Hiten, Rahul or Sakshi?
Hiten Tejwani, Sakshi Tanwar and Rahul Sharma are some of the celebs who have been approached to host Star Plus’ new reality show Mahayatra. A road reality show, it will be a hunt for the ideal son and daughter. The show will give them tasks to guage how far they are willing to go to take their parents on a Chardham Yatra , a pilgrimage.

Jungle freak
Yudi, who is an adventure freak, is excited about being part of Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao. “I was approached a couple of months ago by Sony TV and I jumped at the opportunity,” grins the host who will be spending two months in the jungles of Malaysia. “With rivers running across the jungle, creepy crawlies around, it reminds you of the tropical forests you see in Hollywood films,” he enthuses. The exciting part for him is that though they stay in a hotel near the jungle, he and co-host Mini Mathur have to take a boat to reach the place where the celebs are put up. He says, it’s a great, fresh environment and is looking forward to the experience. Yudi started his career as a veejay on Channel [V] and went on to host shows on NDTV Good Times, The Great Indian Love Challenge, Dil Maange More on STAR One. He has just completed a film Chowki with Sandhya Mridul. “It’s a thriller and will be my acting debut,” he informs.

Getting historical
Rohit Bakshi, who is playing Rana Ratan Singh in Chittor Ki Rani Padmini Ka Johar on Sony TV, got the role as he fitted the looks and persona of the king character. It’s his first period drama and he feels lucky to be part of such a huge historical saga. The show is being compared to film Jodhaa Akbar as Nitin Desai, the producer of the show, hasn’t left any stone unturned in making the show as authentic as possible. Coincidentl, Jodhaa Akbar was also shot at Karjat and Desai was the production designer. Even Rohit’s clothes are designed by designer Neeta Lulla who designed Hrithik Roshan’s clothes. When he had seen the film Rohit had never imagined that he would ever get to do a historical serial in his career. Though he takes about 45 minutes to get ready with all the accessories, he is enjoying the attention and recognition which he is getting for his performance which he did not get even when he did hit shows like Kaahin To Hoga.

Cooking on a rainy day
Not many people know that the sets of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah have a huge kitchen. Much to everyone’s delight, it is highly equipped with various kitchen appliances. One day when the shoot got disrupted due to heavy rains, the ladies on the show planned to make monsoon delicacies for the cast and crew. The entire cast was thrilled on hearing that they will get to eat some steaming hot snacks. While Dayaben made special bhajiyas and dal vadas for everyone. Komal (Ambika) and Madhvi (Sonalika) made baingan bhaji and potato vadas. Roshan (Jennifer) and Babita (Moonmoon) made makai ka bhutta. Everyone relished the delicacies and could not stop raving about them. In the end, the ladies suggested they get back something in return for all the efforts they have put in. So, all the men made adrak wali chai for the whole team.

The tale of the coffin
Producer J.D. Majethia is probably going a little overboard with his story line of Shree. A faint-hearted Wasna Ahmad has already gone berserk doing the spooky scenes. Now, as per the storyline, Hari’s family members Sumati, Niki, Anant and Danny were required to be put in coffins. There was a stunned silence when this was announced and needless to say, nobody was game for it. All four of them suggested that let body doubles be used for this particular shot. Reasoned Majethia, “ Why don’t you guys see this as an amazing opportunity. Tell me how many living beings get a chance to be inside a coffin… only a lucky few! I’m giving you this opportunity…see how it feels to be like a dead man.”