Nandita: We remain good friends...

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sheetal

@sheetald

Rocker

Posted: 19 years ago

Nandita Das

Nandita Das has separated from her husband, adman Saumya Sen. The actress, who got married in December 2002, prefers to keep the matter private.

Talking to us from her home in Delhi, she says, "I separated from Saumya four months ago. But we remain good friends. As for the reasons for our separation, it's a personal matter and I would appreciate if the media respect our privacy."

When we try to prod her a little more to find out if this is a temporary separation or a permanent split, Nandita says, "I don't want to sensationalise the issue by talking about it. I do believe that one's life is about personal choices. I do not want to be drawn into it. I hope you will understand, empathise and respect my decision."

Workaholic

Point noted. So we move on to her professional work. Nandita has just completed four films: Santosh Sivan's Kerala — Road To The Sky, Chitra Palekar's Marathi film Maati Maaye, Suman Ghosh's Bengali Podokkhyep and KNT Shatri's Telegu film Kamli, and is looking forward to their release.
She is also gearing up to direct her own film, the script she has already co-written by her. Nandita says, "I am deeply involved in my work. Not entirely in my film right now, because that's still in a very early stage, but the work that I do with my other hat on — that of social work."

The marriage

Saumya Sen, the creative director of the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather, and Nandita Das were married at a simple, low-profile ceremony in New Delhi on December 22, 2002.

Sen was her long-time boyfriend. After a private ceremony, the couple held a reception for close friends and relatives at a friend's farmhouse in Delhi. Das is the daughter of noted painter Jatin Das and social activist Varsha Das.

Social work

In 2003, Nandita joined hands with the Delhi-based NGO the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), in an attempt to inform people about how to harvest rainwater and create a water literacy movement. Nandita and Saumya Sen even directed 90-second public service advertisements to promote rainwater harvesting.

Riya, Ashmit filmed again!

Riya Sen

Riya Sen and Ashmit Patel were seeing each other in real life when director Ramesh Khatkar cast them together as a couple in Rokda.

As the film progressed, the relationship developed friction. Matters came to a head when an MMS clip showing them indulging in foreplay went into circulation.

They parted ways and there was a lot of bad blood between the two. Sometime later, Rokda was stalled, and Riya and Ashmit heaved a sigh of relief.

But certain actors don't let their personal differences come in the way of the film. Riya and Ashmit, who were dating for over a year, will once again work together on Rokda, which has been revived with a new producer.

Madhu Sharma is out, and now, Raju Shah (who is also funding Anubhav Sinha's Cash) will finance the film, which will restart in September.

No problems

Ashmit Patel

When contacted, Khatkar (Ram Gopal Varma's former assistant) said, "All is well now. I plan to complete Rokda by the end of October. Madhu is out because he was not able to afford my film. The budget proved to be beyond his capacity."

As for his leading stars, Khatkar is not at all tense about handling a few love scenes between Riya and Ashmit. The director said, "When Riya and Ashmit signed my film, they were great friends. Even now, I don't foresee any problems with them shooting together. They are true professionals.

In fact, Riya and Ashmit have been very supportive. They've told me that they have no problems in meeting each other if it is anything related to my film," adding, "Riya is the surprise packet of the film. She is shown as a sensuous girl who is misunderstood, and she hasn't used any make-up in the film."

Sound of silence

When we spoke to Ashmit about it, he said, "Working with Riya is not a problem. We've shot together for this film before, haven't we?"

However, Riya preferred not to comment on working with her ex-flame. Before Rokda, Riya and Ashmit played a couple in Khalid Mohammed's Silsilay.

'Cash' problems?

Rokda also stars Shamita Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Tanushree Dutta, Ashish Chaudhary and Irrfan Khan.

Khatkar might have to face a lot of fireworks on the sets because Riya and Tanushree's friendship has turned sour in the recent past. An actor from the film, who did not want to be named, said, "Oh, that would be a lot of fun!"

Our khabroo on the unit of Rokda also told us that Shamita might not do the film because she is busy with Anubhav Sinha's Cash, forcing Khatkar to look for a replacement. However, Khatkar claimed, "There was an issue with Shamita on that front, but it has been sorted out."

'Necking' a pain for Sush

Sushmita Sen in a still from Zindaggi Rocks

Shooting for a film literally became a pain in the neck for Sushmita Sen. The actress suffered a neck injury late on Monday night while shooting for Tanuja Chandra's Zindaggi Rocks. The incident happened during a song situation at Filmistan Studios.

While going through the steps choreographed by Farah Khan, the actress suddenly felt a crick in her neck. Sen had apparently exerted herself a tad too much which caused a severe strain.

Though she continued to shoot, the pain soon became unbearable forcing Sen to seek medical aid.

Don't blame Shiney!

It is learnt that Sen had to undergo a scan in the wee hours of Tuesday morning as the pain became excruciating.

Sen plays the role of rock singer in Zindaggi Rocks. Her co-star in the film is the up and coming Shiney Ahuja. And no, he wasn't the reason for Sushmita's neck problems!

Home bound

Television producer Anurradha Prasad (of BAG Films) makes her big screen production debut.

Says Prasad, "Sushmita was shooting for a rock number. During the shoot she suddenly developed a catch in her neck. It was a severe strain and obviously the pain made it difficult to shoot. Her family doctor was immediately called and she was advised rest."

Due to Sen's injury, the shoot has been cancelled. This was supposed to be the last schedule of the film that is slated to release on September 29. The actress is presently recuperating at home.

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Nandita: We remain good friends...

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