Anuj teams up with Afghani beauty queen

Anuj Saxena

The maverick is at it again. After turning producer and restarauteur, the doctor-turned-actor Anuj Saxena, who also has his pharma business, now steps into the theatre world! His first stage venture as producer is
Psy-Clone, starring former Miss Afghanistan, Vida Samadzai.

Saxena describes his latest move "as an extension of my venture into the field of entertainment."

He feels it is not difficult to manage so many things. "I have an overview of all my business ventures." However, Saxena will not be acting in the play.

The play is written and directed by Sanjay Srinivas, who previously did interactive playback theatre in plays like Chanakyashastra, Chaplin In Love and The Dressing Room (on which his film was based) to his credit.

Vida Samadzai

Clone syndrome

Psy-Clone, which opens on February 4 in the city, narrates the travails of an engineer who is in the process of getting human cloning legalised. Just as he is about to submit his report, well-known personalities from history like Bheem, Marilyn Monroe, Phoolan Devi, Adolf Hitler, Lady Diana and Mahatma Gandhi spring up to add humour to the human cloning debate.

Incidentally, Srinivas had staged Psy-Clone in Mumbai in 2003 with another producer. At that time, the cast included Rajesh Puri, Aruna Sangal, Madhvi Chopra and Alekh Sangal, among others.

For Psy-Clone, Saxena's Maverick Productions has tied up with Nirav Parekh's Maincourse Entertaintment, who has staged plays like Chanakyashashtra and Paying Guest.

"As I don't have the experience, I'd rather tie up with someone who knows the job," explains Anuj.

Kabul fiza

Vida, who was Miss Afghanistan 2003, has been in Mumbai for a while and is spotted on the city's party circuit.

"This will be my first foray into the theatre world,'' she says. "I was approached by Nirav Parekh for the play. He is also planning a film for which I am in talks," says Vida.

The cast of Psy-Clone also includes Naved Aslam, Pratima Kazmi, Chinmai Kelkar, Monty Gill, Kavita Sharma and Raj Banerjee.

http://www.mid-day.com/hitlist/2007/january/150821.htm