| Sachin-Supriya: Winners in waiting? |
As 'Nach Baliye' enters its final phase, things are getting progressively messier between the contestants. Archana Puran Singh and Parmeet Sethi, the latest couple to be ousted from the show in a blaze of controversy, have alleged that some of the less popular contestants are 'rigging' the show. The bone of contention is the 'faulty' voting system that allows unlimited votes to be cast from the same phone.
TOO MUCH: "Parmeet and I decided that we would rather leave than shamelessly vote for ourselves and be shamed like two couples who still remain on the show," says a distraught Archana. In a lighter vein she adds, "You know it was almost like the contestants were playing fastest finger first and frantically polling for themselves. In the end it was all a matter of how many votes your fingers poll in 26 hours till the polling lines were closed!"
Archana feels that Sachin-Supriya are now the favourites to win the contest, because they are the ones with the most charisma and star appeal among the couples left on the show. "Right from the beginning, Sachin and Supriya were slated to win, and I think they will win despite the machinations of other contestants," she says.
ARE THEY GUILTY? The finger of suspicion is obviously pointing to Delnaaz-Rajiv and Manish-Poonam. While Manish and Poonam were not available for comment, Rajiv is guarded in his response and claims that it is the "underdog factor" that has worked for him.
"I think the allegations should be directed at the channel and not at us. In the end, only the winners are remembered and I think it's in bad taste to make such allegations against members of your own fraternity," observes Rajiv.
Varun Badola who is also among the top contenders with wife Rajeshwari, is more forthright and makes it clear that while Archana's comment might hold true for others, he was not a party to this matter.
"We are just concentrating on our performances and rehearsing very hard to make it to the finals."
NO BIG DEAL: Sachin himself says that though well-wishers and relatives of the candidates may be voting for them, he was not sure if that was enough to ensure a place in the next round. "In fact, my sister votes for me," he clarifies. But Sachin is upset with the sudden departure of Archana and Parmeet because he feels they were one of the best.
CHALTA HAI: Meanwhile, all this bickering is making little difference to the channel heads. ounters Shailja Kejriwal, creative director at Star One: "Why didn't Archana make these allegations when she was still in the running? In KBC, one person sent 60,000 messages. How can we stop someone from voting as many times they want for their candidate?" she demands.
All said and done, not everyone is unhappy with the tamasha whipped up by these accusations. "I think this rivalry is only going to generate extra excitement and interest in the show. It goes to show how seriously the participants are vying for the top slot," says Kejriwal.
All part of the game, eh?
|
|
Small B turns singer | ||
n His dad started it all when he let loose his vocal chords for Mr Natwarlal. Now, you can catch Abhishek Bachchan singing in his next release, Rohan Sippy's Bluffmaster. The song has been made into a music video which will start airing on the small screen from Thursday. And as Chhota B puts it, the singing stint was a terrifying experience. "It all started with a joke when I proposed to sing the song," he says. "Rohan called my bluff and insisted that I actually sing it. But I cannot take any credit if it sounds good." The song, titled Right Here Right Now, has been composed by the talented music director duo of Vishal and Shekhar, who have earlier produced chartbusters like Dus bahane and Saqi saqi. "Abhishek is a complete rock star and this project was one big party." The video for the song has been choreographed and directed by Farah Khan. Along with Abhishek, the video features some of the biggest names in Indian modelling — Carol Gracias, Pia Trivedi, Scherzade Shroff and Anchal Kumar. Farah also made the other stars of the film — Priyanka Chopra, Riteish Deshmukh, and Boman Irani — sashay to the tunes. As with other music videos in films, Rohan plans to use the song when the credits roll at the very end. n After toiling away for weeks to special themes, the remaining four Nach Baliye couples finally got to dance to their favourite tracks in the latest episodes of the popular reality show on STAR One. The dance show has also spawned a new compilation titled Nach Baliye Music Album which was unveiled by the show judges Farhan Akhtar, Malaika Arora Khan and Saroj Khan. The album is a compilation of yesteryear hit songs like Aa dekhe zara (Rocky), Laila o Laila (Qurbani) and Mehbooba mehbooba (Sholay), all of which have been remixed by DJ Aqeel. There is also the popular Nach Baliye title track, composed by Ashu and Dhruv. After Archana and Parmeet were eliminated last Thursday, the couples who are left in the Rs 50 lakh Nach Baliye race are Rajiv and Delnaaz, Manish and Poonam, Sachin and Supriya, and Varun and Rajeshwari. The Sachin-Supriya couple has always been the favourite, right from Week One, but Varun and Rajeshwari also have a strong chance. The Manish-Poonam pair is the dark horse. Delnaaz and Rajiv have survived the Danger Zone for four weeks in a row but are expected to lose out sooner than later. To check out who misses a beat, watch Nach Baliye on Thursday, 9 pm on STAR One. n Dreams do come true on TV. Rahuul Khanna bought a brand new Mercedes Benz worth Rs 25 lakh for just Rs 500. Surprised? Well, the suburban Mumbai resident, also a budding director, was the big winner on Super Sale and he bought the car with the Super Sale Rupees, the currency used on the game show. Rahuul had a phenomenal run on the Sajid Khan-hosted show with record-breaking scores over the past seven episodes. But forget flashing his Merc around, he will put the money to truly good use. "By winning this grand prize, I would be able to provide the necessary treatment for my two-year-old son, who is a thalassaemia major," Rahuul revealed. "I really want to thank Super Sale and host Sajid Khan for supporting me all the time." n It's raining blockbusters on the small screen and everyone's invited. STAR Gold, which notched up magical numbers with the satellite premiere of Swades, is now lining up six recent Bollywood biggies every Saturday and Sunday, starting December 10. Says STAR India marketing head Ajay Vidyasagar: "Movie premieres haven't done that well on the small screen and by screening some of the recent hits back-to-back we are trying to get those mobile viewers back in front of the TV." For this, STAR has gone for a 64-film TV premiere agreement with Sahara One Motion Pictures. So the line-up has turned out to be quite a dream one with titles like Viruddh, Black, Main Hoon Na, Swades, Lakshya, Hulchul, Ab Tak Chhappan, Fida, Kya Kool Hain Hum, Gayab and Hera Pheri. The six blockbusters every weekend will come a week after the triple premiere of Viruddh, which is slated for this Sunday on STAR Plus and STAR One, apart from STAR Gold. |
|
comment:
p_commentcount