Tellyland's never-say-die brigade

They haven't had the choices of fates, but these stars of the small screen have had the grit to fight back and come up trumps. A look at the fortunes of actors who chose never to say die.

Anuj Saxena
The debonair doctor turned businessman, who agreed to an arranged match at 37, saw his marriage falling apart within a year. Maintaining a stiff upper lip about the alleged acrimonious end to the relationship, he's bounced back with Rishton Ki Dor on Sony, even as Kkusum, that had catapulted him to fame ended.
Instead of retreating into a shell, Anuj, it would seem, is going all out to add to his activities. As CEO of his year old production house Maverick, he has his hands full chalking up TV and film projects, while juggling his existing responsibilities as marketing director of the family held Elder Pharma, that entails frequent business trips abroad.
Anuj apparently seems to have made a clean break, though it must be tough playing hard to get with those striking good looks and a bachelor-again status to boot. His friends can be counted on his fingertips, and those he stays in touch with regularly over emails and text messages. Is staying busy more than 24 hours a day the right remedy to get back at life?

Moonmoon
Moonmoon is a divorcee, whose marriage with filmmaker Sai Paranjapye's son Gautam Joglekar (a filmmaker himself) came apart in four months. The petite actor is quite honest when it comes to her personal life and admits that she has moved on. Her career began when Narayani Shastri, Tassnim Sheikh and other contemporaries began theirs. Few may remember that she was part of the Kkusum cast. She bounced back with another Balaji show, Kasautii Zindagi Kay and is doing quite well for herself. She keeps herself occupied with shooting, gymming and her two lovely dogs whom she adores. The most interesting part is that she is still in touch with her ex-husband and ex-mother in law and has only positive things to say about them, as do they too. Not many women can boast of that.

Sudha Shivpuri
The 60 plus Sudha Shivpuri has become a synonym for everyone's favourite grandmother. She started her career when most actresses her age retire, but circumstances made Sudha don greasepaint. Her portrayal of Ba in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was such a hit that neither audiences nor Ekta Kapoor want her to die, even as her reel daughters in law are beginning to get bumped off the serial.

Poonam Dhillon
Poonam started her television career with Andaz, which was directed by current rage Himesh Reshammiya. She did television when no Bollywood actor touched television. She was the first to introduce the concept of mobile vans without which the entertainment industry can't run today. Post divorce, she took charge of her life. She was one of the fist tech savvy actors who started her own website. Despite having been linked with other men, including a prominent news channel personality, she has never discussed her divorce or her affairs with the media, always conducting herself with a lot of grace. She is a doting mother to son Anmol and daughter Paloma. She was last seen in Zee's late night show Kittie Party. Wouldn't do her harm to return to the small screen, we feel.

Achint Kaur
Not everybody knows that Achint Kaur, who walked out of her marriage and chose to live in with Mohan Kapoor is a very good mother in real life. She may be the most villainous vamp on screen courtesy her roles of Mandira in Kyunki… and Pallavi in Kahaani…. but she is a doting mother to her son and takes care of everything, from homework to shopping. She's also the franchisee of a salon Beyond The Fringe, that she takes care of. She started with Banegi Apni Baat and Saaya and has been very careful in choosing her work and has always been honest about her relationship with Mohan and is outspoken enough to call spade a spade.

Ekta Kapoor
The TV industry cannot boast of a bigger success story than hers. Initially, she faced a string of failures and huge losses as a producer, but she didn't give up and came back with the original Hum Paanch. While growing up, she also had a weight problem but she combated that too with determination in an industry obsessed with slim figures. Today, she's the one who has notched up the figures for Star India.