Television
Back in showbiz

After 12 long years and a broken marriage, Amrita Singh is turning the arc lights back on herself — this time on the small screen and not in Bollywood.

The star who stages a comeback in Balaji’s Kkavyanjali on Star Plus has matured not just in looks but as a person as well. Gone is the frivolity and perkiness and instead has emerged a dour personality much like Nitya Nanda—the character she plays in the soap.

And she’s frank about her comeback. "All those stories about the crores I’ve got in alimony are not true. I am back in acting for survival as I have two kids to raise."

Which explains why with Kkavyanjali — that debuted on January 25 on Star Plus — the nerves are beginning to set in along with the hope that she can re-work her magic.

She says, "There’s a feeling of satisfaction at having done something substantial after so many years."

Calling the Balaji tongue-twister ‘substantial’ may be debatable but it sure is putting confidence back in Amrita.

New brat on the block

She’s spunky, rebellious and radical. The unruly missy in Star One’s Remix has endeared herself to young as Anvesha whose funky red hair makes her a trendsetter. And her real life is no less loaded with attitude than her reel life.

Priya Wal has said a big no; not just to Ekta Kapoor but also to films. "I won’t do films because I dislike those sing-and-dance-around-trees routine. I won’t do Balaji’s shows as it is mandatory for women to wear a saree and sindoor. That’s just not my style," says she.

Ironically her on-screen persona has not made her father very happy. Daughter of the Principal of Lawrence School, Lovedale Ooty, her character, Anvesha’s unmanageable attitude, in Remix is exactly what dad hates to see in his students.

However, Priya defends her role saying, "My character may be that of a brat but then there’s a positive side as well." One hopes the students at Lawrence School look only at the positive side of Anvesha’s personality.

Three’s trouble

There’s trouble in paradise. Kuch Love Kuch Masti revolving around three glam dolls with an appetite for love and sex on Sahara One is going where many of the channels earlier show have gone — down in the dumps.

The risqué serial revolving around the kinky romantic predilections of three girls a-la Sex And The City has hit a roadblock and has been pushed to the graveyard 11.30 p.m. slot.

One of the obvious reasons is that the serial has not garnered the kind of TRPs the channel was hoping it would.

But there’s another side to the pull-back story as well. There are rumours that the channel is worried about the negative publicity the storyline is attracting — it revolves around three feisty young girls pursuing the call of love and lust in search of the right man.

Whatever the reason, Sahara One and its earlier avatar Sahara Manoranjan can’t seem to come up with a success formula that clicks. What it needs is hip, up-market stuff that makes viewers gaze and salivate.

Hitching their wagon to a star

A light-hearted, fast-paced and glamorous series, A.D.A. (on Sahara One) is about a dance and acting school, the ultimate destination for all starry-eyed youth who aspire to make it big on the silver screen.

The series revolves around Anita and Kabir who run the school and are responsible for the batch of students who get enrolled in it every season.

The show focuses on glamour, dreams and ambitions of the youth, and intricate interpersonal relationships. A host of young characters are the backbone of this show.

The show also features songs and music. Exciting and suitable film tracks is being used to make the show more appealing to youngsters. — NF 

Mover Shekhar

The Badshah of smart banter may not wear the crown for too long. Shekhar Suman’s Carry On Shekhar is not likely to carry on much longer on SAB TV.

India’s very own Jay Leno has decided to step down from the television throne to release his maiden music album Kuch Khwab Aise in February.

And that’s not all. With the declining popularity of Poll Khol and He-Man on the Star channel, Shekhar has decided to take a break and produce a film starring himself.

Says he, "My one year contract with SAB TV is ending soon and I don’t want to renew it. I’d like to do a couple of films this year. After all how long can one keep doing the same stuff?" Hope his filmy idea doesn’t sink like the Titanic just like his earlier tryst with Bollywood.

Grave series

For more than 150 years, the London Necropolis Company has gone about the work of digging up the dead. It has allowed cameras a unique access to record the daily work of its team of specialists.

Changing Tombs on January 31 at 10 p.m. follows the team of grave diggers as it undertakes one of its most important projects — a mass exhumation at one of London’s derelict churches.

The unusual mission of the team is to reunite families around the world with their dead relatives who were buried in unknown graves. The stunning series traces a year in the life of Necropolis. Or rather a year in the life of the death business.

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