Sayantani Ghosh is excited to be a part of Meri Maa on Life OK

Talented actress Sayantani Ghosh who was last seen doing a cameo in Sony court room drama Adaalat has finally grabbed a biggie. She is now playing the lead role in new channel Life Ok’s show Meri Maa.

Says Sayantani: “It is a very emotional and very performance-oriented role and those in the channel who have seen the early episodes are also impressed by my work.”

Her character is that of a woman Pratibha who loses her daughter Jhilmil in a fair when the girl is just three or four years old. Pratibha continues to hunt high and low for her little one, little knowing that she is living with a pickpocket. “Four years pass by and though her family members – including mother in law (played by Neena Kulkarni) – are not optimistic, I am confident I will find her,” she says.

Sayantani emphasizes that she took up this show because it is not the typical saas bahu one, and her character is very different from the ones which brought her in the limelight in Naaginn and Ghar Ek Sapna.-

“There are very few concepts which deal with the beautiful mother-daughter relationship. This show’s Bengali version titled Maa is also running successfully on Star Jalsha (at the No 1 slot for the past two and a half years), ” she discloses.

Sayantan,i who also featured in Kumkum-Ek Pyara Sa Bandhan, is quite candid that she does not have any problems playing a mother. “The times are changing,” she reveals, “and today’s audience is looking for different programming, for example, mature love stories. The days of the Chiclet love story are passé. More importantly I am playing mother to a young girl and not a 20 year old. I will not do that as I can’t do justice to it. ”

Does she have any regrets about what went wrong with her previous full-fledged show, the thriller, Rakt Sambandh ? It tracked the lives of five sisters, one of whom is visually challenged, who lose their father on the handicapped girl’s wedding night. Rakt Sambandh initially drew audiences but later fizzled out.

Sayantani does not mince her words while giving her point of view. Says she: “We are just actors and there are many things which are beyond our control. I guess the new channel creative team made changes to the story which did not work and they also shifted the time slot due to Zor Ka Jhakta .”

You really shoot straight from the hip don’t you Sayantani?

Salman Khan says Bigg Boss 5 is a big turnoff

He has been the co-host of Bigg Boss 5 this year with Sanjay Dutt. But superstar Salman Khan said that whatever has been going on the show has been a big turnoff and that he switches off the television set whenever he hears the constant bickering that has been going on. He paid a flash visit to the house in the Aapka Farmaan Episode and admonished the participants asking them to stop bickering and fighting.

"Do you think all this scrapping is causing a spike in the ratings. No it is not; I get messages from people saying what is going on. This has to end," he told the participants very sternly.

He scolded Sky for picking on Siddharth to which he responded that any one would do the same as Siddharth made some blasphemous references to his family. Salman then told Siddharth that he should not call Sky as "Mamu" or uncle as Sky was only 35 years old and that he should not abuse anyone's family. He told Sky that his jokes were stale and not funny and he should not provoke Siddharth. And he once again warned the inmates not to take his warning lightly, before exiting the house to join Sanjay Dutt, and announcing that Shonali would be the one to be evicted.

While Salman was absolutely school masterly in his sermon to the housemates, Sanjay told them to continue having fun and keep up the good work.

Before that, Andrew Symonds had reprimanded Pooja Misrra for not living up to the opportunity she has been given to come back into the house and that she had better shape up or ship out.

Indian TV Show Hitler Didi Creates Controversy

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, a spokeswoman for Zee TV stated that the channel had received the letter from the rights group; however, they are yet to respond to it. She said that the show’s title has got nothing to do with Hitler himself and clarified that the show is intended to portray the girl’s temperament. The spokeswoman said the show till date has not received any complaints from India on its name.  Later she declined to comment on whether they are considering changing its name.

A member of the civil rights group Abraham H Foxman said, “It was ‘shocking’ that millions of soap opera fans in India are now hearing and talking about a program with the name ‘Hitler’ on a daily basis.”

This kind of a controversial title in India has often annoyed the observers as the German dictators name is used more casually in India than elsewhere to tag a person who is extremely strict and has a dominating nature.

Last year in 2010, renowned Indian actor Anupam Kher opted to back out from the film named “Dear Friend Hitler,” after being condemned by the fans. The Film is featured on the letters that Mahatma Gandhi wrote to Hitler. However, the film was finally made but with a different actor in the lead role. There was also an action packed Hindi movie named “Hitler” that was released in 1998 featuring Mithun Chakravarty in the lead role.

It is often seen that people in the western countries are quite sensitive about using the name of Adolf Hitler who was responsible for the World War II. However, in India there is a different scenario and Hitler’s autobiography “Mein Kampf,” is a huge hit in India. In countries like Austria, Germany and Russia, “Mein Kampf ” is considered to be illegal. It is reported that in one of the book shops in Delhi, the book is the second best-selling work of non-fiction after Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography. The book is said to be very popular among the business management students in the country, and is also popular among the university students who frequently consider it in their reading list.

A professor at Delhi’s Jawahal Nehru University, Surinder Jodhka, said that in India people can escape by using the name of Hitler in different context as Indians have not directly faced the violence caused by Hitler.

Veena Malik's nude photo causes fury in Pakistan

A Pakistani actress who posed in the nude for an Indian magazine with the initials of Pakistan's feared and powerful intelligence agency on her arm has triggered fury across this conservative nation.

Veena Malik's photo on the website of FHM India, in advance of its publication in the magazine's December issue, has been lighting up social network website Facebook and Twitter since earlier this week.

Many here anticipate a backlash, as nationalists and Islamists regularly stage rallies against anything they deem an insult to Islam or to the national honor. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, and the Inter-Services Intelligenceagency or ISI has been accused of sponsoring terrorist attacks inside India.

Malik has broken Pakistani religious and national taboos in the past. She is a target for conservative ire and a heroine to some Pakistani liberals.

Conservative cleric Maulana Abdul Qawi declared on Aaj TV on Saturday that her latest venture into controversy was a "shame for all Muslims." Farzana Naz, interviewed by the same channel on the streets of Lahore, said that the actress had "bowed all us women in shame."

Twitter commentator Umair Javed however called on Pakistanis to "make copies of the picture and bury it in your backyard. This way, our grandkids will know there were some amongst us who lived free!"

Asked by reporters whether Pakistan would "pursue the matter" legally, the country's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Saturday, "First, let us see whether it is real or fake."

Malik for her part says that the photo at the root of the current uproar was published in violation of her agreement with FHM India. In an interview with Pakistani Geo television broadcast Saturday, Malik acknowledged having been photographed for a "bold but not nude shot." She said the editor of the magazine had promised that he would cover most of the photo with the ISI initials.

Malik said that the photo was intended to poke fun at the Indian fear of Pakistani spies: "Whatever happens (in India), people say ISI is behind that."

Malik said she would "probably" take a legal action against the magazine for violating terms and condition.

Magazine editor Kabeer Sharma said Malik did all with her full consent.

"We have all the record(s)," he told the Pakistani television station. "Veena was very excited about that ISI idea."

Malik does most of her work in India. The entertainment sector there is booming, while Pakistan's is moribund. Her ties to Pakistan's archrival have landed her in controversy in the past.

During a much-publicized talk show appearance early this year, she lashed out her nemesis Abdul Qawi, who criticized her for having a scripted love affair with an Indian actor on an Indian reality show.

"What is your problem with me?" an angry Malik demanded of the scholar, who had accused her of insulting Islam
.

'Up Close and Personal with PZ' fails to deliver

With an overtly pink and too bubbly promo and a disappointing first episode, 'Up Close and Personal with PZ' – doesn’t seem to have hit the mark with the public.

Not all actors can en-cash on the fame ticket once their silver screen time is over. Preity Zinta’s foray in to small screen with her own chat show seems to be an unwise decision on her part.

After her stint with the IPL and all the enthusiastic cheering from the stands, Preity Zinta has chosen a new turf to play on – her own chat show.

The public so far had been dealing with a Simi Garewal and a Karan Johar. Both in their own rights were interesting and the public were still enthusiastic enough to push their shows – 'Rendezvous with Simi Garewal' and 'Koffee with Karan' well past season one. In this genre of chat hosts, Preity is a new player and this lack of experience shows.

‘PZ’ in her scene, seems to be running in the flavour of her on screen personas of a vivacious, bubbly girl. Bubbly and vivacious she is – but she seems to be trying much too hard.

Her ‘candid’ conversations with Salman Khan, her first guest on the show, seem rather contrived. For an actress who is inviting her former co-stars to an easy and fun conversation – the effort she is making becomes too visible. The easy dialogue just doesn’t find its flow. With the easy chemistry missing, the show disappoints.

‘PZ’ jokes with Salman, asking him to marry her. He says that he wants to marry some one who is quite a brat (roughly translating) to which PZ insists that she is quite a brat. Desperate? But true.

She dances with Salman, makes him do a step from his latest hit ‘Bodyguard’ and gifts him a track suit and even prior to all this drama – the two actors had a promo photo-shoot where Salman was in a band-master’s outfit and ‘PZ’ is in a ‘lehenga’ posing with a trumpet.

The audience are forced to wonder where this is headed – the show and ‘PZ’ both. We can only hope it picks up momentum from the next episode.

Pooja Bedi evicted from Bigg Boss 5 house

She was the host of Season 2 of Bigg Boss. She impressed all with her grace and dignity in Season 5. She was the oldest member of the Big Boss 5 house. She also made everyone believe she had something going with Sky, by getting intimate with him and kind of siding with him, despite the fact that he lost his temper quickly. Well, we are talking about Pooja Bedi. The lady's stay in the house came to an end with her eviction this evening.

With her expulsion, the two Poojas have exited Bigg Boss. There was a lot of expectation that the elder Pooja would likely stay on till the end and take away the winner's crown. The younger Pooja had already been ejected because of her rowdy behavior.

Pooja Bedi, stayed in the house for 54 days and she always stood up for what is right! But the lady had more than once voiced that she was missing her two kids and would like to go home. She could not imagine how she had stayed away from them for so long.

Apparently, Bigg Boss heard her plea out and sent her home. The fact that she had not got much of the audience's support helped him make that decision too.

But before her eviction, viewers got a chance to see the housemates interact with Vidya Balan who danced with Sunny Leon on The Dirty Picture song "Oo La la." Juhi helped Sunny drape herself in the red sari which was gifted to her by Vidya Balan.

Ruk Jaana Nahi is banking on attractive promos to gain attention

Extensive marketing seems to be the mantra for a show’s success. Creative heads make sure they air the promos of their upcoming shows so many times that the viewers get sucked in to watching them. And it looks like Playtime Creations an Star Plus have similar plans in mind for their upcoming show Ruk Jaana Nahi…Aa Rahi Hai Sanchi that is based on college and political life in the north and which will be aired on Star Plus. The promos of this show are already on air.

A source reveals, “The production house has been shooting for the promos of this show for nearly a week now. In fact, they have shot one promo with every character.” When Tellychakkar.com spoke to producer Hemal Thakkar, he confirmed this.

The show will have Aniruddh Dave and Pooja Sharma as the lead actors and other actors like Paritosh Sand, Gyan Sahay, Vijay Kumar, Arun Bakshi, Sachal Tyagi,Sushil Bounthiyal, Zubin Dutt and Surendra Pal.

When quizzed about the casting, Hemal said that he is happy to work with stage actors. “I make it a point to have theatre actors in my shows as I feel they are really good at execution. And all the good actors are from theater. Mind you, I do not mean stars,” he clarified.

Though there have been reports of the show getting the 10:30 pm slot, the buzz is that Ruk Jaana Nahi will get an 8:30 pm or 9 pm slot. However, Hemal refused to comment on the same.

Well, all we hope is that the marketing strategy pays off well and the show enjoys good viewership. All the best!!