After actor Monica Bedi got entry into the reality show, Big Boss, for the second time, extradited gangster Abu Salem said he was “perplexed with her liaison with other men in the show”. Salem on Thursday sent a fresh notice to Bedi saying that he is “mentally tortured and deeply hurt” whenever she denies that she was ever married to him. Salem in the notice claimed that they got married in a Los Angeles mosque in November 2000. “If Monica wants to go ahead with her life, she’s is free to demand talaq,” he added.
Bedi, in several interviews to the media after her exit from the show had said that she had known Salem for many years, but never married him.
Salem in the notice claimed that his anguish had been “multiplied manifold” since he was unable to communicate with Bedi due to his imprisonment. Salem has been lodged at Arthur Road Jail ever since his deportation from Portugal in November 2005. There're several murder and terrorism cases pending against him.
Salem in his earlier notice had also made a mention of his displeasure with Bedi for her continuous statements to the media. In interviews to the media, she had said that she was “single” and not married to Salem.
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Here is a round-up of Bollywood news from Indian newspapers on Wednesday, Oct 15. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
REKHA ON TV - Actress Rekha is set to make her television debut soon, the Mumbai Mirror reported.
The actress told the paper she is scheduled to appear on a television show but did not give further details.
SRK’S DUBAI SHOW - The Germany and Spain legs of actor Shah Rukh Khan’s “Temptations Reloaded” tour have been cancelled, the Mumbai Mirror reported.
Show organiser Karim Morani was quoted as saying there will now be only one show in Dubai.
NAUGHTY GOVINDA - Film maker Jag Mundhra is directing Govinda in “Naughty @ 40,” a film about a 40-year-old bachelor infatuated by a young girl, the Times of India reported.
After twenty days of shooting in London, the film’s unit will now shift to India, the paper said.
New Delhi, Oct.15 (ANI): Noted music composer A. R. Rahman and Phat Phish, an integrated entertainment and communication company, have joined hands to launch India’’s biggest reality show of its kind –”The Big Band”.
The official announcement was made in the national capital on Tuesday.
The reality show, which is slate to provide ethnic and contemporary musicians a credible platform, will be telecast on Doordarshan, the national television channel, after mid-November.
“Like the success of Rabi and other albums there is a huge audience waiting for this kind of music. And we are doing it in bits and pieces. We decided to launch this massive hunt to get the whole of country and South Asia to get to know the potential of this music. It is unique and never done in history” said K. R. Harish, Managing Director of Phat Phish.
The Big Band aims at lending a new identity to Indian television and web cast history by all measures of budget, viewership, regional breadth and diversity. It also aims to enliven the hopes, dreams and aspirations of budding musicians.
“This show will be based on an indigenous format. It will provide a platform for nurturing and building musical talent across languages and the broad genres. We have seen so many shows in every channel and what makes this different is that we come up with the idea of discovering brands in the country. There are other countries involved as well that make it all the more exciting,” said A. R. Rahman.
“What makes this different are the bands from all over India and outside India and there is also a possibility of cross cultural exchange. India is the young nation. So this is the right time to see,” added A. R. Rahman, music director.
Rehman informed that presently he was completing an album that was content for a mobile company having various tracks in it.
This show will be presented as a travelogue through A R Rahman’’s eyes as his journey across 15 cities of India in course of the hunting the talent for The Big Band.
This show would be telecast in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia and is open to participation from these countries.
To participate in The Big Band, bands must have between 2 to 10 band members with at least one lead singer. They must submit three tunes.
Short listed bands will be invited to the first stage audition where they will be asked to perform any of the three pieces that the judges ask them to play.
The winning band in the talent hunt show will get a three-year recording contract with Phat Phish Records which includes end-to-end artist management , upto 3 albums and 6 music videos, tours and concerts on the national and international stage.
The top bands will walk away with prizes (including cash) worth rupees 10 million awarded proportionately through a pyramid structure.
For information on rules and requirements for participation in the contest , the band groups can log on to www.bigbandindia.com.
The hunt for the talented band members has already commenced and the last date for screening of entrants list is Nov.15.
NDTV Imagine today announced that Balaji Telefilms will produce a prime-time daily on the channel. The creative team of NDTV Imagine and Balaji Telefilms have had a successful relationship in the past, creating some of the most popular and highly rated shows on Indian television. The show which will air at 10.30 pm is a daily prime time drama and is slated to go on-air in a couple of weeks.
Announcing the association with Balaji Telefilms, Shailja Kejriwal, EVP- Content, NDTV Imagine said, "We are delighted to be working with Ekta once again. She has a great understanding of the pulse of our viewers and together we will create stories that will refresh and delight our audience. It is also quite a coincidence that the first time we interacted with Ekta was for the 10.30 pm slot, just like this one."Adds Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms, "This is like home coming; to be back working with Sameer and Shailja. They are the ones who gave me my first break and I treat them like my bosses. I am pleased to be working with them again as they give me all the support and freedom and I will work with the same passion as I used to earlier".
It has everything that an Indian television show could hope for: Controversial characters, ‘item girls’, a politician’s son flirting with a mobster’s moll, kisses and the metaphorical cloak-and-dagger.
There was one potboiler ingredient missing and it fell into place on Saturday: A police complaint accusing Bigg Boss 2 of being obscene.
The police in Lonavla, where the show is being shot, will be busy from Tuesday watching the serial closely, reading the script, scanning reams of footage looking to arrest that elusive creature of Indian law: obscenity.
Mumbai Youth Congress Committee President Sunil Ahire had filed a complaint at the Andheri police station against the show, the central star of which is Rahul Mahajan, son of the late Pramod Mahajan who was one the foremost leaders of Ahire’s rival party BJP. The case was shifted to Lonavla on Monday.
Ahire claimed on Monday that his party leaders had roundly cheered his moral stance. “His main objections are to the swimming pool, massage and the dance scenes,” said Police Inspector Ashok Jadhav of the Andheri police station.
In all this, the two-month-old channel, Colors, have dislodged Zee as No 2 with a 19.9 per cent share in the general entertainment category for the week ending October 4, according to data available with television viewership measurement agency TAM.
Bigg Boss 2, along with the channel’s bigger hits Balika Vadhu and Jai Sri Krishna, are powering its astounding surge. “We put non-fiction shows on weekdays, an unconventional move that paid off. Fresh treatment of different content certainly helped us,” said Ashvini Yardi, senior VP, Colors. “About Bigg Boss, we are taking care to follow guidelines and not offend any of our viewers.”
The channel was also aggressively marketed and distributed, she said.
Meanwhile, Ahire told Hindustan Times that he would be hiring a good lawyer so that the accused did not get away easily.
“We are doing our follow-ups with the police. We want them to act swiftly,” he said.
While Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam had startled his party by deciding to participate in Bigg Boss, he was evicted in the first week without much controversy.
However, he seems to have taken it to the larger political stage by making it an issue between the Congress and the BJP. He has openly attacked the organisers for making Bigg Boss “obscene”.
Rahul’s dalliances on the show are fuelling the fight. Rahul was introduced as a “young neta’’ by Bigg Boss host Shilpa Shetty when the contestants first entered the Bigg Boss house in Lonavla. Through the past eight weeks, Rahul has been talking of an image change and positioning himself as a youth icon.
But the Congress might have jumped the gun a bit. The BJP was quick to distance itself from Rahul, labelling it as his personal venture. “This has nothing to do with our party,’’ said BJP’s Maharashtra President Nitin Gadkari.
Star Plus will air an 8 days Diwali special TV series titled Diwali Rishton Kii from October 13 to Oct 23 at 10 PM. The show will bring together 90 artistes from across the channels who will perform 24 different acts.
Rucha Gujrati, the famous Bhaabhi of television , will get the party started with a performance on Kehne Ko Jashn e Baharan Hai.
The popular Maayka couple Romit Raj & Shilpa Shinde will perform a romantic medley on the mushy song - Teri Ore...
Nach Baliye 3 winner, Sanjeeda Sheikh and Aamir Ali will pay a patriotic tribute dancing to evergreen numbers - Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and It Happens Only In India.
Hari Puttar actor Swini Khare along with other star kids will participate in a fun medley of songs - Kagna re Kagna re, Duppatta Tera Nou Rang Da and Chak Dhoom Dhoom.
The famous mother- daughter duo of - Sarita Joshi and Ketki Dave will perform Garba Raas on Gujrati folk numbers- More ka Bole and Pankhida Re Pankhida.
Five popular artists - Sachin and Supriya , Additi and Harshad and Shweta Tiwari recite the traditional forms of Maharasttra , Punjab and Bengal, respectively, in their presentation.
The surprise pack of the celebrations comes in the form of Lily Patel, our good ol dadi from Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, who is bidding adieu to the biggest running soap of television, albeit in style! She will go out with a bang cavorting to popular Bollywood numbers - Rock n Roll and Shaava Shaava.
With competition hotting up in the direct-to-home television segment after the entry of Reliance Big TV and Bharti Airtel DTH, market leader Dish TV and TataSky are planning to introduce DVR technology around Diwali time to stay a step ahead.
The Digital Video Recorder (DVR), which allows viewers to record programmes in one channel while watching another and play according to convenience, is being billed as the next big thing in the evolving Indian DTH market.
"This, of course, will be a premium product and we plan to announce the launch of DVR technology platform for our DTH service very soon. It will be a Diwali gift to our customers," TataSky Chief Marketing Officer Vikram Mehra said.
Similarly, market leader Dish TV is also readying to roll out its DVR platform.
"Our launch of DVR is expected around Diwali and our offer will have 140 hours of recording time," Dish TV Chief Operating Officer Salil Kapoor said, adding the set top boxes for the DVR were expected to cost around Rs 10,000 each.
Their new rivals Bharti and Reliance Big entertainment are also readying DVR platform. While an RCom official said soon the company would unveil DVR, industry sources said Bharti DTH may also launch the same thing.
Asked if they were compelled to bring the new technology due to increased competition, both TataSky and Dish TV denied.
"We have been planning for it over the last eight months doing pilot studies. Now we are ready to roll-out," Mehra said.
Jalwa Four 2 ka 1 is soon to groove TV sets. There had been many specualtions in past. Now we give you final names on the show...
Finally the curtain raises from all the contestant of Jalwa Four 2 ka 1 right here on tellybuzz. The format of the show includes acting, singing and comedy by the contestants.
There will be four Teams and each will have its respective captains and members.
Rakhi Sawant, Mika, Shakti Kapoor, And Shweta Tiwari are the captains in the show. The teams consist of members as follow:-
Rakhi’s Team: Bhaktyaar, Amit Tandon and Purbhi Joshi.
Mika’ s Team: Kashmira Shah, Khayali and Sandeep Archarya.
Shakti Kapoor’s Team: Krushna Abhishek, Tanaz Currim and Shubangi Atre.
Shweta Tiwari Team: Rajeshwari Sachdev, Twinkle Bajpai and Gaurav Khanna
Our khabroo from the sets witness, " The Tashan star Anil Kapoor is the first celebrity guest judge on the show." The panel of judges consist of Satish Kaushik and Mahima Choudhary. Divyanka Triphati and Ali Asgar will be hosting the show.
Juhi Parmar is stunned to see a surprise guest brought on stage post her fabulous performance in Sahara One's Saas V/s Bahu....Juhi Parmar is one happy and blushing bride to be!! Ever since the news that she and paramour, Sachin Shroff will soon be tying the knot is out, the beautiful actress can’t keep the smile off her face. Everyone on the sets of Sahara One's Saas vs Bahu has been constantly ragging her about the same.It began with the host, Karan Mehra, ribbing her about Sachin as the episode began. Even the judges did not spare Juhi as Aruna Irani bullied her into sharing more about her relationship with Sachin. Juhi gave an outstanding performance as she danced on the Krazy Kiya Re number from Dhoom 2. The judges and host showered her with praises post the performance.
But the moment of surprise and pleasure for her was when Karan asked her whom did she perform for, and to her surprise, Sachin walked in. A pleased Juhi says, “I was completely dumbstruck to see him on stage. I had absolutely no idea that the production and creatives had planned such an amazing surprise for me."
Ask her what her beau thinks of her as a dancer and she happily replies, “He would give a 10/10 with his eyes closed."
Well, now we know what they mean by love is blind!!!
Harshad Chopra will most likely play the lead in Star Plus' Kaisi Yeh Mohobbat Hai which will replace Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii..Ekta Kapoor’s blue-eyed boy Harshad Chopra had promised his fans that he would be back with a bang, and it seems as though he is living up to it!!
Well, we are not talking of his re-entry in Kis Desh, but the buzz is that he will be part of the big budget show ‘Kaisi Ye Mohobbat Hai’ that will replace Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki on Star Plus.
According to our source, “Harshad has been approached for the role of the male lead, but nothing has been finalized yet. He is yet to sign a contract”.
Pooja Bose who plays Radha in 9X’ Kahaani Humaarey Mahaabharat Ki will essay the lead role while speculations are that Ram Kapoor and Vivek Mushran have been approached to play the head of the families in this Ekta style Saudaagar remake.
“Kadar Khan, the veteran of films has also been approached for the show, but has not got back yet”, concludes our source. For now, the waiting game continues for Harshad fans, and this will go on till they hear a final word on his comeback!!
New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) Only Rahul Mahajan could get close to her, kiss her and scold her in season two of reality show “Bigg Boss”, but actress Payal Rohatgi has denied any romantic involvement with him after her eviction from the show.”Rahul is not my boyfriend, he is my friend,” Payal told IANS over phone from Mumbai.
In August, Rahul, son of the late Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former union minister Pramod Mahajan, formally parted from his wife Shweta after a Gurgaon court passed a decree on their mutual divorce petition. His closeness with Payal was an alleged reason for the break-up.
But Payal, who was evicted from the reality show Friday, maintains that “Rahul is only a good friend”.
Viewers were witness to their intimacy on “Bigg Boss” when they were assigned the task of playing volleyball in a swimming pool.
Commenting upon their physical proximity on the show, she said: “The pool was six feet deep and I’m only five feet six inches tall. I needed someone to shift me around and hold me in the pool. I was more comfortable with Rahul because I know him. We have partied and have had dinners together.
“I couldn’t let others like Debojit (Saha), Ashutosh (Kaushik) and Raja (Chaudhary) come as close. After all they are men,” she said.
Payal was criticised by her inmates for her closeness to Rahul, her cat fights with item girl Sambhavna Seth, wearing a bikini on the show and constantly wearing make-up.
Sambhavna alleged that Payal is “fake” and that she used to backstab people on the show.
But Payal denies her allegations saying: “I was very neutral. I was not there to make friends for life. I just wanted to be cordial and nice to people so that we could live together in peace. So there is no question of having backstabbed anyone. It would have been so had I nominated Rahul, who is a good friend,” Payal said.
As far as being called “fake” is concerned, she said: “I was there to gain visibility for the benefit of my career. If I dabbed on make-up to look good on the show, why are people complaining?
“She (Sambhavna) has said that I used to wake up at six in the morning to touch up and then used to sleep again. But then why was this footage not shown? It would have made for a juicy shot. ‘Bigg Boss’ was not a house, it was a house-like situation and being an actor, I had to take care of the way I looked on screen,” Payal said.
After coming out of the “Bigg Boss” house, the actress says she is dying to pamper herself with “a manicure, pedicure and a good massage” to rejuvenate herself mentally and physically.
“I am very happy to be back in the real world. I was there to gain visibility and show the other side of personality and I have been successful in doing that. People had only seen the glamorous side of Payal Rohtagi, but now they know that I even cry,” said Payal who is now looking forward to getting some “lead roles in good films”.
Payal was seen in films “Dhol” and “Corporate”. In Madhur Bhandarkar’s critically acclaimed “Corporate”, she danced to the popular item song “O Sikander”.
Now she is looking forward to her next film “Dil Kabaddi”, in which she will be seen with Soha Ali Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma and Irrfan Khan, among others.
Farah Khan confesses that although a big fan of reality shows, she cant stand it being dramatised.
After judging almost four reality shows, Farah has got the title of an experienced and qualified judge.
Excerpts from an interview:
Do you consider yourself a reality show junkie? I am a big fan of reality shows and that’s the reason why I have judged almost four of them and now this one is going to be my fifth one. Bigg Boss used to be one of my favourite reality shows and I could almost feel my social life getting disturbed ,but now as I see the contestants behaving like normal human beings, I have started getting out of it. Nach Baliye has always been my favourite one.
Unfortunately the entire outlook of the audiences towards reality shows have changed, they feel that everything is made up over there. What do you think about this? Yes, I agree to what they feel because it really does happen in some of the shows. I won’t say that everything there is made up, but the judges are made to do certain things. Fortunately such things have never happened in my shows and I will see to it that they never happen. It’s not only the drama, but also the background music which I cannot stand. For no reason, there is always background music being played. Even the news channels are practicing it. In the midst of news reports about bomb blasts, there’s background music being played.
There are hardly any known faces in ‘Nach baliye 4’. Dont you think that’s going to affect its popularity?
That’s true, but I guess nothing can be done about it because all the known faces have already participated in it and the ones who are remaining are busy somewhere else. The main hitch about this show is that you need to participate in it as a couple.
So don’t you think that a gap was required, so that the popular faces could have participated in it?
Look, if I talk on the behalf of a viewer, then I would want to watch Nach Baliye every year. If you have become a fan of a particular reality show then you wouldn’t want to miss it for a single year. Just like me, in spite of not liking Bigg Boss, I still sit in front of the television every night to watch it, because it’s more of a habit.
Before signing for the show, did you try to find out whether the contestants whom you are going to judge are up to the mark or not? Honestly speaking, I never thought about it. During my last show Jo Jeeta Wahi Superstar I had a word with Star TV and that is when they asked me and I was pretty excited about the whole thing. Personally, its one of my favourite shows so I didn’t bother to find out who the other judges or the contestants would be.
Don’t you think that with Arjun Rampal and Karishma Kapoor along with you, the viewers’ expectations would be higher?
I feel that the viewers are going to be really happy on seeing such a mind-blowing panel of judges. This will be the first time that two Bollywood stars would be seen as judges on the show. Normally, they would have a choreographer along with a director as a judge, but with me they’ve got one-on-one free.
In every reality show there’s always a clash between the judges voting and the SMS voting. Keeping this in mind, have you made any changes?
I have always wanted a 50-50 opinion in my show. In Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar I almost changed the format of the show. But I don’t think we can neglect the SMS voting because that’s the only way in which the viewers are attached to the show and how can we forget that they are the ones who actually help us in making the show popular.
Tell us briefly about ‘Happy new Year’?
Happy New Year would be ready by the end of next year since we haven’t started with the shooting of the film, as I’m waiting for my kids to grow up so that I can take them with me wherever I go.
Payal Rohatgi is out of Bigg Boss after 8 grueling weeks. In a candid chat, she clears the air about her relation with Rahul, Monica and a lot more...
After Sambhavna Seth’s exit last week this time it was her beta noir Payal Rohatgi to be evicted from the COLORS reality show Bigg Boss. Here is the item girl in a candid conversation where she talks about the days of her captivity at the Lonavala farm house.
How was the experience of 8 weeks in Bigg Boss house? It was both interesting and taxing. The biggest problem was that I was not able to talk to my mom due to which I broke down many a times. This house taught me how to nominate people and then act very friendly outside.
Can you give a clear idea of your relationship with Rahul Mahajan? We are good friends and nothing else. He was the only one who I was close to in the house. When he started ignoring me because of Monica, I just asked him the reason for such behavior. As a friend, I felt I needed to know the reason.
But there was talk about you and him getting cozy in the bathroom? No, I used to go with Raja and Rahul inside the bathroom to wash clothes.
What about all the kisses and pecks? That's the way we great each other. I don't see anything wrong in giving each other a peck on the cheek.
Another allegation is that every thing is scripted in Big Boss. What do you have to say for this? It’s not true, how can you play games for 3 months?? Agreed that many things depend on how much you control yourself when you are aware that the camera is tailing you all the time. But even then sometimes you just forget about it. What you see is what really happens, when people loose their cool or just cry all alone.
Most people have attributed your closeness to Rahul as a reason for nominating you? He is a friend so even if I have gone out due to him, it’s fine. At least it’s better than saying that Payal is a bad person.
There was a lot of talk about the swim suit and massages act? Oh God, what do you expects me to wear for swimming? And remember I had worn sarong. As for massage, I was tired and hence asked for massage from a friend, what's wrong in that? But Rahul being the naughty guy he is, starting playing around and then I had to stop him. I didn’t want to embarrass him or my parents. It was not a big thing but the channel created hype by playing it over and over again.
Your comments on Monica Bedi coming back as wild card..
It’s good that she is back. I got an opportunity to clear the misunderstanding between us. Earlier I was responsible for her exit. Now I hope this show helps her to go miles ahead in her career.
Coming to Sambhavna, she is talking about you a lot. I don't want to comment on her as we all have seen her behavior. She was never my friend and we come from different backgrounds. But yes I do apologize to her for calling her cheap and down market. I had said so in a certain context, when she was abusing me and getting into my case. As for her badmouthing me, I don't want to get into that, rather I’ll get back to my life.
It’s said that you have been wearing make-up throughout. I am now in front of camera and have I put on make-up. So what’s the big deal? I want to look good and am conscious when it comes to being in front of camera.
Have you fulfilled your aim of coming into Bigg Boss? Yes I did... I wanted the public and director to see me as who I’m, than in a mere glam avatar, which they did. I was cooking food and just sitting around in bandana. I wanted to portray different image as a girl next door as I am tired of looking good and the other tags that was given to me. I just wanted to try out other stuff as well. I was on a long break from my films and hence thought that this will be a good opportunity to re connect with my fans.
Who do you want to win? Of course Rahul, I will vote for him. At present there is big clash between Rahul and Raja. The one who maintains his/her cool will end up taking home the prize booty.
MUMBAI: The youth wing of the Congress party has registered a case against recently launched Colors channel and production house Endemol for hurting religious sentiments in their dance show 'Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena'.
A complaint has also been lodged against Rahul Mahajan, son of slain BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, actresses Payal Rohatgi and Sambhavana Seth for obscenity in the reality show 'Big Boss'.
According to the first complaint, in one of the episodes of the reality dance show, Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh had dressed as Lord Ravana and danced with TV actress Mona Singh, who was dressed as Sita.
The Mumbai Youth Congress have claimed that this dance has hurt the religious sentiments of the viewers, Deputy Commissioner of Police, K M M Prasanna said.
Prasanna said that they have directed the production house to submit a CD of the episode after which investigations will be conducted.
The second complaint against Rahul, Payal and Sambhavana states that they behaved in an obscene manner in 'Big Boss'.
According to the complaint, in order to gain publicity, the three indulged in cheap behavior during their stay at the 'Big Boss' house.
Read more...
Out of the three Dumping Zone nominees, Payal Rohatgi has been voted out while Rahul Mahajan and Raja Chaudhary are safe.
Payal becomes the sixth female housemate to have been evicted. Only last week, 'Pa' was rejoicing after the exit of archenemy Sambhavana Seth. But now, it's her turn to say goodbye to her fellow BB2 housemates. And Rahul Mahajan.
Rahul and Payal were allegedly having an affair, as was evident in their behaviour on the show. In the latter episodes, Raja Chaudhary had started flirting with Payal right under Rahul's nose, even looking at her when she was sleeping.
Payal had had numerous showdowns with Sambhavana Seth, and didn't take time to shed tears. But the verdict is out and people have shown their preference for both Rahul and Raja.
Sambhavna Seth is unhappy over the fact that Monica Bedi enters Bigg Boss house tonight as Wild Card entry even though she secured more votes than her....According to highly placed sources, Sambhavna Seth is not very happy at the fact that Monica Bedi has been sent as Wild card in Bigg Boss. She says, “How can Monica go when I got more votes??”. She has further raised questions on the entire nomination and elimination procedure of this Colors reality show as well. “My suspicions were raised when Rahul Mahajan asked me how many weeks I would want to stay”, says she. However the source adds that she does not feel that the behavior of participants inside was scripted.
She has no qualms about playing games. “Had I not played games, I would not have survived even the initial two weeks. It was really tough to face all that I did from many people there”, quips Sambhavna.
In no mood to spare Payal Rohatgi, Sambhavna says, “I would not mind doing a film with her if I get a role to beat her up”. Things were not well between the two item girls even when they had both worked together in ‘36 China Town’. Payal supposedly started the fresh tiff when she called Sambhavna cheap, to which the latter retorted, “Look who is calling me names, somebody who wears two pieces and gets massages??”. She is said to have confirmed that Payal and Rahul had played some "game" in the toilet. She also laughed at the fact that Payal would steal ciggies. Sambhavna even quoted, "Payal and Rahul had a fling even before they entered Bigg Boss house".
On Casanova Rahul, she says luckily he did not hit on her. “Rather he called me his sister”, says the girl. However, Sambhavna confesses that she seemed wary of Zulfi. “He always played some kind of black magic; hence whatever he would say would come true”.
Sambhavna who went into Bigg Boss to please her father does not feel that she humiliated him by the supposed ‘kissing’ with Raja. “We were playing this game to make Payal feel jealous. If you watch carefully, I had covered Raja's face with hair and we both were laughing. Whatever came up on the screen was all the camera work!”, states she.
In spite of the bad memories inside the house, Sambhavna is glad to have got the love of all. “It was so nice to see women coming up and saying that I was so sweet in the games I played”, avers the girl. She was also touched by the enquiries regarding her brother and nephew.
Still clueless about her future plans, Sambhavna states, “I have a large number of TV and film offers pouring in, but have not decided on anything as of now”. However, our source says that she might be a judge on an upcoming reality show as well.
DREAM wedding bells are in the air for a stage full of aspiring hopefuls eager to put their dancing skills to the test and win the wedding of their dreams in Star Plus' Aaja Mahi Vay– Prem Ki Agni Pariksha.
The show invites viewers to bring as many guests as they want to witness the winning combination of wedding and dancing fever, when a group of love struck young couples about to tie the knot, will put their love, commitment and dance moves to the test to win the STAR prize of their no-expense-spared, dream wedding.
The first week will feature performances from all of the contending couples spread over two nail-bitingly tense days, with appeals for votes from viewers at home, as well as a panel of relentless judges.
Thereafter, each episode will have performances by the top three couples, who compete for prizes such as refrigerators, microwave ovens, home theatre systems - goods that will come in handy for starting a domestic life together. There will be three compatibility games in which their companionship and commitment will be judged. This will be followed by the elimination of a couple with the least amount of votes.
Hosted by the Ant & Dec of India – Rahul & Vineet – the loveable rascals will exchange banter and wisecracks, peppering the show with entertainment and fun-filled moments, in between consoling the losers and backing the finalists as they tensely pass from heat to heat.
The hopeful couples will come under the strutinising eye of the panel of judges - Ronit Roy, Shweta Tiwari and Apara Mehta – who will perform the important task of appraising the contestants' performances, but will also flavour their observations with their distinct personalities.
So make sure you RSVP for the most romantic and heartwarming dance-off in television history, as ‘Aaja Mahi Vay – Prem Ki Agni Pariksha’ sets the date for the big day, when it launches on STAR PLUS on 18 October at 10pm, continuing every Saturday and Sunday at 10pm.
This week one of the longest running soaps Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii... will draw to a close. The serial, which has been on air for over seven years, was rumoured to be going off due to low TRPs. But Anupama Mandloi, Programming Head, Star Plus says, “Kahaani... is one of the cult shows on Indian television. It is best to end the show on a high rather than when it has completely lost steam.” The last episode will end on Dassera as a tribute to all the key artistes on the show and a last final goodbye to the viewers who have enjoyed it for seven years. Kahaani... will be replaced by another Balaji serial. When asked if Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, which has also taken a beating since the last few months, will also go off-air, Mandloi said, “There is no such plan on the cards as yet.” She, however, pointed out that long-running shows are difficult to sustain. “The makers fight against all odds to keep the show as engaging, fresh and gripping as it was when it began. Television ratings across channels have also seen fragmentation,” she said.
Song and dance Success is not new to Harshdeep Kaur, the winner of Junoon Kuch Kar Dikhane Ka. She has already done playback singing for around 50 films, the latest being the title-track of Karzzz. “People knew me by my voice, but I wanted them to place a face with the voice, which is why I participated in the show,” says the singer. This, however, is not her first brush with a television show. Her first outing was MTV Video Ga Ga in 2001. She got her first offer for playback in a film called Aap Ko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai. She shifted base from Delhi to Mumbai to pursue her career in singing. Now, she’s also got an offer for acting in a Punjabi film Ek Omkara. “It is a religious musical film,” she reveals. In Hindi, she hasn’t yet taken to acting but has sung for films like Kajra Re, Idiot Box and Raju Joker.
Getting supernatural After history and fantasy, channels now seem to be moving towards the supernatural. Sahara One is launching a supernatural show against the backdrop of a family drama. Kaisi Laagi Lagan, premiering on October 13, is a love story which is a saga of a cursed marriage. It is about Pratha, a beautiful 23-year old girl whose life revolves around her college group in canteens and is reared by her mother. The mother is burdened with a secret that nobody in her family would ever have a happy married life. Pratha comes to know about her future husband through planchette and it completely changes her life. Pratha and Raghav, whom she meets in college, fall in love and decide to marry without knowing what destiny has in store. Kaisi Laagi Lagan is produced by Cinevistaas and they are introducing two new faces, Mahi Vij and Asmit Kaushik. In keeping with its errie theme, the serial will be aired at 11 pm Monday - Friday.
Star Parivaar Asia Wedding Fair The lead cast of Star Plus numero uno show Bidaai, Sara Khan, Parul Chauhan, Kinshuk Mahajan and Angad Hasija inaugurated the first Star Parivaar Asia Wedding Fair at the JW Marriott Hotel in Mumbai. Displayed at the venue was a variety of wedding garments, jewellery and accessories. The "Star Style Studio”, provide a platform for visitors to seek expert advice in styling, beauty and fashion. Also the stylists from Star provides design support to the couples to help them choose the right ensemble and create the ‘look of the season’ with a combination of apparel, jewellery, hair and make-up solutions. Keertan Adyanthaya, General Manager & EVP for Star Plus and Anupam Vasudev, EVP Marketing for STAR India Pvt Ltd were also present on the occasion of the launch. The exhibition was held in Mumbai from October 3- 5 and moved to Bangalore from October 10 - 12.
The Latest evictee of Big Boss, Sambhavna Seth said that she had taken part in the Reality show to fulfill her dad's wish. The wish was to see her on television everyday. She commented that she had never thought that her visit to the Big Boss would stretch to such a long period because it was very difficult to survive under so much controversy and politics.
Seth had not made any friends at the house as she believed that nobody was for real .Everybody had a hidden motive to win and could go to any extent to let the other person down. However she did show the positive side of the show by calling it a fruitful experience and also making it clear that the show was not scripted. she felt the show brought out extreme emotions of people and one did a lot of things which one regretted later. To quote Sambhavna "You could have seen how hyper I got .I cried a lot, laughed a bit too much and got a bit too abusive.But, then what else could I have done when everybody had turned against me?"
She called Zulfi a horrid guy” I think he is very dangerous. He is poisonous and a very strange character”. She did not hold Rahul Mahajan in very high esteem either but said that he knew very well how to play the game and could be a prospective winner.
Spitting more venom her biggest enemy was Payal Rohatgi because she humiliated her, said mean things to her and also called her downmarket, but Seth brought out a shocking reality that she shared her bed with Rahul and also the washroom on the pretext of washing clothes. Ooops! What’s the world coming to.
On her entry to Big Boss, through wild card, she definitely wanted to go back, as she wanted to teach all those at the house a lesson. Quoting "Dobara jaake sabka band bajana hai!".We have seen to which level our reel life heroes stoop but this is unbelievable.
After the turn of controversial Sambhavana Seth’s exit last week, it is dumping time again this weekend. And in the dock are three-Payal Rohtagi, Raja Chaudhary and Rahul Mahajan ready to face the Gauntlet. Last week also there were three nominees for eviction. But Sambhavana Seth beat out the competition as the most hated inmate of the Bigg Boss house. The other two housemates in the Dumping Zone – Debojit Saha and Ashutosh Kaushik – stayed back.
Sambhavana had been the ‘most hated’ participant of the show as she had picked up fights with every housemate.
This week, all three in question, Payal, Raja and Rahul have been instrumental in keeping the house abuzz with drama and controversy. For Raja, this is the third time he’s in the red
With Sambhavana Seth ’s eviction last week, the Bigg Boss 2 jinx continues, as Sambhavana becomes the fifth female housemate to be evicted. The others who have gone out so far include, Alina Wadiwala, Rakhi Vijan, Monica Bedi and Ketki Dave
Big TV also notes that Airtel had no copyright claims since the teaser ads ran with no brand logo or name
Mumbai / New Delhi: The country’s largest mobile phone company, Bharti Airtel Ltd, formally launched its much anticipated digital television service, a direct-to-home (DTH) service branded Airtel Digital TV, but its ad blitz was somewhat undermined by rival Reliance Big TV Ltd. Airtel Digital TV had been running teaser commercials for the past week on national television that didn’t identify the brand in an ad that ended with a voice-over saying: “See you at home.” Reliance Big TV, part of the Anil Ambani-run conglomerate, ran a strikingly similar television commercial, including the red sofa in Airtel Digital’s ad as well as a voice-over that went: “See you at home”. Big TV touted features such as 200-plus channels, 32 cinema “halls” and digital quality audio and video.
“If you (Airtel) are going to tease people, we (Big TV) are going to feed their appetite,” said Bobby Pawar, chief creative officer of Mudra Group, which created the Big TV campaign. “The brand is called Big (TV) and we don’t do things in half measure.” Big TV also notes that Airtel had no copyright claims since the teaser ads ran with no brand logo or name. “It’s an open market and every player is expected to respond to competition. The campaign also gave us an opportunity to make specific claims on the product,” says Sanjay Behl, group head (brand and marketing) of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. Big TV hopes to grab a 40% market share and is distributing its service through 100,000 outlets across 6,000 towns, piggybacking in part on affiliate Reliance Communications Ltd, which ranks behind Bharti Airtel in the country’s bitterly competitive mobile phone services business.Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications have tangled before in various industry takeover battles as well as fights over industry standards and spectrum.
The ambush is similar to what PepsiCo Inc.’s India unit did for the 1996 Cricket World Cup when Coca-Cola Co. had touted the official drink status of Coke at the tournament. Pepsi countered with a “Nothing Official About It” campaign. And more recently, in 2005, publisher Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd grabbed a teaser campaign that was being used by new newspaper Daily News & Analysis in Mumbai.
JWT India, Airtel Digital TV’s agency, mocked Big TV’s attempt. “I thought Big (TV) was big enough to have ideas of their own,” says Agnello Dias, chief creative officer at JWT. “If Big (TV) thinks that Airtel DTH’s launch depends solely on a red chair, they will be very surprised when the campaign breaks.”
Airtel Digital TV’s campaign, replete with a cricket and Bollywood ensemble, features actors Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, cricketers Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan, as well as current Airtel ad stars Madhavan and Vidya Balan, and music composer A.R. Rahman.
Bharti Airtel becomes the fifth player in this nascent business after Tata Sky Ltd, an 80:20 joint venture between the Tata group and Star Group; Dish TV Ltd, an Essel Group company; Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture between Chennai-headquartered SunTV Network Ltd and Malaysia’s South Asia Entertainment Holdings Ltd; and Big TV.
Public broadcaster Prasar Bharti runs a free service, called DD Direct.
India has an estimated seven million paying DTH customers and this number is expected to grow to 25 million by 2012, according to a report by industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Airtel executives claimed the phone company’s large subscriber base of at least 75 million, its brand strength and a large distributor network will give it the edge in gaining market leadership, claims similar to what Reliance made when it launched Big TV in August.
“India has 225 million households and the DTH penetration is barely 3% of that,” says Manoj Kohli, chief executive officer and joint managing director at Bharti Airtel. “At Airtel, we didn’t want to miss this opportunity, and that’s how we decided last year to enter this segment and add media and entertainment to our portfolio.”
“The entrance of every new player into the segment will help expand the market and that is good news for the industry and consumers,” says Rajesh Jain, who heads the information, communication and entertainment practice at audit and consulting firm KPMG.
Airtel Digital TV will be offered in 62 cities in the first phase and will eventually be available in 252 cities. The service offers 175 channels through different packages ranging from Rs2,499 to Rs3,999. The company said it will also offer a universal remote control for the television and a set-top box as well as a dish antenna that is 20% wider to ensure better reception during rains, a major problem with DTH services.
Sanjay Nirupam, who is very close to Monica Bedi, confirmed Monica Bedi has been informed that she has scored over three other girls - Alina Wadiwala, Sambhavna Seth and Rakhi Vijyan - to re-enter the Bigg Boss House as a wild card entry.
Diana Hayden entered the house earlier as a fresh wild card sometime back while a fake eviction involving Raja was created a week ago.
Monica is now slated to enter the house anytime, which is likely to create more commotion there.
Currently, there are eight housemates - Rahul, Payal, Raja, Zulfi, Diana, Debojit, Ehsaan and Ashutosh.
Even as Monica Bedi is all set to return to Bigg Boss, the nomination of Payal Rohatgi along with Rahul Mahajan (pictured) and Raja Chaudhary has led to a different thought process on the show.
If Payal and Rahul remain when Monica is around, it creates an interesting angle for the triangular love story.
If Payal is eliminated then Rahul gets all the liberty to carry on his romance with Monica.
But if Rahul is eliminated, the show may lose its sheen and hence that may not happen.
Diana Hayden nominated Rahul and Payal. Rahul, because he is very scheming and Payal, because she helps him with his planning.
Raja Chaudhary nominated Rahul for not watering the plants and demoralising people from performing weekly tasks and Payal for being positive only towards Rahul.
Ashutosh Kaushik nominated Rahul for renaming everyone and Payal for lying to him.
Ehsaan nominated Rahul and Payal for making the atmosphere of the house very political.
Rahul nominated Raja for misusing the information he got from the past time and Diana for insulting him all the time.
Zulfi Syed nominated Raja for misusing the information he had and Ashutosh for not using the right language.
Payal nominated Raja for misusing the information he had when he was in the secret chamber of Bigg Boss and Ehsaan for not working hard enough in the house.
Debojit nominated Ashutosh for using bad language and Ehsaan for saying bad things about his singing.
An unforgettable conversation with an unforgettable family...NDTV Imagine presents a memorable tête-à-tête with Abhishek & Aishwariya Bachchan on Big B’s Den this Friday at 10 pm.This Friday, NDTV Imagine invites you to a private conversation between India’s most sought after couple and the legend of Indian cinema!
Amitabh Bachchan puts his son and daughter in law to test in this enlightening and entertaining special episode of Big B’s Den this Friday, 03 October at 10:00p.m. only on NDTV Imagine.
It’s an unforgettably candid interview with the couple as they open up and share their most memorable moments together on the Unforgettable Tour. From quick responses to Big B’s ‘quick-question’ round to unveiling of secrets of Abhishek’s Gurumantra, this episode promises to be a memorable one. Don’t miss the very sincere revelation by Ash about her fondness for New York City, which holds special meaning for both her and Abhishek. Get a glimpse of Abhi-Ash’s performances on Khaike Paan Banaras Waala and a very special guest who joined then Bachchan’s on tour as a spectator, Sweta Nanda (Abhishek’s sister) who flew all the way from Delhi for Raksha Bandhan.
It’s an unforgettable episode that you will not want to miss. Tune in to Big B’s Den, this Friday at 10 pm only on NDTV Imagine.
After Shilpa Shetty and Urmila Matondar, its the turn for Karisma Kapoor to join the bandwagon on TV... Read further to know more...
After Shilpa Shetty and Urmila Matondar, its the turn for yet another Bollywood diva to join the bandwagon on Indian television. So viewers gear up for the sizzling hot actress Karisma Kapoor who joins the panel of judges with Farah Khan and Arjun Rampal in Nach Baliye 4.
We have a tete-a-tete with the dazzling hot LOLO aka Karisma on her way to television and her life in personal front.
What was the reason for coming back on TV with a reality show? It’s a strong and fantastic medium and one connects well with the audience. Talking about doing reality show, it’s the current trend in the industry, so I too wanted to try my hand in it. I am sure it will not take me much time to adjust and adapt myself to the medium of television.
Why NB4, when you had offers for many reality shows? Firstly Nach Baliye is the first dance reality show on television and the energy level is high. Besides that the reputation is also good. I had been a dancer all my life and this is the first time that I’ll be judging someone on dancing skills. Till now people used to judge me but now I‘ll be judging them.
What is your role as judge and on what criteria you’ll be judging the contestants? Well I’m also here to look at the dancing skills of the participants. When it comes to judging the contestants, I’ll be fair, honest and will encourage them. All three of us will be honest with the participants when it will come to giving marks. There is no place for us to choose our favorite contestants.
How is your chemistry with Farah and Arjun? Well I and Farah have worked earlier so we do share a good relation. Besides that I have also worked with Arjun and done stage shows with him. It has been overall a good experience with them. Recently we met at Farah’s place to discuss of how we’ll be judging and shared a light moments with each other.
Are there any chances to see you grooving on the stage in NB4? Well definitely you will see me dancing in few episodes, but I can’t provide much details. Let the show start and you’ll come to know very soon.
How well do you know these contestants? For me they are very new and during the course of time I would know them. There are some faces that are not from the industry. The whole experience is going to be fun and I’m eagerly waiting for the show to start.
Who has been your favorite jodi in Nach Baliye? For me it’s difficult to answer but if you ask me any one jodi of all the seasons then it was Sachin and Supriya. They danced so well and proved that there is no age bar when it comes to chemistry and dancing. I loved watching them on Nach Baliye.
What do you have to say about the reality shows being scripted for the TRP’s game? I can only tell you that there is no scripting in Nach Baliye. The creative has given us free hand on judging. I don’t think the TRP game will happen in this show. Besides I’m not comfortable with these dramas on screen.
Many times you see judges having different opinions and then one of them leaving stage... Well we are individuals and will definitely have different opinions but leaving the stage and creating drama is not my cup of tea. There is nothing wrong in consulting each other. Well this is what you have to wait and watch of how we come to a mutual understanding while giving marks.
There have been so many Bollywood actors entering TV. You think this is another alternative for them besides films? You can’t say that it is another alternative for actors, but it’s a different avenue. Once an actor he/she will always remains an actor. On small screen you get different forms to perform and show your other skills. Today there is no gap left in TV and cinema. The actors from TV have also been coming in films and vice versa.
When I’m on TV I’m also performing as judge and it’s a difficult job. I never believe in judging someone but here the format demands us to do that. So we have to be careful when judging to choose right winners as there are lots of life depending on it.
Are there chances to see you in a fiction show again? I can’t tell you that as it all depends on the story and the idea. Yes I’m open for it but for now I just want to concentrate on one thing at one time. I also don’t mind hosting a show on TV.
Talking about your personal life, how has your life changed after marriage and motherhood? Life has definitely changed after marriage and motherhood. I think I got a well deserved break from films. Talking about mother hood, it changes the life of a woman. It’s an amazing experience and has made me more responsible towards my child.
When can we see you and Kareena on same screen? Is there a chance to see both of you on TV? We have been getting many offers for movies but things didn’t click. I’m looking out for a good opportunity and a script. Talking about seeing both of us on TV, there are very few chances as Bebo is too busy with her film schedules. We don’t even get time to spend with each other.
Karvachauth is soon to arrive… will you be doing it? Definitely I’ll be fasting as I do it every time. May be this time I’ll be dancing and fasting. (Laughs)
Rahul Mahajan, the playful resident of the Bigg Boss house, is not as innocent as he portrays himself to be.
According to some people who have been evicted from the show Rahul is hiding his real image.
Sanjay Nirupam, who was the first to get out of the house, has accused Rahul of behaving mischievously with girls at night.
Now it is Ketaki Dave who has accused him of manipulating votes on the show. She says that Rahul has got a political backing and is very strong financially also. So he is using these powers to manipulate the show.
Rahul was seen clearly telling into the camera to vote for Zulfi, Payal and Alina when they were nominated.
Also, he is accused of being dominating in the house and ordering other people to do work for him. The reason why other housemates do his work is self explanatory.
All this while Rahul has never spoken either about his family or his divorce from wife Shweta. Will anyone dare to ask him, we have to wait and watch.
The party’s over for Sambhavna Seth who’s out of Bigg Boss.. she tells all to Rachana Dubey
You were unwell last week. The cough was irritating and the fever took a while to come down. The cough will take some more time to subside. But I’m feeling better outside the House. The elimination has cut the stress out of my life. Now, I’m fine.
It’s believed that you might go back to the House as a wild card entry. I don’t know..but there’s talk that they want more hungama and drama on the show. I’ll know tonight.
You threatened to expose all the housemates, if eliminated. Well, I can’t talk about anyone right now because I may or may not go back. But if I go back at all, I don’t know what I’ll do. The idea will be to expose everyone while I’m still inside. I can tell you that Rahul Mahajan is not at all as subdued as he is made out to be.
Everyone’s playing his or her game there. I’m in your face. I say and do what I have to. I’ve told Rahul several times, “Mujhe bada mazaa aata hai jab tu zaher ka ghut peeta hai.” (“I feel very good when you drink a drop of poison.”)
Is anyone genuine? Ehsaan Qureshi is a decent man. People say I’m a loud, drama queen but that man pacified me.. he brought my anger quotient down.
Why go in for a no make-up look? It was my strategy. I saw Payal Rohatgi with a caked face 24x7. She even slept with make-up on. I knew I wouldn’t be able to carry that off for too long. So, I decided to be without make-up. I anyway like to be without make-up.
Despite fights, you did close dance with Raja Chaudhary? I was stressed. The music was on. Raja pulled me two or three times to the dance floor. I was a bit hesitant but once I got into the groove, we danced.
Payal was irritated and the other inmates couldn’t believe what they saw. We had just had an abusive fight before that. We were laughing about it.. we didn’t kiss each other.. unlike the impression conveyed.
Don’t you think using cuss words has affected your reputation? No, the responses have been rather positive. I wasn’t expecting it to be this way. I’m an emotional person. Given the situations, there were extreme emotional outbursts.
Sometimes, the cuss words came out without any intentions. And I was playing a game.. like the others. I had my strategy. I was loud, in your face and of course, I said the same things behind people’s backs. I had to play the game. Earlier, I couldn’t choose work but now after the show, I think I can.
There were constant comparisons between Rakhi Sawant and you. I’ve nothing against her. Don’t compare me with her. I’m not like her and I’m sure she’s not like me.
Payal Rohatgi and you were at loggerheads throughout. I think she took everything personally. I know she didn’t like the fact that I won the dance competition. I didn’t take anything personally.
You even fought with Sanjay Nirupam because he called you an item girl. He first said that we one-song girls wear revealing clothes. His friends had joked that Sambhavna jaisi-item-girl is on the same show. I told him that we can’t wear saris and dance. Then, he again passed a comment in the gym area.
The third time, he met me in the kitchen and asked if I was angry. I blew my top because we aren’t item girls.. we are performers. These performances are our livelihood. He offered to find me lead roles in Bhojpuri films.. in which I’m already doing quite well. So.. the argument.
A recent report said that you have lost your mental balance. (Laughs) No way! Yes, situations are stressful and you do behave in unlikely ways. The author of the report should check with me now. I’m fine.. thank you.
After actor Monica Bedi got entry into the reality show, Big Boss, for the second time, extradited gangster Abu Salem said he was “perplexed with her liaison with other men in the show”. Salem on Thursday sent a fresh notice to Bedi saying that he is “mentally tortured and deeply hurt” whenever she denies that she was ever married to him. Salem in the notice claimed that they got married in a Los Angeles mosque in November 2000. “If Monica wants to go ahead with her life, she’s is free to demand talaq,” he added. 
