Mere Apne Articles Corner

Delnaaz is tired of being funny

Delnaaz Paul, famous for her comic roles, is tired of being given typical roles where she inevitably plays a bimbo. "Humour is not just about being dumb. There is sarcasm, wit, slapstick humour, poker faced fun and many more ways in which you can make people laugh. But most writers want to stick to the tried and tested formula, and that's getting a bit too boring." After many such 'boring' roles, Delnaaz has finally bagged a role that interests her. In Mere Apne on 9X she will play a film buff who is hilarious. "I get to dress differently and imitate various stars too, so that's exciting.

The role is bit loud as I play a small town woman who doesn't know the art of subtle dressing. I am over dressed all the time, but I get to wear lovely sarees, a variety of shoes, jewellery, bindis, makeup and the works. I am having fun. And working with Vinod Khanna is the cherry on the cake. I have always loved him on screen and watched many of his movies. He's charming." But given a chance Delnaaz would love to do a serious role as she has always played comic characters in TV shows and films. Though her screen image is that of a frivolous, comic person, in real life, she's very intense, she says.

www.deccan.com

CASH DRIVE



Vinod Khanna says he's doing Smriti Irani's Mere Apnebecause he needs money. However, the five-hour commute every day is killing…


VICKEY LALWANI




• It is surprising that you chose to do a television show.
(Smiles) Well, I had to replenish my bank account. I needed money. My younger kids are growing up. So, I decided to start working actively again. Smriti Irani came to me and offered Kashinath's role at that time and I took it up.

• Have any actors sent you any feedback after watching your show?
Do actors have the time
to watch television? But yes, many filmmakers have done that.

• Last week, there was a rumour that you are finding the television medium tough and you want to quit?
(Smiles) I have no problems and I am absolutely committed to the show. It is just that I have to travel by car for nearly five hours every day, which is something I have never done before. However, it doesn't mean that I'm leaving the show.

• How much of time have you given to this show?
I have given them twelve days per month. I am committed to this show for 220 episodes.

• Do you shoot at odd hours like TV generally does?
Well, I need to go home at 7 pm every working day. I don't shoot on Sundays, no matter what. Even when I was actively doing films, I never shot on a Sunday.

• You must be paid a huge amount to do this show?
(Laughs) Why should I tell you that?

• What is happening on the film front?
I am doing films. I have completed a film called Fast Forward. I have said yes to two films, which will be announced soon.

• We expected to see you in OSO like many yesteryear actors.
I wasn't called for OSO. Perharps they thought I
was not working.

• Do you think that you would've been bigger than Bachchan if you hadn't gone away to Osho?
Not at all. It was never into comparisons, though the media did hype it up, pitching me and Bachchan as No 1 and No 2. Not only the media, but even the fans were getting divided into two camps. It's all a part of the game (pauses).

• Please continue…
Secondly, I can never repay my Guru for what I achieved in his ashram. It's a journey of self realisation but it has been a very painful journey. I wanted peace of mind and I got it in the Osho ashram. I wouldn't have left the film industry otherwise.

• Would be okay if your daughter wants to get into acting too?
Why not? It is a great experience to be in this profession. I have no issues with it.





Source: Mumbai Mirror

INX Media's new Hindi general entertainment channel 9X, which launched earlier this month has opened up to a bag of mixed numbers.

Data for its launch week shows that the channel already has a 20 per cent reach, but in terms of channel share, it has opened lower compared to the likes of SAB and STAR Utsav. TAM Media Research data shows that for the C&S 4+ in the Hindi speaking markets, both in the all day data for the entire week, and the for weekdays primetime data, the channel has got better numbers only to the UTV owned Bindass.

At an all day level for the entire week, 9X has a share of 0.63. In comparison, STAR Utsav is 0.86, SAB is 0.9, STAR One is 1.64, Sahara One is 2, Sony is 2.8, ZEE TV is 7.93 and STAR Plus is 10.09. The recently launched youth channel Bindass has a share of 0.49. If only the weekday primetime is seen, 9X has a share of 0.48, while STAR Utsav has 0.56, SAB has 0.88, Sony is 1.81, STAR One is 1.95, Sahara One is 2.42, ZEE TV is 13.57 and STAR Plus is 15.77.

INX Media officials are "delighted" with the numbers and are touting it to be the "best opening numbers for a C&S channel in the history of Indian television". Indrani Mukerjea, CEO, INX Media, said, "Things are going as per our plans – from the day we started, the reach numbers have gone up each day – right from November 12 to the close of the week, and will continue to do so."

Karthik Laxminarayan, COO, Madison Media Infinity, voices the section of the industry that is happy with these numbers. He said, "They are very close to the second tier numbers in the first week itself and hence, these are very promising numbers. They have created enough buzz for people to tune in to the channel, and from here it is really up to the content of the channel."

Prasanth Kumar, National Director, CTG, GroupM, on the other hand, is of the opinion that these are not encouraging numbers. He said, "9X is one of the channels that had launched with a high decibel impact plan. The programming line also had a good cast. However, the numbers haven't given it an impact-at-launch. It shows that the channel certainly didn't come as a surprise to viewers or clients and agencies."

At a programme level, of the three shows in the primetime slot of 9X – 'Kahe Na Kahe', 'Jiya Jale' and 'Mere Apne' – 'Mere Apne' has delivered the highest with an average rating of 0.2. Siddharth Basu's first shot at fiction – 'Jiya Jale' – has had an average rating of 0.14, while Ekta Kapoor's 'Kahe na Kahe' is at an average rating of 0.11. The channel's comedy band that has a different show on each day of the week at 22:30 has ratings varying from 0.09 to 0.15.

Mukerjea is clear that the channel is not in any hurry to make any changes based on just a week's data. She said, "We are confident that each of our shows is a unique property, and we don't have knee jerk reactions to such early numbers."

9X's sister channel 9XM continues its run as market leader in the music sector after only three weeks on air. 9XM is also planning a UK launch next year.

http://media247.co.uk/bizasia/newsarchive/2007/11/new_channe l_9x.php

Same difference

Mere Apne

Monday-Thursday, 10 pm, 9X

Rating: **

Who's in it? Smriti Irani, Vinod Khanna, Shahbaaz Khan, Kishore Shahane, Delnaaz Paul.The story so far? Gurdaspur MP Kashinath Pandey (Khanna) is a stickler for traditional Indian way of life and derives his life-force from his united family. This takes care of a chunk of storyline while the housewife-cum-glue that binds the family Sharda Pandey (Irani) and love story of their daughter Vrinda take care of the rest. Vrinda (Gauri Nigudkar) falls in love with the son of Bhanu Pratap Singh (Khan), who happens to be Pandey's enemy, adding more spice to the story. Son Aditya's secret marriage to Sanya, who finds shelter at Bhanu Pratap's house, and prodigal son Shankar reckless ways make way for the sub-plots. And Pandey's widowed sister (Shahane), constantly plotting to shatter the family's unity, leads to the the twists and turns.

What's hot? The presence of small-screen show-stealers, like Irani and Khan, and yesteryear hero Khanna. Though Irani's role is not very different from her famous Tulsi character, at least she is not forcing the audience to imagine her as a 60-year-old in this show. Though the storyline is trite and predictable, it isn't overtly soapy and weepy, at least till now. And the biggest relief is that the serial is not falling back on camera zoom and zap movement (one of the most favourite technique on Balaji's sets) to create drama, sparing the audience a headache. Shifting the story to Benaras provides a change with action taking place on ghats and temples. Some of the initial scenes of the show were shot in the holy city though now most of the action takes place on the set.

What's not? Gaudy make-up has always been a prerogative of small-screen heroines, but in this serial Gauri and Delnaaz go an extra mile while applying eye shadows. For instance, Delnaaz in the last episode had such a bright purple flower in her hair and equally fluorescent outfit and eye-shadow to match that it's almost blinding. The storyline and sub-plots are reminiscent of several Bollywood potboilers. And the mish-mash hardly has any surprises for the viewers.

Should you be watching it? Yes, if you are not tired of family sagas and have the remote within your reach. But those who have high anticipation of the channel's most-talked about show might be disappointed.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Same-difference/2479 58/

Smriti Irani spends Rs 30 lakh on shaadi

(For her new TV show Mere Apne, of course!) Back to Section Stories Posted On Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Kunal M Shah The lavish set that cost Rs 30 lakh Smriti Irani erected one of the grandest sets for her show Mere Apne, to shoot a wedding sequence. Apparently, the marriage sequence cost approximately Rs 30 lakh. The sets included a huge mandap, a reception area, two make-up rooms and a fountain. It was entirely designed by Mansoor Ali Pirani better known as Babubhai in the industry circles. The lavish set was erected at Sharad Grounds in Goregoan for the marriage of the elder son of Kashinath Pandey, played by Vinod Khanna and his wife, Sharda played by Smriti Irani. The couple to be united in holy matrimony was Amit Jain aka Aaditya and Mahika Verma who plays Abha. Smriti Irani Says Mansoor, "This is by far the grandest on-screen wedding with the most expensive sets ever used. It took me over two days to build the entire dome-shaped mandap. A similar structure was also used at the wedding of Bharat Shah's daughter held at Wankhede stadium." Talking about the elaborate sets for the wedding sequence, he says, "In the mandap we had used jhoomars (chandeliers) and the sitting arrangements had all the elder members seated near the mandap where the pheras were happening." Apart from Smriti Irani and Vinod Khanna, there was a crowd of about 200 people at the site. Mere Apne is being produced by Ugraya Entertainment and Applause Entertainment Pvt Ltd. http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article&am p;sectid=12&contentid=200712252007122503395017141f5b8dd