Week’s biggest television news

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Here is the round up of all happenings from last week in TV land - have a look!



Srijita De out of Uttaran

Srijita De, who was almost certain to portray the role of the teen Ichcha after the leap in Uttaran (Colors), will now be replaced on the channel’s insistence.

According to their contract, the new cast was not supposed to reveal details about their characters or the show before its official launch. But Srijita could not abide by the rules. The source says, “Srijita gave interviews to the media right after she came to know that she had been finalised and this cost her."
The source added, “Srijita was finalised as the new ‘Ichcha’ and though she didn’t start shooting, she shot for the promos with Rashmi Desai, who will be seen portraying the role of Tapasya after the show takes a leap.”
When contacted, a curt Srijita De refused to comment, just saying, “I am not aware of this.”

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Zaina Vastani aka Antara gets rave reviews


Cute little Zaina Vastani, who plays Antara on Aap Ki Antara, is winning viewers’ hearts with her convincing performance. We spoke to the 5-year-old’s mother about her rise to stardom.


Zaina did not have to give an audition for the role but got the offer through her mother’s friend. Zaina’s mother couldn’t be prouder of her little girl, saying, “I’ve been getting calls from everyone telling me how good she is on the show. Her posters are up everywhere in the city. My sister, who is a teacher, helped us to learn more about autism. I feel that I have made the right decision to accept this offer for her.”


Zaina will be seen on Aap Ki Antara for only 3 months, after which a new actress will be selected to play a more grown up version of Antara.

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Angad Hasija is married!


Angad Hasija's (Alekh of Bidaai) secret is finally out. The actor, who celebrated his 25th birthday on May 31, revealed that he has been married for nearly two years now.

Angad, who promised exciting news on his birthday, said: "Yes, the surprise which I was supposed to reveal on my birthday was that I am already married. The reason I hid the fact till now was because my wife Pari (Parneet) and I wanted to concentrate on our careers first and then reveal our secret marriage. Secondly, I didn't want my fan following to get affected."


He added: "My mumma chose Pari for me and we got engaged when I was just 21. Soon after that, there was a Roka (a ritual followed by Sikhs, the time period between the engagement and the marriage) during which we got to know each other better. When we were sure about it, we finally tied the knot on September 15, 2007, in Chandigarh."


“Pari was studying as she had to pursue her physiotherapy. Even I was struggling to establish myself as an actor. But now that she has completed her studies and I've proved myself as an actor, by God's grace, we decided to reveal our marriage."

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Shakuntala’s Neha Mehta unaware of being replaced


The buzz doing the rounds was that Neha Mehta, who plays the title role in Shakuntala, may be replaced because of her allegedly pricey behaviour and lack of dedication.


But Neha denies this and says she is unaware of events. She says, “There is no reason to replace me on the show. All this news is very contradictory and I have not even been informed of it officially. I work for 14-15 hours, 28 days a month for the show. Is that acting pricey or making trouble for the production house? We have been shooting nonstop for episodes and only we know how we manage. I don’t understand who is spreading these rumours.”


It is said that auditions for a new Shakuntala are on right now. But should production house Sagar Arts not get a replacement, the show may have to be wrapped up, reports say as soon as June 25. To this, Neha says, “As far as a replacement for me is concerned, I am already giving this project my 100%. I cannot give them more time than this. If they respect my dedication, they will not replace me.

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DKD 2’s shoot postponed
Shooting for Dus Ka Dum’s second season has been plagued with glitches as the schedule gets continually postponed because of a truant Salman Khan. Now, shooting that was supposed to take place on June 1 has been pushed back.


Our source from the sets says, “We were supposed to shoot on Monday (June 1) but now we’ll shoot on Thursday (June 4). We’ll have a technical rehearsal on Wednesday, then shoot for the episode the day after. The last show was shot for on May 27 with Mika Singh and Daler Mehndi. We haven’t managed to fit in anything else after that.”


After a lot of rescheduling, shooting for DKD 2 finally began on May 24 and so far, three celebrity episodes have been completed. The reason for the latest delay is host Salman Khan’s other commitments. The source adds, “We were informed that we would shoot for episode 4 on June 1 but Salman is also shooting for his movie Veer. The dates of the project were clashing with the show’s schedule. That’s how we’ve got this week long break.”

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Will SRK's serial return from 'seasonal break'?


Ghar Ki Baat Hai’s six-month contract with NDTV Imagine is almost over and the show will soon take a seasonal break in July. Whether it returns for a second installment all depends on discussions between the production house, Red Chillies, and the channel.
Ghar Ki Baat Hai is Shah Rukh Khan’s first sitcom and it is based on the old TV serial Yeh Joh Hai Zindagi. It premiered in the end of January but despite getting good responses, it has never featured among NDTV Imagine’s top five shows. The original show aired just two seasons. Though the first installment was a hit with audiences, the second did not match up to expectations.

However, director Anant Mahadevan is optimistic that his show will not have the same fate as the original. He talks about what he describes as a slow but steady climb in viewership, saying, “It happens with comedy shows. After three months of airing, then they start picking up. And it is happening with Ghar Ki Baat Hai too. The most surprising fact, however, is that even during the IPL, audiences were so loyal that they did not choose the matches over our show. That made me really happy. And working with Red Chillies has been a luxury.”


As for the seasonal break in July, he says, “We have a six-month contract that ends in July. All these months we’ve been getting TRPs of 0.80 to 0.91 but I don’t consider TRPs a parameter for popularity. I am sure the production house and channel will have a discussion and decide on a second season.”