India’s Got Talent Khoj 2 -All Set To Launch In August

Speculation can take a back seat as it’s time for the talent to do the talking now. You are sure to find it in plenty on India’s Got Talent – Khoj 2. Colors, on Tuesday, announced the jury for the second season of this popular show. As reported earlier by TellyCafe, Sajid Khan, Kirron Kher, and Sonali Bendre have been roped in to adjudicate the second season. India’s Got Talent Khoj 2 will be launched in the first week of August.

Apart from the three judges, the producers Siddhart and Anita Kaul Basu, Colors programming head Ashvini Yardi and Fremantle Media Asia’s CEO Patrick Schult were present on the occasion. The action did not begin in the auditorium but the peppy hosts Ayushmann Khurrana and Nikhil Chinapa decided to hold a talent hunt of the journalists, who were told to move out for few minutes. They were caught unawares by the duo who made the journos sing and dance to their tune! One cricket crazy scribe was made to display a straight drive as well.
It was time for some serious talent later on. Prince group, the winners of the inaugural season, simply enthralled the audience with their display.
The programming head of Colors, Ashvini Yardi outlined their hopes of tapping talent from the remotest corners of the country this year. Yardi also underlined that Khoj 2 is interested in the unique talents. She spoke about having a terror affected family from Kashmir as participants as well.
Sajid Khan, the new entrant to the jury panel, said that he liked the show as it enabled individuals to showcase their talent. He also showered praises on the other judges, who he thought were pretty honest and forthright in expressing their views during the first season.
Kirron Kher felt that it was like coming back home while Sonali Bendre confessed that the show would be looking to raise its bar this time although it might be difficult to match the talent of the Prince Group.
Expectedly, the humour quotient was provided by the wily Khan too. When asked whether there will be ugly spats between the judges, pat came the reply, “I don’t think I’ll be throwing water on Kirron as her saris are very expensive.”
India’s Got Talent will be travelling to Guwahati tomorrow for the next rounds of auditions.

Finalists of Desi Girl revealed!

Desi Girl took off to a dull start but has picked up momentum with time. And now as it nears its closing the audience is curious to know who’s going to win the title of the show.

According to our sources, “Allegedly, the three finalists of Desi Girl are Kashmera Shah, Ishita Arun and Roshni Chopra.” When we spoke to Roshni about this she said, “I can’t reveal the finalists to you but, I can say that Kash (Kashmera) is the strongest competitor. Actually, she’s the best! As far as Ishita is concerned, I have had a little difference with her but she too is a good girl.” Also, she further mentioned, “Aushima (Sawhney) is the one who actually deserves the title.”

Last week, Desi Girl witnessed the exit of Monica Bedi, who was also considered as a strong contender. The panchayat chose Ishita against Monica to stay back. This week it is Aushima who gets evicted.

The finale will be aired on 4th of July, live from the venue.

Who's won the title of Kitchen Champion?

The Colors TV first of its kind cookery show has found its winner and all ribbed to conduct season 2…

The Colors TV unique cookery show that had begun its journey on 14th June with 12 leading ladies of television has found their deserving winner this season.

A Little Birdie informed us that, "Meghna Malik aka Ammaji of serial Na Aana Is Desh Ladoo was awarded the crown of Kitchen Champion."

When contacted, Meghna Malik asserted, "It was a very nice experience wherein we opted to learn many new things and obviously winning is always the best feeling (smiles)."

Also the murmur is that the channel is planning to conduct a season 2 very soon with some more leading ladies of television. Though they are planning for some structural changes but are likely to retain the host Ronit Roy in season 2 also.

'Raavan' earns Rs.20 crore worldwide on opening day

Mumbai, June 19 (IANS) Director Mani Ratnam's "Raavan", which was released in three languages Friday, grossed Rs.20 crore (around $4.4 million) worldwide on its opening day, its co-producer Reliance BIG Pictures said.

All three versions - "Raavan" (Hindi), "Raavanan" (Tamil) and "Villain" (Telugu) - co-produced by Reliance BIG Pictures and Madras Talkies, was released simultaneously in about 2,200 screens worldwide, said a press statement.

While the star cast of "Raavan" includes Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and southern star Vikram, "Raavanan" features Vikram, Aishwarya and Prithviraj. The Tamil version was dubbed in Telugu to reach a wider audience.

For foreign screens, the Hindi and Tamil versions have been released with English sub-titles.

In the Hindi version, Aishwarya plays Ragini, a dance teacher who is married to a policeman, played by Vikram. In the course of events, she is abducted by Beera (Abhishek) and held hostage at his jungle hideout. In the Tamil version, Vikram plays Beera.

The music for both the versions is by Oscar winner A.R. Rahman and the cinematography has been done by Santosh Sivan.

Sonu Niigaam Returns With ‘Chhote Ustaad’

It’s difficult to pinpoint where Sonu Niigaam’s loyalty lies. After al he’s been on various channels. He started his TV career as host of Zee TV’S ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ series then moved on to adjudicate Indian Idol. However, he’s made his appearance as a guest on most channels. The singer, who of late, has been keeping a low profile, will return to television as a judge on the Star Plus reality show ‘Chhote Ustaad’. Produced by Sai Baba Telefilms, ‘Chhote Ustaad’ will soon see its second season.

Apart from Sonu, Star Plus has also signed the Pakistani singer, Raahat Fateh Ali Khan as the second judge. Auditions for the show have already begun. This time the show will feature kids from across the border as well. An Indian and Pakistani child will form a pair. The show will follow ‘Zara Nachke Dikha 2’.

Star Plus spokesperson refused to confirm anything. Interestingly, is learnt that a few days back, Star Plus had put up a banner of the show which carried dates for the audition as well a picture of Niigaam and Khan.

Sonu Niigaam did not reply to our text message. Niigaam had last adjudicated ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs’ while Khan was seen in the show, ‘Junoon’.

The inaugural season of ‘Chhote Ustaad’ was held in 2007 and was won by Aishwarya Majumdar

“People Still Ask About The ‘Kyunki…’ Sequel”-Hiten Tejwani

he period of ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ on Star Plus is still known as the golden era of Indian Television.

 

 The show resulted in a major turnaround for the Indian Television industry especially its culture. The concept of serials changed after this show as well. But ‘Kyunki… succeeded in beating its compatriots by being on air for 8 long years. Apparently, the audience remains loyal till date and are ready to watch it again, if commenced.

Hiten Tejwani, who played the character of Karan and was a part of the legendary show, said, “People are still big fans of ‘Kyunki… as it was a show which lasted for all of 8 years and was a big hit. It kept the people tied up to the story. The audience was somewhat addicted to the show and now that it has gone off-air abruptly, they still have expectations of it re-surfacing once again. They are, in fact, waiting for the Kyunki Sequel.”

“Many of them have called me and asked whether Kyunki… is going to be back again. And I replied that it may happen in future but right now I just don’t have any idea.” signs off Hiten.

Yes! We too agree with Hiten that Kyunki had changed the trend of Indian Television. But a Kyunki Sequel? Well, you never know what can happen next!

Archana-Manav finally go separate ways in Pavitra Rishta

Recently the fans of Archana and Manav were in for a shocker when the couple signed the divorce papers in Zee’s Pavitra Rishta. Speculations were rife that Manav’s mother, Savita would eventually discourage them from going for a divorce but nothing happened. Even after the divorce, the couple continued to remain in touch. The upcoming episodes will show the couple finally parting ways with each other and disconnecting themselves from each other completely.
Says our source, “Archana and Manav have finally decided not to meet each other. They have an emotional phone conversation where Archana agrees to no longer remain in touch with Manav. They want to end things on a positive note. Post this; the show will take a leap of a few months. The track will focus on Shravani and her baby.”
Sushant Singh Rajput who plays Manav remained unavailable for comment.

UTV now to co-produce Boogie Woogie with R & N Productions

Everyone wants a pie of success. And so looks for the same reason, UTV has now joined hands with R & N Productions (the baby of Ravi Behl, Naved and Javed Jaffery) to produce the immensely popular Boogie Woogie.
“Boogie Woogie would now be a joint venture of R& N productions and UTV,” confirms Ajay Balwankar, the programming head for Sony. Talking about the reasons for such a decision, he further adds, “This is purely to improve the production infrastructure and the quality of the show.”
Balwankar also confirms there would be no changes in the concept and Ravi, Naved and Javed will continue being an active part of the show.
Ravi and Naved remained unavailable for comment.

Sonia Singh enters Dev’s life in Chhoti Bahu

Soniya Singh who apart from Dil Mil Gaye is also seen enacting the character of Neelam, Pankaj (Sarwar Ahuja) wife in Imagine TV’s Jyoti has started working on her third project, essaying a parallel lead character in Chhoti Bahu.

The recent episodes of Chhoti Bahu witnessed the falling of Dev aka Avinash Sachdev from a cliff and regarded as being dead.

A little birdie informed us that, “Soniya Singh will be seen as Dev’s wife and enacts the character of a mentally childish,cute, bubbly, chirpy girl who stays in Agra and is the daughter of a landlord.”

When contacted, Soniya Singh conformed the news saying, “yes I’ m enacting the character of Maitri. It’s a completely positive role and I always wanted to come back in Zee TV afterNaagin. And as this is a very popular show which I have been following from long so it’s great to be a part of the show.”

Our source also added that, “Dev will be shown enduring a complete memory loss andRadhika (Rubina Dilaik) who has decided to leave her in laws house is now come down to Agra to meet her sick grandmother and that is where she sees Dev and Maitri in a temple for the first time.”

Our source also adds that, “May be the coming episodes would also witness the entry of Maitri’s parents.”

Presumably Maitri could be the one who actually saved Dev’s life but as the story unfolds the real truth of Dev’s married life as well as his past will be revealed.

The entry sequence of Soniya Singh and Avinash Sachdev will be aired in today’s episode.

Yashraj out of Indian Idol 5

In a shocking elimination this week, Yashraj Kapil is voted out of Indian Idol 5.

Our source from the show says, “Yashraj is a mature singer and was consistent in his acts. In fact his co-contestants too were confident he will make it to the finals. Yashraj like Manisha Karmakar who was eliminated last week was Anu’s favourite. Anu always backed his performances and was surprised to see him out.”

Yashraj had won a reality show called Sitaron Ko Choona Hai which aired on Real TV, so he was hoping to reach at least in the top 3 this time on Idol. There was no celebrity guest this week and Hussain is back to host the show. Abhishek Bachchan was supposed to appear in the show to promote his movie Raavan this week but he could not make it due to a date issue.

Now, nine contestants will slug it out in the contest.

SRK says ‘ooh...aah…ouch'!

Actor Shah Rukh Khan has long been suffering from fitness issues, as this time the superstar is down and out due to back pain. SRK is currently shooting for the action filled ‘Ra.One’, as his back problem seems to have troubling him more than ever.


“Working with my doctor on my back. It’s time to scream out ouch...ooh...aah. I’ll be back later...no pun intended,” said SRK on a social networking site.

But to back him up, megastar Amitabh Bachchan replied immediately to SRK’s post wishing him a speedy recovery from his aggravated back problem.

"Speedy recovery for your back Shah Rukh! It is such a bother really. I take resort through medication, but massage is better," Bachchan replied.

Good eh! Stars are bonding socially. We wish you speedy recovery SRK…

Manisha Karmakar's Idol dreams crash this week

It had to happen sooner than later. Manisha Karmakar is eliminated this week in Indian Idol. Karmakar who has earlier done Sa Re Ga Ma Bangla was always confident of being in the top 5 but has been faring quite badly in the last couple of weeks.

Our source says, “Manisha has been failing to give her best for the past two- three weeks .She has an exceptional voice, but her performances are weak. Last week too she did not do justice to Pyarelalji’s song, though Annu Malik always considered her one of the best singers of this season. However this week she was in the danger zone only to be eliminated later.”

Meanwhile, this week with Hussain busy at the IIFA awards, Sunidhi Chauhan had to double up as host. There were no celebrity guests this week though next week, the team of Raavan is expected to appear in the show

Winners of the IIFA Awards 2010

Best Film
Vidhu Vinod Chopra - 3 Idiots

Best Performance in a Leading Role (Male)
Amitabh Bachchan - Paa

Best Performance in a Leading Role (Female)
Kareena Kapoor - 3 Idiots & Vidya Balan - Paa

Best Direction
Rajkumar Hirani - 3 Idiots

Best Performance in a Comic Role
Sanjay Dutt - All The Best

Best Performance in a Negative Role
Boman Irani - 3 Idiots

Best Performance in Supporting Role (Male)
Sharman Joshi - 3 Idiots

John says Bips looks hot in the ad

Bipasha Basu’s nude ad that recently went online in YouTube created ripples. But Bipasha Basu is unfazed by the leaking of the video on the net as she feels it was nothing vulgar and she is proud the way she was looking in the ad. Her boyfriend actor John Abraham also feels the same. John says that Bips looks hot in the ad. Bipasha Basu is happy to have an understanding boyfriend like John. Her parents also sound very cools regarding the ad. She quips, “John is not hyper at all and neither are my parents. In fact, John told me I looked really hot in it. It is so wonderful to have a supportive boyfriend and parents.”

Is Bitto in trouble?

it seems that Bitto the latest show on Sahara One is finding it hard to be accepted by the audiences. Despite having a good concept the show isn’t able to make a mark. And the production house Contiloe Telefilms isn’t very pleased with the latest TRPs of the show.

Apparently, the situation is so bad that the production house has currently stalled the shoot of the show and is planning to make some serious changes in the script. Sources say that these changes are being made keeping in mind the TRPs and viewers’ feedback.

Meanwhile, the cast and crew of the show are busy travelling all across India for a promotional tour. Just recently, the unit visited Nagpur and Indore and plan to leave for the second tour in a week or two.

Abhimanyu Singh of Contiloe Telefilms remained unavailable. Creative head Mushtaq Shaikh too remained unavailable.

Amrita is left with just one little master

Skipper Amrita is now just left with one kid while Vrushali and Mayuresh’s ‘Dhoom Dhadake’ have lost one to elimination too in DID Lil Masters!

Says our source, “This time, those in the bottom four were Anurag from Amrita’s team, Avneet from Vrushali’s team, Atul from Jai’s team and Ruturaj from Dharmesh’s team. However Anurag and Avneet were finally evicted from the show. This leaves skipper Amrita with only one kid in her team now.”

Sources say this was Farah Khan special episode and also present were Farah’s mother and aunt Daisy Irani.

Love on the sets of Odhani?

A little bird from the sets of Rang Badalti Odhani chirps that while Khanak may have lost her husband in the show, Yashashree Masurkar who plays the lead role seems to have found her soul-mate on the sets.
The love of her life is Monty, the show’s director of photography. Our source chips in, “The two have been together for quite some time now. You don’t need to be Einstein to figure this out. They are seen together on the sets. In fact he even travels all the way to Vasai to drop Yashashree. They do spend a lot of time together off the shoot as well.”
We sent a text to the actress but she did not revert.