promise of staying different. It seems they have succumbed to the commercial lure of the 'grand wedding' phenomenon that seems to strike the average soap once every six months. Never mind if the last big such event on Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin left a very bad taste in the mouth when the wedding never materialised after reels of marriage preparations. This time, the ones that have bitten the marriage bait are India Calling, Ek Ladki Anjaani Si and even Jab Love Hua! Both India Calling and Ek Ladki.... have turned up the marketing hype on the grand weddings that will actually take place next week. Star One's India Calling had started out on a very different note, with its take on the call centre scenario in metropolises and the journey of a young girl through them.
Its degeneration (is transmutation a better politically correct term here?) into just another family drama has taken all the wind out of it, although the channel insists it's been better for the TRPs. Chandni, who was slated to marry Dilawar in an arranged match, will now marry her sweetheart Adi instead. Dilawar is even helping in the wedding preparations. In Ek Ladki..., long suffering Anu who got impregnated by accident, will marry the man of her dreams Nikhil instead of the good doctor who saved her life, nursed her back to health, and who fell in love with her in the process. The good doc in fact, in now instrumental in setting up the wedding, which unfolds on screen on Monday. In Zee's Jab Love Hua, the delightful capers of Raghu and Aanya get a twist with Aanya now poised to marry Rahul, the scion of a wealthy urban family. And yes - it's heartbroken Raghu who's helping with the preparations. So, just as the many Balaji soaps ape their siblings in plot and track, now we have disparate soaps with different themes all converging on one event, and handling it in more or less a similar fashion. Coincidence? | |
Pooja puts rumours to rest
Sapana Patil Poojary
The trouble began when theatre director Paritossh Painter decided to come up with a sequel for his play See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil. While most of the actors from the prequel including Ashiesh Roy, Jayesh Thakkar and Balwinder Singh Suri got into action preparing for the sequel, the actress brigade comprising Pooja Ghai Rawal and Nigaar Z Khan were completely left out. The play was premiered recently. When contacted for a comment, Paritossh said, "Pooja and Nigaar were both keen on doing the sequel. But the plot was different and so I couldn't repeat them. They are neither talking to me nor replying to my messages."
However, it was only Pooja Rawal who attended the premiere. Pooja said, "Paritossh had called me for the sequel. But I couldn't give my dates. I am doing a lot of commercials due to which I can't travel much. And I don't think I can never fight with Paritossh. He is a good human being and a professional. It was just that I was too tied up and couldn't reply to his messages. These are just rumours that we are not on talking terms."
While Nigaar says, "I would have loved to be a part of the sequel. But I have been busy with the shooting of India Calling. Anyway I didn't have the time to rehearse for the play. Therefore, I couldn't turn up for the show."
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Edited by kudi420 - 18 years ago
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