The comeback lady

BELIEVE it or not she first made waves on the small screen over 12 years ago in Buniyaad. And much like the soap’s lead actress Anita Kanwar, Natasha Sinha too disappeared. And like Anita she too re-surfaced with some ordinary films like Anand Aur Anand and more which she’d like to forget.

Now Natasha Sinha’s back with a bang on the small screen. With Zanjeerein having propped up her sagging prospects she is in the thick of things doing lead roles in Viraasat and Cinemascope.

"It was a mistake leaving the small screen," says Natasha, a Dev Anand discovery who played the lead opposite Suniel Anand in Anand Aur Anand. When the film flopped, she turned back to TV only to realise that she had lost her standing there as well.

What followed were run-of-the-mill offers in serials like Kashmakash and Devi Chaudharani. But she struck out and then Zanjeerein happened which changed her life. Now, there no looking back for Natasha who has more roles than she can handle.

For goodness sake!

In today’s reckless times the story may have little relevance. But qualities like honesty, hard work and integrity are universal truths which have stood the test of times.

Sweekar Hai Mujhe is based on these issues which an upright woman confronts in her life. The serial coming shortly on DD Metro is an absorbing tussle between the forces of good and evil. It is about Vidhu, a young lady brought up in an environment of morality and traditions who marries Prashant, a college lecturer. Soon Vidhu discovers that Prashant is the anti-thesis of all she has come to learn in life. She finds out that he has stolen a student’s Ph.D of one of his students and put his name on it and got a degree. The shattered student committed suicide.

Vidhu is devastated that she starts despising her husband. That’s when she meets a young and dynamic architect who shares her high moral values and it’s love at first sight.

Will she succeed in ridding herself of Prashant and starting a new life all over again? For the answer watch Sweekar Hai Mujhe coming soon on DDMetro. The end is bound to surprise you.

Quite an eyeful

Her’s is the face and figure which cameras love. And so do viewers.Watch Paloma on DD2 in Saturday Journal or DD1 as anchor of Our Guest and you know this lady is going places.

More than her small screen presence, it is her voice which producers are hankering after. She has done the title song for Anupam Kher’s Saath Saath and Surf Dhamaka. She’s done singing shows with Bali Brahmbhatt.

And now Paloma has recently released her first album, simply titled Paloma. But there’s nothing simple about it. It has foot-stomping numbers like Sardi Mein and Music Is For Fun. And it’s video sure is already making viewers lusting for.

Touching a familiar chord

Mention Zee and a wide smile appears on the face of small screen producer Gulshan Sachdeva. That’s because he has recently taken his popular serial Zanjeerein over to Zee from DD for an undisclosed sum which, according to industry grapevine, has been a megabuck deal.

And the money has been worth it for Zee. Zanjeerein has zoomed up the charts and put Zee on top of the charts as far as northern viewership is concerned. That’s because the 104-episode serial has a backdrop of Punjab and revolves around a family unit which includes Hindus and Sikhs.

It’s the story of family patriarch (Alok Nath) who refuses to sell a prime property because it was his uncle’s last wish to build a gurdwara on it. But Alok Nath keeps his uncle’s wish a secret and this leads to complications with the family coming to the verge of a break-up. But in the end the bonds prove stronger than the plot of land.

The story woven around situations very familiar to many Punjabi families has touched a chord in the heart of viewers. This has been the underlying secret of the phenomenal success of Zenjeerein.

Open-minded viewing

It’s a show which attempts to answer questions that people don’t know whom to ask. Sony Entertainment Television presents Open House which is not a talk show or a celebrity chat show, it’s about issues that matter and the people affected by those issues. In fact, the few celebrities who do appear are invited only because they are best qualified to speak out on a certain issue.

Some of the issues that the show deals with are: Is the regional quota system in the selection of Indian cricket players preventing India from putting its best team together? What can we do to prevent another Jayabala Ashar incident? Is adultery in TV soaps encouraging infidelity in real life?

The show also has one regular feature that appears in every single episode — the very first Agony Uncle — Mahesh Bhatt. Well-known for his outspoken opinion and eventful personal and professional life, Bhatt clarifies that he is no expert or guru but promises the viewers something that isn’t easily available in these oversensitive, politically correct times — an open mind!

The nine lives of Cher

At 52, Cher has clocked the biggest hit of her life. Her latest album Believe is the world’s number one chartbuster and is steaming up the MTV and Channel V and has made her into a superstar all over again.

But there’s more to this modern-day Cleopatra with a silver — white skin, dense black permed hair, ebony eyes and a presence which takes the breath away. She’s has won the Oscar for the best actress and has also hosted America’s most successful TV show.

Many years ago Cher had audiences bent over with mirth in her TV chat show The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. Now she is planning yet another comedy show for television in which she will spoof top personalities like Bill Clinton and Pamela Anderson.

And knowing the potential of this amazing lady, major television studies are already lining up grab the nights of her new show. Surely, for Cher, one good turn deserves another.

— Mukesh Khosla