KA Articles Archive - Page 4

Natassha's favourite Kompanian
By: Tushar Joshi
October 12, 2005

Two is company: Natassha and her pug Kompany When Natassha comes home after a hectic shoot, there's always someone waiting at her door to be hugged and kissed. The actress has an eight-month-old pug, named Kompany, who has become her best friend. Always wanted a dog For a long time, I was thinking of getting myself a dog. I had a Labrador before, but couldn't devote much time to him. Eight months back, I got Kompany from a friend of mine. He was so tiny and cuddly, I just fell in love. In Kompany's company I came up with the name because I knew he would give me company wherever I went. I love spending time with him, though I hardly get any due to my schedules. Ekta (Kapoor) suggested I name him with a K, so he's become Kompany. He's mine: The actress loves her new found best friend. Pics: Pradeep Dhivar Loves to chew I bought him toys in the shape of balls that he loves to chew on for hours. He isn't too fussy about his food, and loves to chew sticks. Since we are vegetarians, I avoid giving him meat. Royal treatment Kompany has a special trainer who comes home thrice a week to give him exercise and take him for walks. I like to pamper him whenever possible. Everyday, I wake up half an hour early and spend time with him. Once I banged the door on his face and went to the shower — he cried loudly for 20 minutes. I felt really bad, and since then, I try to take time out for him.

Tusshar blasts Miilee: anti-Ekta outburst
By: Upala KBR
October 12, 2005
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Outraged:
Tusshar Kapoor

Tusshar Kapoor is on the rampage today — and anybody who dares to cross his path will have to bear the brunt of his wrath.

He can't bear anyone taking pot shots at big sis Ekta. When Mona Vasu criticised Ekta and Balaji soaps — she said Kkavyanjali had low ratings — he couldn't take it.

Basking in envy

"I read somewhere that this chick was criticising Balaji soaps and Ekta, and saying she didn't want to act in them. Mona Wasu also said that the TRPs of Kavyanjali were very low. If you don't want to work with Balaji or Ekta, you don't have to, but does she know what she is talking about when she talks of TRPs? I am not boasting, but Kavyanjali's ratings are almost double what they were when it started out.

By talking such rubbish, these people only show how much they are in awe of Ekta and envious of her serials. Even Ekta realises that such talk is actually a backhanded compliment," he says.

Ban moral policing

Tusshar is also upset about the fact that a case had been filed against Ekta for throwing a dare-to-bare party. "It's a fun concept and no one forced anybody to come dressed bare. Everybody knows that Balaji parties are cool and fun — it's the clan concept and they are comfortable and familiar with such parties. The people who bitch about such things should first get their moral act together and form their own moral culture! It's the wannabes who make such comments," adds a disgusted Tusshar.

Production vow

He regrets that he wasn't by Ekta's side when the publicity of Balaji Telefilms next release Koi Aap Sa, was being done. "I was involved in the pre-release of Kya Kool Hai Hum more than a month before, but this time,
because I was shooting in Goa, I couldn't do anything at all. But I intend to be very involved in production matters for coming films."

Show time, folks

He adds that after K2H2, he's trying to be "more choosy and doing less work." Tusshar is doing Balaji's next, with Satish Kaushik, which will start in December this year; Subhash Ghai's next with Emraan Hashmi, directed by Ashwini Choudhury; and Rohit Shetty's Golmaal, besides the K2H2 sequel. Right now, he's preparing for the UK-USA show, which will start in October end. "Then I will come back and go for shows all over India with Akshay Kumar."

TV stars stay away from dandiya
By: Vickey Lalwani
October 7, 2005
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A red carpet welcome and good money, so why wouldn't our telly actors want to be a part of it? Last year, many TV actors made trips to cities within India and outside. Surat, Ahmedabad, Pune, Delhi, Nagpur and Kolkata have had Indian television actors swaying to dandiya beats. This time, the scene looks different.

Hiten Tejwani and wife Gauri Pradhan
Will not sway to dandiya beats this season. The couple has been going to the US and London around this time. This year, they are feeling a bit saturated about the naach-gaana. "Bahut ho gaya. Mere khyal se log hame dekhkar pak gaye honge. This time, we refused the offers," says Hiten.

Narayani Shastri
Loves Navratri, but didn't accept invitations. Blame it on Piya Ka Ghar. "My shooting schedules are tougher this time. So I cannot break away and travel abroad," she says. Why not in Mumbai? "Mumbai se offers aane kaafi kam ho gaye hain. Shaayad 10 pm deadline ka asar hai."

Natassha
She is focussed on her forthcoming film, Koi Aap Sa, which releases next Friday. "Actually, I am very nervous. Whatever few dandiya appearances I will make, will be for the promotion of Koi Aap Sa. The rest of the time gets divided in other promotional activities of Koi Aap Sa and the shooting of Kavyanjali."

Kushal Punjabi
The actor is in bed, suffering from viral fevel. "I was supposed to go to Bangalore, but my doctor has advised bed rest. Anyway, that visit would have been for just a day or two. Dandiya is not very hot, this year."

Kamya Punjabi
Is indisposed. "I am going to be shooting for Reth. Besides, Navratri this year is not very happening. The 10 pm deadline has affected things."

Sakshi Tanwar
Has decided to stay low-key. "The 10 pm deadline has dampened the spirit. Plus this year, the shooting of Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii is proceeding cut-to-cut. So there is hardly any time."

vickey.lalwani@mid-day.com

Odd ones out

Aamna Shariff
"I will be going to Surat, Kolhapur and Jaipur. I have informed Balaji and Ekta (Kapoor) is cool about it, as long as I complete my shooting schedules on time. I will have to shuttle between Mumbai and the city where I am going for dandiya."

Deepshikha
She's headed for Surat and Chittor. "I am certainly looking forward to it. It's going to be fun, especially because it will be a stress-reliever, away from hectic Mumbai and gruelling shooting schedules."

Is it the fat pay packet that drives them? While Aamna laughed and said "Oh yeah!" Deepshikha was forthcoming, "Abhi nahin kamaoongi to kabhi kamaoongi?" she shot back.

Amrita does a Heidi Fleiss
By: Upala KBR
September 26, 2005
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Amrita Singh on the sets of Mohit Suri's Kalyug
Amrita Singh will return on the big screen with Vishesh Films' Kalyug, directed by Mohit Suri. The film also stars Kunal Khemu, Emraan Hashmi, Deepal Shaw and Smiley.

Says Mohit, "Yes, Amrita is one of the central characters in Kalyug. "She plays a tough, rich businesswoman. It's a negative role and the surprise element in the film."

The film is based around cartels running international po*nography businesses and how they trap women. Says Mohit, "The film is hard-hitting and over-the-top in a big way."

He has researched his project, and watched a documentary on American po*n and a "Star News programme on how an entire po*n racket was run from Delhi's Palika Bazaar.

"When you watch the American documentary you realise that these po*n businesses are run by simple, ordinary women." Though he doesn't want to divulge the details, he says Amrita plays "such a character and is the twist in the film."

Kunal Khemu is the man who swears to expose the racket while Deepal is a po*n star caught in the sex racket. He adds, "Kalyug also shows the culture in Amsterdam – the peep shows, transvestites – everything, and how Indian women are trapped in the po*n racket from here and go to Amsterdam."

Not a blue film

The title of the film was changed from Blue Film to Kalyug. "Yes," Mohit confirms.

"The film is about a world where people are bought and sold. We had an economic pressure from the satellite channels, which didn't want the name Blue Film as they cater to family audiences and they thought the name would give the wrong impression. Secondly, people were beginning to think it's a sex flick, which it is not," smiles the director who has directed Zeher.

On working with Amrita, he says, "She is great to work with. I thought as she is from the old school of actors, it would be difficult to work with her but we hit it off right from the beginning."

Aggro role


Says Amrita Singh, "It's an interesting role, a great character and something that I have never seen in cinema or played before. It's a very grey film and I play a very grey character. I have played the goody-goody mother, bhabhi or sister.

Playing such a negative character is extremely challenging. Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about the body language as the character is so grey; physically, I was a bit uncomfortable, but it's fine now."

Bhatt's, naturally

The actress has been choosy about her films. After Shaheed, she signed up for Balaji's TV soap, Kavyanjali. "I have gone over 15 (film) scripts in the last six months. I couldn't do them either because of time constraints or because they didn't satisfy me. I chose to do Kalyug because for me, it's like working in home territory. They (the Bhatts) make quick, topical films. Their genre of cinema is different."

On working with Mahesh Bhatt again she says, "We have done Naam, Kabza and Thikana together. It's great working with them." Amrita has turned negative in Kavyajanjai too. "Yes and it gets worse," she laughs. I have no complaints about the serial. I have heard it's doing very well and that's what's important for me. The serial fits into my mould on all counts."

Illusions of equality
By: Shaheen Parkar
September 21, 2005
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The annual general meeting of a building society provides enough fodder for a playwright to chew upon.

As the members grin and growl (more of the latter) at each other's shortcomings and non-payment of dues (again more of the latter), by the end of their must-attend Sunday morning pow-wow, there is a script ready to be staged.



Vikram Kapadia in Black With 'Equal'
Why does the water from the plants of the sixth floor member's terrace find its ways to the fifth floor member's Persian rug? Why does the third-floor member have guests (read: PYTs) only post-midnight? And why does the first floor member always park his car in the area not demarcated for him?

Building woes and society squabbles are commonplace in metros. But when they acquire a communal tinge, it could lead to destruction and doom.

Writer-director Vikram Kapadia's Black With 'Equal' which opened at the Prithvi Festival three years ago takes a look at one such AGM. There are shows of it at Prithvi Theatre this weekend.

Black With 'Equal' (that's the choice of cuppa for one of the society members at the meeting) is a satire about a routine meet that takes an ugly turn leading to total anarchy.

The typical pesky neighbours converge to solve their problems but instead end up creating a law and order problem. Besides the customary Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian in the society, there is also a politician with 'connections' and a massage therapist whose 'connections' members are trying to figure out.

Kapadia takes on the daily living squabbles to a new dimension when the members start squabbling over each other's religious identities leading to a bloody battlefield.

Does unity in diversity exist? Or does unity necessarily mean uniformity? The writer-director without being too preachy puts the point across while taking humorous potshots of the assorted members.

The cast includes Kapadia, Meenal Patel, Paresh Ganatra, Lovleen Mishra, Dinyar Trindaz, Sandiip Sikcand, Satyajit Sharma, Shreyas Pandit, Nisha Sareen, Uday Chandra and Chirodeep Mitra.

Black With 'Equal' is highly recommended. If you have seen the drama when it opened, revisit it. Though Kapadia also does television (Kkavyanjali and K Street Pali Hill) his love for theatre remains intact and not something to piggyride on his small screen persona. His theatre troupe Masque plans to stage a musical next.

Yes, he has begun translating his early thoughts — in all the spare time during the shoot at the Balaji studios he is at his laptop keying in his scenes!

IPTA'S inter-college drama contest

This contest has, over the years, served as a platform to nurture tomorrow's theatre talent.

The finals of the Indian People's Theatre Association's (IPTA) 34th Inter-College Drama Contest (ICDC) will be held at the Tejpal hall, Gowalia Tank, on September 22. IPTA, Mumbai along with Mysore Association has organised this competition for colleges affiliated to Mumbai varsity.

The eliminations for the one-act plays in Urdu, Hindi and Hindustani were held last week.

The finalists include Ruparel College (Adwait Dadarkar's Paisa Vasool), Podar College (Prashant Kumar's Sugandhi), Khalsa College (Sunil Harishchandra's Manmaya), Sathaye Collge (Ram S's Bhoomika), Mithibai Collge (Yogesh Pagare's Shubh Deepavali) and Jaihind College (Girish Dhoke's Juloos).

IPTA held its first ICDC in 1972 and was initiated by the late Urdu writer-poet Kaifi Azmi with director Ramesh Talwar making it a reality along with IPTA members.

Familiar names like Deven Bhojani, Harish Patel, J D Majethia, Sharman Joshi, Jayesh Thakkar, Manish Wadhwa all began at the ICDC while directors who have participated include Vipul Shah, Mahendra Joshi, Latesh Shah and Chandraprakash Dwiwedi among others.

Interestingly, Dwiwedi once remarked that ICDC was an acid test. "If you could achieve something here, you could certainly achieve something in the world of performing arts." And if you reflect on the beginnings of several telly, Bollywood and stage actors, it would be no surprise to find that their first brush with acting or direction began here.

What do the ICDC winners bag? There are trophies (in memory of Prithviraj Kapoor, Manmohan Krishna, Balraj Sahni) certificates and cash prizes in various categories that find mention decades later in where it all began sagas of the stars — both small and big.

Ejaz Khan
tvgyan

If you've been admiring Kkavya's perfectly matched purple suit and tie in Kkavyanjali, credit goes to the actor who has stepped in the character's shoe. Creator Ekta Kapoor and Ejaz Khan decided early on that he knew best how a young scion would dress.

"I have a lot of clothes!" he says, admitting that there are at least seven changes in his car. Ejaz also lives next door to his sets in Andheri so he can zip across if his outfit doesn't curry favour. The actor goes for his sprees to Hill Road boutiques, often alone and is out in a jiffy. Vanity one of his strong points? "I guess!" he laughs.
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Kamini to turn tables on Nitya
By: A hitList Correspondent
June 4, 2005
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DEADLY DADI:
Surekha Sikhri
The next week of Kkavyanjali (Star Plus) is all set to make life difficult for Nitya (Amrita Singh). With the entry of Surekha Sikhri, who plays Kamini — the paralytic dadi — the coming week will focus on the gradual fall of Nitya.

The creative head for the show said, "In the coming week, Anjali (Natassha) will take on the garb of a revenge-seeker and make sure Nitya pays her dues. It will also be revealed that Nitya was directly responsible for Mayank (Ronit Roy) and Pallavi's (Nivedita Bhattacharya) accident."

Nitya exposed

When Anjali finds out that Kamini is Kavya's (Eijaz Khan) grandmother, she decides to get to the core of the issue and expose Nitya.

"For so long Nitya had been scaring Kavya and harassing him, but now Anjali does the same." With Kamini's help, Anjali will start sending Nitya SMSes about her past and the Mayank-Pallavi accident.

"Since Kamini is paralysed, she cannot talk or move. But she guides Anjali to clues that throw light on what happened in the past. With the use of videotapes, she conjures up images of Mayank being

Eijaz Khan and Karishma Tanna
Passion surfaced between Arjun and Krutika during the making of Kkoi Dil Mein Hai. They had a good time with each other, but it was too good last. Tanna was reportedly heartbroken when she found out Eijaz was two-timing her with his long-time girlfriend

Sasha, Kumud to enter Kkavyanjali
By: Tushar Joshi
July 2, 2005
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MEXICAN WAVE: Chetan Hansraj says he has tried to incorporate a Mexican look in his Kkyavyanjali role, "by keeping a goatee and moustache". We think a sombrero would help too. Wot say, Chetan? Imaging: Dilip Modak
Next weeks Kkavyanjali (Star Plus) will welcome two strangers to the Nanda household.

Making an entry on the show in cameo roles are Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii's Sasha (Chetan Hansraj) and Kkusum's Kumud (Aashka Goradia).
Hansraj and Goradia will appear in the role of an unmarried couple who have some issues to resolve.

Hansraj will play a character whose screen name will for the first time match his real name as well.

Says Hansraj, "I play the role of a business tycoon called Chetan Hansraj, who is Yug's (Hiten Tejwani) friend. He's not one of those sentimental type guys, and likes to keep things practical. I have tried to incorporate a very Mexican look for this character by keeping a goatee and moustache."

Apart from Kkavyanjali, Hansraj is also set to make an apperance in Sony's Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai as Josh — a rockstar who comes down from UK. "I am very excited about that role as well and am working on deciding what look to give him. Though it's not easy adjusting three different look for three different shows."

Aashka Goradia, who plays Kumud on Kkusum will be seen as Kiran in Kkavyanjali. Goradia says, "Kiran is madly in love with Chetan. She is pregnant with his kid and wants to keep it, but Chetan doesn't want to get married and settle down.

He's more of a freebird. I am Anjali's (Natassha) friend and confide in her what I am going through, though it kind of creates more confusion in the family and adds to her woes. My look on the show is very rich and I am wearing these really fancy sarees. As of now this is just a cameo role, but I don't know about the future track."

As per the track it will be shown that Yug and Anjali decide to help Chetan and Kiran out. But their involvement in this affair causes more trouble.

Nitya (Amrita Singh) overhears Yug and Anjali discuss about the baby and thinks that they are seeing each other. She promptly tells this news to Kkavya (Eijaz Khan) who is jealous of Yug and dislikes Anjali meeting him.
Kiran and Chetan's entry is likely to happen early next week

Rakshak back in Ekta's good books
By: Vickey Lalwani
September 26, 2005

Rakshak Sawhney
Remember Ekta Kapoor's reaction to Rakshak Sawhney's (whom she replaced in Kkavyanjali with Eijaz Khan) statement that she refused to give him time off from a hectic shooting schedule and his comment on the show's ratings?

"I will never cast Rakshak in a Balaji serial again. I treated him like a younger brother. I told the unit that whether he was good or bad, they should look after him on the sets.

Everybody in my unit was up in arms against him and wanted him replaced, but I stuck up for him," Kapoor told hitlist (reported on March 7). And it was almost certain that the role she offered him in Kasautii Zindagi Kay (Prem Basu, Cezanne Khan's son) was flushed down the drain.

But now, Kapoor seems to have had a change of heart towards Rakshak. The actor has been asked to do Prem Basu's role. According to Nivedita Basu, "Sawhney will make an entry after two weeks.

Ekta has told me to cast him. In fact, his role will now be much more important than when it was conceived some months ago. Sawhney is a changed guy. He has taken lessons in acting and even has a new look. He has literally groomed himself. He has discussed his role with the writers," she adds.

And what about the war of words which he had with Ekta? "Oh, that's sorted out," says Basu. "I may have to take a bit of his class or say, a test, before he starts shooting."

When contacted, Sawhney confirmed he would soon make an appearance in Kasautii, but refused to divulge how the truce materialized. "Allow me to bypass that question," he said.