A tough dance

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A tough dance

Finalising couples for Nach Baliye 3 is getting harder. Some are demanding fatter pay packets while others are uncomfortable presenting themselves as a 'couple'

Back to Section Stories Posted On Monday, July 16, 2007


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Sandipan Dalal and Ranjib Mazumder

Pooja Ghai and Vikas Kalantri

Thinking heads at Star One are busy finalising the line-up of celebrity couples for Nach Baliye's third season that goes on air this September. If sources are to be believed, this year has been the toughest in terms of getting telly couples to do the show. While most of the popular faces are busy with their respective soaps, a few 'out-of-work' couples have been demanding a bigger pay packet!
A reliable source from the channel informs, "They have been asking for unheard of money for the show. It's simply beyond our budget. We have had approached at least 20 couples."

Rakhi Sawant and Abhishek

Few couples, who have been secretly dating, were also not keen on coming out in public. Our sources say that a few had even taken offence when approached for the show. A source from the channel adds, "That's the biggest problem we faced this year. A few have kept their relationship under the wraps. They were extremely uncomfortable when we approached them for the show."

Trade pundits reveal that the hoopla surrounding the show (in the third season) has also died down. An actor on condition of anonymity says, "We need some new elements in the show otherwise it gets a little boring. We are expected to bring in a lot of melodrama just for the sake of it."

Kishwar and Hiten

The list so far reads, Rakhi Sawant and Abhishek Awasthi, Indraneil Sengupta and Barkha Bisht, Sandeep Baswana and Aslesha Sawant, Aamir Ali and Sanjeeda Shaikh, Kishwar Merchant and Hiten Paintal, Kiran Karmarkar and wife Rinku, Pooja Ghai and Vikas Kalantri, Kavita Kaushik and Karan Grover, Karan Patel and Amita Chandekar. The channel is yet to decide on another couple this week. Apparently, Rajshri Thakur and husband Sanjot Vaidya, Swetta Keswani and beau Alex O'Neil are in the run.

Says our source, "These eight celebrity couples have been finalised. This week we start signing the contract papers."

The channel, however, maintains a stoic silence over the show. Anil Jha from Star One says, "I have no information on Nach Baliye 3. We might not have a third season."

Indraneil and Barkha, Rinku and Kiran Karmarkar

NO WAY !

Here's a list of couples who have turned down the show:
• Iqbal Khan and wife Sneha
• Renuka Shahane and Ashutosh Rana
• Roshni Chopra and husband Siddharth Anand
• Smriti Irani and husband Zubin Irani
• Rajeev Khandelwal and Aamna Shariff
• Anita Hassanandani and Eijaz Khan

Aamir, Sanjeeda, Karan Patel, Amita