Zee's Cinestar

Thousands of hopefuls. A clutch of finalists. And a handful promises. A year and a half after Zee's Cinestars Ki Khoj lured Bollywood hopefuls to Mumbai, the gritty few who made it to the final rounds are still waiting to become cine stars.

The talent hunt, brainchild of Gajendra Singh who later made icons out of Debojit and Vinit in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge , did prove a good platform for aspiring actors. But the hype that surrounded television icons in the last one year, seems to have evaded the cinestars that the channel's khoj threw up in early 2005. We decided to track down the finalists to see which way their careers are headed.

"It has literally done nothing for us. I agree that they did give us a platform and all of that, but nothing after that. Today if I have signed a movie, it's not because of this show, but my own struggle," says one of the top four finalists, Bhaumik Sampat.

If this is what he has to say, there are others like Mohit Chadda who is very thankful to the channel and their efforts. "As I was new to Mumbai, Zee had been of great help. I will always be thankful to them."

So is it that they expected everything on the platter? Or Zee could have done something more for them?

Ashwini Yardi, programming head, Zee TV, says, "Only the winners were promised a movie, which is happening. Otherwise, nothing else was promised to the other contestants."

Each and every contestant aimed for movies, but little did they know about this cut throat industry. They definitely were made big promises which were not fulfilled. "They had said that all top 80 contestants will be in the limelight, and I was among the top five," says Bhaumik.

Sudeepa Singh, who will soon be seen in a new Sony show goes the practical way, and says, "Well, Zee could push us more, but it didn't. To a certain extent, Zee gave us a lot too, in terms of professional training, incredible recognition all over, so it has been 50-50. They have been pushing the contestants according to their ability. I too was given a chance to host a show on Zee news, like Yuvika was given for Astitva." She adds, "Struggling was definitely on the cards."

Gajendra Singh, the producer of the show on being asked about his side of the story says, after a pause, " I am not in a position to comment on this."

Some of the contestants who were very popular during the show and have managed to find their place in this agressive industry!

Gaargi: Gaargi too was seen in Zee's Piya Ka Ghar, and right now is considering film offers.

Vishal: Vishal appeared in Zee's Piya Ka Ghar and right now is concentrating on hindi films.