Anita Hassanandani takes a deep breath, says Jai Mata Di, and dives from a 12-storey building. Yana Gupta smiles while a creepy crawly walks over her face. Pooja Bedi remembers her children before diving into ice cold water.

In Colors’ new Khatron ke Khiladi (with an average first six-day TRP of 1.53), Akshay Kumar may be the star, wearing a singlet and knee-high trousers, but it’s the women who are walking away with the wows. The role reversal is everywhere.

In Ugly Aur Pagli, a film distinguished by its idea (borrowed from a Korean film) rather than its execution, Ranvir Shorey is a slacker, having outlived his engineering school by four years.

Mallika Sherawat is a woman who snores, swears, slaps and swills several drinks. Whether it’s a dare (will she wear her innerwear as pouterwear) or arm wrestling, Sherawat wins every gender bending battle.

In MTV Splitsvilla (TRP of 0.70), a show where 20 girls ostensibly compete for the attention of two boys, the girls show exactly what it takes to be the empowered new alpha woman. If Bianca Mendonca says the sexiest part of her body is her tongue, then another contestant Minakshi Khanduri thinks nothing of dedicating a poem to herself.

Whether it’s a mud fight between Bosky Bhatia and Prianca Sharma or an expletive-filled exchange between Hannah Sim and Yamini Batra, nothing gets in the way of the girls and their prize-not the man but the opportunity to host a show with him.

Mallika Sherawat and Ranvir Shorey in a scene from Ugly Aur Pagli
Mallika Sherawat and Ranvir Shorey in a scene from Ugly Aur Pagli
“Our women have always been feisty,” says Ashish Patil, general manager, MTV. So explosive are some situations-the format requires the women to exhibit their various talents, among them how to wear a swimsuit as much as how to go on a date-that MTV is unable to air them. The air is so thick with abuse.

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Define fashion
One looks fashionable on being comfortable and confident.

Who chooses your clothes?
I choose my clothes. Even if I take someone’s opinion the choice is always mine.

Do you like to accessorise yourself?
Not much. I just wear one accessory at a time. I don’t wear any accessory when I am wearing a bright colour

Is there any particular brand that you prefer?
No. As long as a particular outfit looks good on me I don’t care about its brand. It can be a brand or even a small store on Linking road in Bandra.

What is your favorite destination for shopping?
I love to shop in London. I shop from there once or twice every year. There is exclusivity in shopping abroad. I get the perfect fit in pants and denims that I shop from there. I also like to shop from Atria Mall in Mumbai.

Which are the clothes that make you feel comfortable?
I feel comfortable in a t–shirt and denims as they make you look neat along with being extremely comfortable and casual.

Who is your favourite designer?
I like the cuts, style and colours that Manish Malhotra uses in his clothes. I also like Reza. He is the one who designs my clothes for television shows.

Any particular colour that you like to see in your wardrobe?
Earlier, I used to have a lot of black in my wardrobe. Now, I like to see emerald green and lemon yellow in my wardrobe.

A must have in your purse?
A few make-up items and my sunglasses. I prefer to have few but the best sunglasses.

What are the make-up products that you prefer?
‘Bobbi Brown’ has amazing lipstick colours. ‘MAC’ suits Indian skin tone completely and I love the golden eye pencil of ‘Chanel’.

A fashion tip
There is no point in wearing uncomfortable clothes that make you look self- conscious. So just see to it that you feel comfortable in what you wear.

A make- up tip
Clear every bit of make-up before going to bed so that your skin stays healthy. A good skin is very important.

http://www.tellychakkar.com/y2k8/aug/14aug/lifestyle_anita.php

Dare-devilry to spirituality
ITI SHREE MISRA

ANITA Hassanandani is back with a bang after a nearly three-year-long hiatus. She is creating quite a stir with her dare-devilry in Khatron Ke Khiladi and as Draupadi in Kahaani Hamaaray Mahaabhaarat Ki.
The petite actress, then known as Natassha, who had the nation dancing to Tere ishq ki deewangi in the film Krishna Cottage, has since become wiser and has reverted to her original name Anita. Explaining why she went ahead with the name change in the first place, she said it was because Ekta Kapoor wanted her to do so. “I was to play the lead in their film Kuchh to Hai and because of their belief in numerology they changed my name to Natassha. The film did fairly well but simultaneously my Tamil film was also a huge hit in which my name was Anita, so I stuck to my original name. I was more comfortable with the name Anita than Natassha.”
But why did she take such a long break? “It was while I was doing the serial Kavyanjali that I felt exhausted and decided to take a break. Besides, the offers I was getting weren’t exciting enough. So in the interim, I learnt salsa, jazz and cooking, instead.”
And she has indeed created quite a stir with her comeback. While she has been praised for her stunts in Khatron.., her performance as Draupadi in Mahaabhaarat… has faced a lot of criticism. Accused of being very loud and over the top in her very first appearance as Draupadi, Anita says: “Although I take the criticism very positively, I really don’t understand why a comparison is being made with the previous Mahabharat. But then each one has the right to voice his/her opinion. After all, everyone can’t have the same tastes.”
After a pause she adds, “Anyway, It was my first scene and I was totally unprepared for it. There were no rehearsals, no workshops and no preparations. All I say is give me some time and I will improve.”
Coming back to happier topics, Anita is one of the 13 girls who are into daring
stunts in Khatron Ke Khiladi. Just back from its shoot, she exclaims: “It was an experience of a lifetime. In fact, it’s been the best experience of my life and I’m glad I did it.” Adding, she says, “I took up the show to test my inner strength.”
Recalling her scariest stunt on the show – the one with cockroaches and bungee jumping, she says, “I was petrified at first but after I completed the task, it felt great. It made me feel so content and happy.” But it was actually the water diving stunt which Anita found the toughest. “I don’t know how to swim, so even though I tried I couldn’t complete the task. I was scared but I attempted it, and that made me feel great.”
In spite of doing good films, which did fairly well, Anita could never make it to the big league. And without making any excuses, Anita holds her poor PR skills responsible for that. “I never cashed in on the success of my films. I never tomtommed about myself, which I should have. Plus, I don’t even socialise much and I don’t call up people to ask for roles. So I lost out in the ratrace, but I have no regrets.” So as of now, “it’s only Mahaabhaarat that I’m concentrating on,” she informs as she adds, “I will do a film only if something exciting comes my way. I do get offers for films but I’m not interested. I’m content with the way my life is at the moment.”
itishree.misra@timesgroup.com

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Mumbai: Saroj Khan, who already hosts a dance show called Nachle Ve With Saroj Khan on NDTV Imagine, will now be seen hosting another dance show called Nach Shastra… Sitaron Ki Jung.

The contest-based show is slated to begin from 6 August at 8.30 pm and will be judged by Khan. Nach Shastra… Sitaron Ki Jung is a special series, which will feature a different theme each week.

Television celebrities such as Rucha Gujrati, Barka Bisht, Rajeshwari Sachdeva, Sara Khan, Parul Chauhan, Amir Ali and Sanjeeda, Bhaktiyaar and Tanaaz, Yash and Gauri Tonnk, Tina and Hussain, Anita Hassnandani, Shweta Keswani amongst others will compete on the show.

Some of the songs that they will perform on are Namak Ishq Ka, Pappu Can’t Dance, Dil Dance Marey, Crazy Kiya Re and Dhadak Dhadak amongst others. Each episode of this special series will capture the dancing abilities of these stars and will feature special themes such as the Vamp’s Special, Duet’s Special to the real life couples special.

Khan will adjudge the best dancer with a trophy of the Natraj in each episode.

Part 1

Part 1