postcards from maldives

Open-air show

The trio describes their sojourn as "awesome" and "out-of this world". They performed in two shows, which had the locals — all die-hard Bollywood and telly buffs — lapping up Manoj's every antic, as Teejay and Ashka jived to chartbusters like Mahi Ve and Kajra Re. Kasautii has it fair share of watchers on the island, so Prem had many female fans. The telly actors performed at the open-air venue, Carnival, in the capital, Male.

Best holiday ever

Recalls Aashka, "As far as I can remember, this is the best holiday I have ever had. It was so relaxing and chilled out. I tried parasailing and snorkelling — things I have never done before. We also shopped a lot, and on the way back, stopped at Colombo."

Adds Teejay, who also anchored the show, "Maldives is beautiful. When we were asked about the show organised by the Maldives Tourism Board, it was not even something we had to think twice about. It was like 'How soon do we leave?' It's a shame that Chetan Hansraj (Sasha of Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii) couldn't make it this time. The four of us had such a blast when we were invited to Toronto in August."

Exploring the deep

After the shows, the actors took time off deep-sea diving. "We saw so many fish, so many interesting sea animals. The feeling of being underwater is beautiful and exhilarating. At the same time, you feel so very alone. It's quiet as death under the surface. Aashu (Aashka) got nervous when they began swimming around her legs. Maybe they liked the taste of her suntan oil?" laughs Teejay.

shaheen@mid-day.com