Prachee Shah has a reason to smile

Prachee Shah has a reason to smile

HT City

New Delhi

Prachee Shah is beaming. She claims that audiences have taken to her afternoon show, Kesar and the Balaji soap has been fetching high ratings.

Prachee had replaced the lead actress Nandini Singh a few months ago. She says, "I am happy that I took on Kesar at a point when the channel was thinking of taking the show off the air.

Seeing the ratings now, it feels good that I accepted the challenge.

"The show will take an interesting turn in the coming weeks." "It is a daily show. I accepted it only on the condition that the shooting should not hamper my classical dance performances. Thankfully, not only are my sched ules less taxing but I also get my Sundays off," she says.

The actress is also excited about Ektaa Kapoor's forthcoming Star show Kayamat, which is set against the travails of a Gujarati family She plays one of the lead . ing characters.

"I play Premlata Goenka, who is the pillar of the house and everybody's confidante," she informs. Mohnish Behl, Neena Kulkarni and Panchi Bora form the rest of the cast.

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Ektaa Kapoor is at it again. The dreams of another aspiring star of tellywood will come true on February 19, when Balaji's first show for 2007, Kayamath, goes on air launching Jay Bhanushali.

With commercials like Lays (with Saif Ali Khan) and Motorola to his credit, Bhanushali is an acting greenhorn. "I was called for an audition from Balaji and was soon confirmed. I'm thankful to Ektaa for trusting me with the lead role," he says.

Kayamath is the love story of Neev (Jay) and Praachi (played by MTV find Panchi Bora). Talking about his character, Jay says, "Neev Shergill is a flirt and a fun-loving guy.

But both the protagonists are in quest of true love." How's the experience been? "The last three weeks have been very hectic. The work scenario's different compared to what it is in the ad world.

"There, you're pampered and your needs are taken care of, while in the TV industry, it's a daily grind," he says.

Kayamath also features veterans like Neena Kulkarni, Mohnish Behl, Prachi Shah and Shabbir Ahluwalia.

"Learning from Mohnish (who plays Panchi's father) is an experience in itself." We hope Bhanushali too receives the adulation that came the way of Rajeev Khandelwal, who debuted with Kahiin to Hoga, the show that Kayamath is replacing.

Panchi Bora, who first hit prime time television with Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi, is back after a yearlong hiatus. Ektaa Kapoor, who had earlier cast her in Kitni…, which was her first youth soap for MTV, has picked her this time as the female lead in Kayamath.

Born in Assam, Panchi also calls Pune her home because she studies at Fergusson College. Did she take a break to finish her studies?

She says, "Yes, my parents want me to finish my graduation. I am still in my second year but the project sounded interesting. Besides, the fact that it will be on Star Plus is another reason I said yes." And she didn't exactly twid dle her thumbs during her break. She did several commercial ads and was also the face of a hypermarket chain.

Speaking about her character of a Gujarati girl in Kayamath, she says, "I belong to a business family. In the story, I share a close friendship with Neev (Jay Bhanushali), though we're both opposites. We both feel deeply for each other but we never seem to realise it's love." So what's the conflict then? "I'm not telling you. There are plenty of twists and turns, as there are in a typical Balaji serial," she says.

Has she got used to the daily soap grind? Not fainted on the sets yet? She laughs, "No, not yet. My mother ensures I eat on time, there is constantly someone on the sets to look after me."

Sooraj in a 'K' serial


It is surprising that inspite of being in the telly industry for so long, Sooraj Thapar hasn't got the opportunity to work with Ekta Kapoor. But very soon, Sooraj will make an appearance in Ekta's new show Kayamath. Says Sooraj, "This will be the first time I am working with her. And though they had offered me couple of shows in past, I could not accept any because either I had date problems or the role didn't quite interest me. This time there was no such issue thankfully!"

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First time jitters
Facing a camera was nothing new to Jay Bhanushali who is making his tele-debut with Balaji serial Kayamath on STAR Plus. Still, the guy was nervous, "Kayamath is a Balaji show replacing Kahiin Toh Hoga... which has already reigned the hearts of many viewers. Secondly, this was my first daily soap and that too on a primetime slot of STAR Plus," recalls Jay who plays the character of Neev. Though he was aware who his co-star would be when it came to enacting an angry and aggressive scene where he had to hold his co-star Praachi's (Panchi Bora) hand tightly, he was so engrossed in reciting his dialogue that he didn't realise Praachi had tears of pain in her eyes. Her hand was being gripped in a vice by Neev. "I was embarrassed, the entire cast was looking at me in silence. I immediately apologised to her and lucky me... Panchi knew how nervous I was, she got me out of my guilt, not only that she also managed to give the same shot immediately though she was still in pain. I can never forget that incident and I shall always be grateful to her for being so patient with me..." gushes the latest entrant on TV. The series begins airing from February 19 at 11 pm.

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