RJs Archana Jani and Karan Singh to host ‘Hero Honda SaReGaMaPa Megachallenge’

Ending the much speculated development on the Anchors of the brand new series- Heor Honda SaReGaMaPa – Megachallenge, Zee TV announces the well known RJs of Mumbai – Karan Singh and Archana Jani as the hosts of their new show. Various names like Shaan, Navjyot Singh Sindhu, Shreyas Talpade, Purab were doing their rounds for this position, while Karan and Archana happened to bag the same. Both of then are equally excited to join the SaReGaMaPa brigade. The previous seasons’ hosts – Dhairya and Afsha had the audiences under their spell and now the new RJs will bring a totally fresh air to the show. With their spontaneity and high energy they would keep audience glues to their seats and make the sets even livelier.

RJ Archana said, “Having entertained viewers for so long only by talking to them, it gives me heejee beeis to finally appear in front of them. Like they loved my voice and allowed me to entertain them, I really hope they like to see me anchoring the legendary show and accept both Karan and me into their homes.”

Zee TV: Dance India Dance is back for Season 2

Hold your breath! Zee TV comes back with another foot tapping season of ‘Dance India Dance’. The much awaited dance reality show on Indian television is all geared to make a comeback soon! The biggest platform for aspiring dancers, will once again open doors for common people who dream of becoming the biggest dancing star. This season will only double up the dance mania and needless to mention the competition quotient as well. The passion with which close to 80 millions viewers in India and many more across in 165 countries were hooked on to the show, made ‘Dance India Dance’ larger than life.

The first season made winner out of 22 year old Salman Khan from Bangalore, who as promised, not only got the ‘Sunehri Taqdeer ki Topi’ but also got the golden opportunity to feature with superstar ‘Salman Khan’ in his latest block-buster movie, ‘Wanted’. This very season came as a breath of fresh air and made popular, the never seen before dance forms, like the famous popping and locking to Bollywood Salsa to old school Jazz, Pasa Doble, Crumping, Tap Dogs to Swing, Aerial acts, Chau, Jari Mari, etc.

With Grandmaster, Mithun Chakravarty, on the hot seat and mentors, Terence, Remo & Geeta, the show gained popularity not only for its supreme talent but also for its unique format.

‘Dance India Dance’ is an amazing opportunity which is coming to discover hidden talent from Delhi. Close to 4000 entries have already been received from the viewers in the city, who are keen to participate in the auditions. Best dancing talent is to be selected from across the nation and their mettle is to be judged on this platform. The eminent jury members will be in the city to identify the Best of the best of Delhi. These winners will then head towards a series of grooming sessions for the ultimate competition in Mumbai and then finally the Numero Uno amongst them would be crowned as ‘India’s best dancer’.

Delhi
Audition Dates:
Sun & Mon, November1st & 2nd, 2009
Time – 9 am to 2pm

Age group –
15 to 30 years

Venue
Ryan International School,
Sector – C, Pocket - 8,
Vasant Kunj, New Delhi – 110070

“Kya Aap Tayyar Hain Apne Big Break Ke Liye”

Uttaran - The shock given by Tapasya

After the 2 children grew up, it soon became clear that the insecurity and hatred that Tapasya felt towards Iccha only grew. This feeling was heavily fostered by her Nani, and her parents were not able to counter this influence. However, what really inflamed the feeling was when it came down to a question of marriage (however, what is really strange in this serial is that these are 2 educated girls, but there is no mention of them working or doing anything like this; all they seem to be interested in is marriage - what a bad example to set to modern women).
Anyhow, when the very eligible Veer from a good family (although very conservative family) comes to see, Tapasya is very happy. However, Veer is able to see how shallow and arrogant Tapasya is, and falls for Iccha, and eventually manages to persuade both sets of families for this marriage (even though Nani and Tapasya are both shocked and try their best to persuade the family against this).
Eventually, as the marriage comes closer, Tapasya gets determined to not let this marriage happens, she wants to marry Veer. Finally, on the day of the marriage, Tapasya blackmails Iccha and Damini by threating to commit suicide, and Iccha cannot stand this (she really loves Tapasya), and finally Veer and Tapasya get married (with Tapasya's face covered). When Veer finds out, he is shocked and rushes to the house to find Iccha.

Bandini - Finally Santo will be marrying Dharamraj, but ..

It took a long time but finally Santo will be the properly recognized wife of Dharamraj Mahiavanshi. There was a lot of drama, when Santo wanted to ensure that her sister, Khemi, and Dharamraj's son Hiten get married to each other. But this would not be possible since Santo was married to Dharamraj (the relations would get terribly complicated - you cannot be a mother-in-law to your own sister). So, Santo and Dharamraj decided to get divorced, something that Santo was not very happy about. However, Dharamraj had always considered that Santo was his 'bandini', forced to marry a much older man, and giving her a divorce would be like releasing her from this burden. However, things did not go like Santo had thought. Khemi decided to get married to somebody else to prevent the breakup of her sister's marriage.
At the same time, there was more drama about Moulick, the younger son of Dharamraj. After a lot of struggle, he got reformed, through the support of his aunt, who in reality was his mother. Moulick finally learns about this, and is initially shocked, but he had always been very close to her, and so accepts her. He is thus not very comfortable with the idea of Santo becoming the dominant bahu of the house, since that would shake the power of his mother.
However, when Santo remonstrated with Dharamraj, he agrees to marry her and give her all the authority of her position, and Santo is very happy. Now, they are getting married, and yet there is a cloud on the horizon, with the serial hinting that a girl called Anamika may be the supposedly dead wife of Dharamraj, Subhadra. Anamika arrives at the house just when the wedding celebrations are taking place.

Li'l Champs finale on Zee TV - a grand occasion

Shreya Ghosal adds another feather to her cap.. agrees to host the Saregamapa L’il Champs Grand Finale Live

The mesmerizing voice that resides in the hearts of millions will don a new avatar. Shreya Ghosal, the songstress who is ruling the charts in Bollywood has agreed to host the Saregamapa L’il Champs Live on ground on 24th October 2009. For the uninitiated, as a child Shreya had won the children's special episode of the Sa Re Ga Ma contest on Zee TV. Back then, the show was hosted by one and only Sonu Nigam. Kalyanji bhai who was a judge on the competition convinced Shreya’s parents to move to Mumbai because he sensed incredible talent in the child. Today Shreya is a name to reckon with worldwide. Even after being the most sought after female voice in the industry, Shreya even today feels indebted to Zee TV and Saregamapa – the show that identified her singing prowess and gave her the platform to rise and shine.

Shreya along with Afsha and Dhairya will anchor the Saregamapa L’il champs Live from Andheri Sports Complex Mumbai. Finally we’ll get to see another side of this versatile singer which is yet unknown to the world.



Saregamapa L’il champs clearly promises to be a dhamaal musical night replete with some dazzling performances. Ankita Lokhande - Archana of Pavitra Rishta is going to dance on “raat ke dhai baje…”. Rubina Dilaik, Radhika od Choti Bahu is going to do some latkas and jhatka’s on the Madhuri Dixit starrer “Aaja Nachle”. Handsome hunk Salman Khan, the Dance India Dance Season 1 winner is all set to set the stage ablaze on the “dhoom medley” and some other breath taking dance numbers. Mentor Abhijeet Bhattacharya will sing “Ladies and Gentleman” and the ultra romantic “ roshni se bhare bhare” from the movie Asoka. Alka Yagnik is going to perform on the award winning “ring ring ringa “ from Slumdog millionaire and “ Choli ke peeche”..

On the same platform, the Saregamapa Mega Challengers are also going to be introduced. Mega Challenge Is the next series of Saregamapa which will succeed L’il Champs from 30th Oct.

Apart from this, the icing on the cake would be of course superstar Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan and Asin who will grace the occasion with producer Vipul Shah. Salman Khan is touted to do an impromptu act with the kids. He along with Ajay, Asin and Vipul will also felicitate some of the kids.

Balika Vadhu - Bhairav gets to know the reality of Mahavir Singh

Balika Vadhu has explained the mystery of the relationship between Kalyani and Mahavir Singh, and why Kalyani reacts so strongly to any mention of Mahavir Singh. This could also explain why she threw Anandi out of the house when Anandi went to Mahavir Singh for help. This story came out when Bhairav Singh came back from work and found out everything that happened in his absence.
He set out with his wife, Sumitra to find Anandi and her family, only to discover that they had to leave their house (and he heard a lot over there about how they have abandoned Anandi's family). Finally, they found Anandi and her family at Mahavir's Singh (when Vasant had gone with a gun to kill Mahavir Singh (after hearing Kalyani's story about how Mahavir Singh had tried to outrage her modesty after the death of Kalyani's husband)).
Bhairav managed to get Anandi back after a lot of resistance from Anandi's mother (who could not stand their abandonment by the family), and promised Anandi that he will get her parents back from Mahavir Singh as well. Soon, Mahavir Singh also informed Anandi's parents that Anandi was the reason that he was helping them.

Pati Patni Aur Woh - A different kind of reality television

A new kind of show is there on NDTV Imagine, a new reality show where normal couples are taken through a process whereby they are given children to handle for some weeks, along with other tasks (daily routine tasks). They need to earn their own money, they do not have any maids to help them, and face the various issues that having children brings with it.
The couples taking part in this show are:
Debina Bonnerjee and Gurmeet Choudhary (not married, but going around)
Shilpa and Apoorva Agnihotri
Rakhi Sawant and Elesh Parujanwala (who got recently engaged on the show, Rakhee's Swayamwara, and from whom, it seems clear that they will not get married)
Juhi and Sachin Shroff (newly married)
Gaurav Chopra and Mouni Roy

The transitions on this show will be:
First, the women will have to wear a empathy bellies, similar to what pregnant ladies have to bear
Next, they will be given infants and have to take care of them
Then, they will be given toddlers, and have to handle numerous naughty children
Next, they get pre-teens and teenagers, and they need to handle how to handle naturally rebellious children
Elderly, finally these couples will need to handle elderly parent like adults, and learn how to address their needs

Na Aana Is Des Ladoo - the depths of human behaviour

Na Aana Is Des Ladoo on Colors is going through a major social problems. When the local District Magistrate / Collector came to investigate Ammaji over the relief money she had pocketed, one had expected that this would lead to problems to Ammaji. However, it would seem that the makers of the serial had different ideas about the story, something that a lot of people would not expect.
So, in this case, the DM turned out to be one of the worst form of humans, one who is going to use the power of his Government position (and a Collector in a rural area is extremely powerful, since the DM represents the Government in these areas, and also has a lot of influence and power over the police) to fulfil his lust. He threatens Ammaji with jail unless she arranges women for him.
The first night, Ammaji arranges for a woman from the village for him, but that apparently is not enough for him. On the second day, he applies pressure on Ammaji to get one woman from Ammaji's own mansion, something that shocks Ammaji, but she has no way to not fulfil the request. She ensures that none of her daughter-in-laws appears in front of the DM, only the servants of the house (which includes Chandra and Sia). Other members of the house (her sons) are also disgusted by the DM's behaviour, but they still don't have a way of refusing. Finally the DM selects Ghoomar, who lives like a servant in the house, but is actually a daughter of the house.

Balika Vadhu - multiple issues

The story on Balika Vadhu seems to be moving in different directions. On one side, the storyline that deals with Sugna seems to be moving towards a different set of challenges. Earlier, Sugna was very unhappy at being married to Shyaam, since she heavily valued her relationship with Pratap earlier, and was devoted to him. However, slowly she started valuing her relationship with Shyaam, and by now, she considers him her husband. Ever since Shyam went ahead with his marriage with Sugna, he was disowned by his parents, and was living in Kalyani's house. Recently, Shyaam's mother managed a reunion by forcing everybody to accept this relationship and both Shyam and Sugna came back to Shyam's house.
On other side, Anandi was thrown out of the house and forced to go back to her parents house. Her parents are also facing tough times since they took a lot of loans for getting adequate presents to the marriage of Shyaam and Sugna, and this time, Bhairav is not there in the house to manage things (he is out of the house for many days for work). Anandi's parents house and farms are possessed to pay for the loans, and they are facing real tough times.
Jagdish in the meantime has got into bad company again, moving into more of gambling, skipping school, even after having been warned by Bhairav earlier. This time, he lands into real trouble when the police raids the place where he was present, gambling, and he is taken to jail. When he reaches back home, he finds out that Bhairav has just reached back (who was very disappointed at missing Sugna's ceremonious departure), and who is extremely angry at finding out about Jagdish's activities.

Laaliya - WWF Wrestler

Ratan Rajput aka Laali of Zee TV’s ‘Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo’ is willingly taking up stunt sequences that shocks the unit time and again. Whether it is playing Kabaddi with the men or riding bullock carts or now facing the bull. Must say she is taking acting too seriously. Yesterday Ratan shot a deadly scene with bulls around her. Excited Laali said, “Though the bulls were trained but with the thought of I have to not only stand infront of the Bull but fight with them was pretty scary. You never know when they snap back at you and that too two bulls…My God! I still can’t get over the fact that I did it. Holding their horns and running after them was a lot of deadly fun that too in Saree. Well must say I did a good job (laughingly).”

When contacted the producer, he said, “The scene was shot at Helipad at Film City where most of these scenes are shot. With the current story line something like this had to be planned to take the show to another level and give it a different treatment all together. I am sure you guys have seen men fighting with animals in cinema but when you see Laali wrestling with a bull I am sure viewers will get goose pimples.




Story –
Shekar’s closeness to Laali is making a lot of people jealous. To a surprise his very own blood brother, Ranvijay, is creating hurdles for his younger brother. For the first time Shekhar takes a stand for Laali against Siddheshwari. In turn Siddheshwari joins hands with Ranvijay against Laali.

Ankita, from Pavitra Rishta finally taking a break to go home

Ankita lokhande, Archana of ‘Pavitra Rishta’ has finally managed to get a two-day off from her shooting schedule during Diwali. She plans to visit her home in Indore during this holiday and celebrate Diwali to its fullest. She has already demanded a lot of delicious dishes to be made not just from her Mom but also from her friends and elatives back home. This is the first time that Ankita will be visiting home ever since the launch of the show. She hasn’t been to her hometown ever since she became a star and hence is nervous and excited about their reactions when they meet. Her relatives have planned a grand welcome for Ankita that would start right from the airport. Says an excited Ankita, “This holiday is going to be a special one coz the only time I got a break when I was hospitalized last week. I haven’t got any time for myself and hence getting chutti Diwali time is the best one can ask for. Being Maharashtrian, Diwali is celebrated in a grand way at home and I am also anxious to meet my friends and take their feedback on my show. It would be very different to roam the old known streets after such a long time.”

Ankta’s Raunchy Number
An extremely good dancer, Ankita was recently approached to perform at the grand finale of Zee TV’s ‘SaReGaMaPa L’il Champs’ to be held on October 24th at the Capital. Anikta who readily accepted the offer however, wasn’t very happy about performing on a simple quiet song. Her words, “The storyline of ‘Pavitra Risha’ is already making me cry day and night in the show. Viewers only feel sympathy towards me and they have hardly seen me smiling. I want to show them my other image and want to perform on a crazy wild song.” Giving up to her demand, the channel has now changed her song to ‘Raat Ke Dhai Baaje’ from ‘Kaminey’. What stays to be watched is would Ankita be able to match the Oomph!! factor that Priyanka had created on the silver screen with the song wearing a Maharashtrian Kashti!”

Big Boss 3 on Colors

Colors has a reputation in terms of having snatched the position of the leading Hindi TV Serial, with many different serials, and some of the leading reality serials. After the success of Fear Factor Level 2, the next such major reality show is Big Boss (part 3). And to make sure that the show has the prime attraction features, the show is hosted by Amitabh Bachchan, who will be very different from the previous hosts.
The show has now been on for one week, and this time the show seems destined to have fights right from day 1. The week saw some different types of tasks, and also fighting between the different inmates. The house seems more different from the previous types, and also has a jail this time.
The various members of the show are:

Females:
Sherlyn Chopra,
Aditi Govitrikar,
Tanaz Curim,
Shamita Shetty,
Jaya Sawant(Rakhi Sawant's mother) - now being the first member to be evicted
Poonam Dhillon,
Claudia Clesia (the actress from Marigold)

Males:
Kamal Khan (Deshdrohi fame),
Bakhtiyaar,
Vindoo Dara Singh,
Raju Srivastav,
Ismail Darbar,
Rohit Verma (fashion designer)

Bakhtiyaar and Tanaaz are the first couple to take part in Big Boss.

Bad character on TV - Wife wants him to withdraw

Imagine a villain on TV getting bad vibes in real life. Some of movie world's villains have been excellent people, such as Danny. Yet at the same time, if you do negative roles, there are many people who view you negatively.

Though his performance and character have been receiving rave reviews, Indresh Mallik, the infamous Rajeev Bhalla, of Zee TV’s ‘12/24 Karol Bagh’ is not a very happy man. Reason ironically being the same on-screen character. Indresh plays a negative role in the show, wherein he is addicted to all the bad habits ranging from ‘drinking to visiting brothels’. He even tries to rape his soon-to-be wedded wife, Simmi, in the show. Recently when Indresh, with his wife, visited the Jhandewala temple at the Capital, instead of getting appreciative attention from the passers-by, they threw dirty glances at him and stayed at an arm’s distance. They even, in a very mean way, addressed his wife and enquired on how she manages to stay with such a man. Indresh’s wife who though understands that it’s only his on-screen image that’s driving such reactions from the audience, is not very happy about receiving such feedback at public places. According to her, stepping out of the house has now turned into a bitter experience and she worries that someone on the road will out-of-the-blue start abusing Indresh without any real fault of his. She has been requesting the production house to soon end Indresh’s character in a positive way. Also a very few people know that Indresh actually is a fashion designer who had no acting aspirations till he landed with this offer, one fine day at the producer’s office. Hence his wife tries to reason out that even if he enjoys acting, he need not do such roles henceforth.

The charm & effervescence of B- towns Aladin – ‘Reitesh Deshmukh’ on L’il Champs

For some time now, the concept of Film Stars appearing on TV to promote their movies has been prevalent. Viewers get to see movie stars on their TV sets, and the stars get a chance to promote their movies to many more people.
It’s packed with oriental mystique – not one, but two genies, wicked magicians, gold and jewels galore, a palace that is transported through thin air, a beautiful princes, and a poor boy who gets very lucky indeed. This is the story of Reitesh Deshmukh’s latest movie Aladin which was promoted on L’il Champs this week.
Keeping the same theme in mind, Dhairya had become Dhairuddin and his wish granting genie was Afsha.
So when Dhairya said, “mujhe ice cream chahiye…” two bowls were presented one with ice and the other with moisturizing cream, literally connoting ice and cream. It was one crazy episode with some mind blasting performances and Reitesh adding the much needed zing to the episode.
Hemant Brijwasi’s rendition on the song “saanwre from Bandit Queen” had everybody transported into some other world. Reitesh was literally speechless at such a power packed soulful voice. Abhijeet da gave the best compliment he has ever given to anyone. He gave Hemant the title of ‘Sir’. “aaj se tum mere liye Sir Hemnat ho…”
Reitesh could not stop his feet when the boys teamed up to sing “dekha jo tujhe yaar dil mein baji guitar…”the masti wala song with its tapori lyrics was just idle to make Reitesh leave his chair and attack the floor.

Lara Dutta appeared on the show:
Lara Dutta felt doubly special because she came in an episode which also welcomed the best violinists and piano players of our industry to jam with the kids. The music and the orchestration had Lara totally besotted and awe struck.
If Priyanka Chopra taught Afsha the tricks of the ramp, it was Lara’s turn to tutor her how to do a ‘chiggy wiggy‘ on the stage. It was hilarious to watch Afsha ape Lara.
Shreyasi’s performance on “haan maine chu kar dekha hai…” from the movie Black got her appreciation galore. So was Hemant’s performance which took everybody’s breath away. Seemed like Shreyasi and Hemant are all set to outshine each other at the finale.




The competition is not yet over but the five finalists have already become play back singers. Shreyasi, Hemant, Prateeksha, Yatharth and Swarit all have rendered their voices for the forthcoming movie ‘ Bal Ganesha ‘ – the music release of the same was done on the coveted stage of Saregamapa. Lucky kids to have become playback singers much before the competition is over…

Zee TV’s ‘Aap Ki Antara’ recognized as the ‘Best Serial of the Year’

Sometimes there are shows that get the formula about serving education right. A show that seeks to educate people about a social issue, and does so in a way that people watch the show and do not consider it a boring documentary is important. Zee TV's Aap Ki Antara is an important show that seeks to educate people about autism.
Zee TV’s popular show, ‘Aap Ki Antara’ has been bestowed an honour of being the Best Serial of the Year 2009 by the Varisht Nagrik Kesari Club, a social wing of leading Hindi newspaper, ‘Punjab Kesari’. Impressed by the show’s earnest social cause of spreading awareness about Autism amongst its viewers the channel and the lead character of the show, Zaina Vastani (5 years) were felicitated at a grand event at the Capital. The nominations and the winners were chosen through the readers’ survey conducted by the publication. The grand event was attended by around 2000 people with respected filmmaker Subhash Ghai being the Chief Guest of the evening. Little Zaina was overwhelmed by the appreciation and attention received from the dignitaries and the viewers.



‘Aap Ki Anatra’ is a survival story of an autistic girl Antara. As a part of the show’s telecast the channel has launched a helpline for Autism queries from its viewers. Special videos of real-life parents of autistic kids have been telecast at the end of every episode to make the viewers aware of the symptoms and corrective measures on Autism. These noble initiatives by the channel have garnered a lot of queries and feedback on the show from across the country and abroad. A lot of couples have posted their heart-wrenching stories to the channel. Zee TV has also been partnering with various workshops arranged for parents of the autistic children which can help them cope up with their kids’ behaviour and thereby help them lead a normal life.
Commenting on the same, Ajay Bhalwankar, Programming Head, Zee TV, said, “The show has been awarded due to its path breaking concept and amazing response from the audience. Zee TV has always been the pioneer of raising social issues and creating awareness and so through ‘Aap Ki Antara’ we have aimed to create public awareness about Autism & sensitize the society towards this issue. With such encouraging feedback, the channel has once again lived up to its tag line of ‘Har Pal Banaye Ek Naya Rishta’ and established a special bond with the viewers.”

Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil on Star Plus

Kis Desh Mein Ha Meraa Dil has gone through a lot of turns and twists. The story started out with 2 friends who separate for a long time, but before doing so, promise that they will get their children (Prem and Heer) married to each other. The serial comes on Star Plus on weekdays, and started on March 3, 2008, and has been running successfully ever since.
The two were engaged to each in childhood, but after family misunderstandings, the relation broke off. However, in adulthood, after Prem sees Heer in a wedding, and they decide to marry inspite, with Prem breaking off his engagement. However, just when everything seemed to be fine, and they even had a daughter, the relationship broke off since Heer believed that Prem had committed adultery when he was drunk (even though the audience knows that Prem really did not do anything). They have been separated for 6 years now, and Prem was trying to get Heer back into his life.
Finally, Prem succeeded when Heer also realized that she also loves Prem (even though she was given the job of finding a new wife for Prem). They are now both reconciled, and ready to be married again, with the impediment that Prem's step-mother, Gayathri, being against the relationship and trying to put obstacles in their path. She does not like Heer.

Na Aana Iss Des Ladoo - Internal problems within the family

In the serial about social injustice and crimes against women, Na Aana Is Des Ladoo plays a very significant role. One would not tend to believe that such things happen, but then you read in the paper about the attitudes of Khap Panchayats and their statements and actions, which go unchecked by the police, and then you believe that anything like what is depicted in the show can happen.
In the serial, Ammaji is finally facing some problems. But these are not created by Siya, in fact, if you look closely, Siya has not been able to cause any problems to Ammaji for some time now. All she is trying to do is to play upto Raghav, but that does not seem to be causing any problems. The biggest problems that Ammaji and her sons are facing are on 2 fronts, both internal and external.
Internally, Ammaji's son and bahu had been conspiring all the time against her, by stealing money from the regular accounts in order to prepare a separate fund. Also, given that Ammaji is favoring a new bahu, and also favors Raghav, the sons are a bit jealous. However, eventually Ammaj finds out when a villager claims that he has already repaid the debt by giving it to the son. She gets Raghav to look at all the books, and eventually the deceit is found. Ammaji removes all responsibility, and this only makes the son more mad (in private).
Externally, Ammaji had misappropriated relief funds meant for farmers, and a new Collector wants to find out where the funds went. He already has a confession from the local functionary who was involved, and confronts Ammaji who refuses any guilt.