Eijaz and Anita in attendance

• It’s actually quite easy. Credit goes to my director Devaloy Bhattacharya. I am extremely satisfied to have worked with him. Even having Ankur Vikal as my co-star was a huge help. There were quite a number of scenes that matched my experiences in real life. There is one scene where I have to explain my girlfriend about how I shot an intimate scene. In real life, I was asked whether I being myself or my character while shooting Dharmesh Darshan’s Bhanvraa. In the film, I have such scenes with Sangeeta Ghosh and Shweta Salve.

In real life, would you also interrogate your girlfriend if she shoots for an intimate scene?

• It’s totally unacceptable. I can be a progressive Indian male but I’m not metrosexual. I live in a society that doesn’t appreciate this. If she did shoot one, I wouldn’t watch that film.

Why do you shy away from talking about your girlfriend, Anita Hasnandani?

• I prefer to keep it private. I have no problems about her talking about us though.

Professionally, what do you like about her?

• She has never been a minute late on the sets and hasn’t ever complained about anything even during long schedules except for the strong AC! I am more of a technical actor and like to know every detail of what I’m doing. Anita, in contrast, is more emotion based. But both of us are directors’ actors.

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.

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

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.

hey guys..hope all of u are doing well..

ok..anita is going to come in nachle ve wid saroj khan. news about it came on india tv as well as aaj tak. she looks gorgeous  and is going to perform on aaja nachle!!