Pawns in TV war

A NUJ SAXENA, who was to perform at the Indian Telly Awards, was dropped just two days before the show, in spite of diligently carrying on with his rehearsals. Insiders reveal that it was Sony's way of getting back at him for leaving the channel's show Kkusum, though channel sources disagree with this. Nausheen Ali Sardar, one of the many faces of Kkusum, left the serial for Star Plus's Kaalchakra. When Sony wanted her back for KKusum, Star stopped Nausheen with the help of restraining clauses in her contract. Nausheen lost to Shilpa Agnihotri. Nach Baliye's biggest upset so far has been the elimination of one of its better dancer couples -Apurva and Shilpa Agnihotri. While even the judges could not hide their dismay over their exit, friends of the couple indicate that they had to go from the Star show for being the leads of two of Sony's top serials -- Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin and Kkusum, respectively. Last year, Aman Verma and producers Optimystix were given the boot from Star Plus's popular show Khullja Sim Sim after the two had signed up for Sony's Indian Idol. In the competitive environment of today's television, the rivalry is not restricted to just a healthy competition for TRPs and blowing one's trumpet louder than the rest. Channels these days are leaving no stone unturned in consolidating their 'camps' and actor loyalties are being put through an acid test. Actor Rohit Roy, who has "successfully acted for all channels," supports the idea of exclusive association between channels and performers. He would recommend adopting the international format of channel contracts for actors. "It's ideal for a channel to be associated with certain faces and vice versa," says Rohit. But Indian television does not operate in the same way: after all, a production house like Balaji Telefilms makes serials for two of the most powerful satellite channels today.

The casualty is the actor, who gets caught in the crossfire of channel ego wars. Nausheen Ali Sardar's is a classic case. "My exit from Kkusum was amicable, with me giving Sony a three-month notice, after which I joined Star Plus's Kaalchakra," says Nausheen. "However, when Sony called me back, Star refused to let me go a month prior to the end of my contract with them. Manasi Joshi Roy was leaving Kkusum then and the channel could not afford to juggle with too many faces for the character. Eventually Shilpa got the role," she reveals, hurriedly adding, "Please be careful while quoting me because they both are very powerful channels and one can't afford to upset them." Unkindest cut Nausheen Ali Sardar left Sony's Kkusum to join Star's Kaalchakra. When Sony wanted her back, Star threw a spanner in the works Aman Verma got the boot from Star's Khullja Sim Sim when he signed up for Sony's Indian Idol Both Sony and Star heaped awards on their own shows at two recent award events, ignoring serials from other channels

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