Reality Bites

In a season of reality TV shows,why must actor Soha Ali Khan be left out? The petite actor will soon be seen on TV for the first time hosting a lifestyle-family-reality show called Godrej Khelo Jeeto Jiyo. “I feel TV is a wider platform and has a far greater reach than films. I liked the format of the show since it is light-hearted,fast-paced and entertaining. Also I can relate to the show since I recently bought a home in Mumbai,” smiles the 30-year-old,while hosting a mock show at Eagle Studios in Noida. She did receive words of wisdom from mother Sharmila Tagore. “I was told to smile a lot,be myself and never to wear heels,” Khan laughs. The show goes on air on June 29 on Star Plus at 7 pm.

Why choose a stint on TV at this stage? “I have always wanted to up the ante,” she quips. “Things have been going smoothly in my career so far. My last film 99 was a reasonable success and I have been able to work with known directors like Sudhir Mishra. I’m also getting the kind of scripts I like. It was the right time to challenge myself a bit,” she adds,saying the show will not distract her from films. On the film front,Khan is busy working on a British production with mum,which she began shooting last month in London. The film which is directed by Rituparno Ghosh’s assistant Sangeeta Datta and co-stars Om Puri and Girish Karnad. “It is about a family drama that revolves around a father and his three daughters,” she says. And there is also a romantic film with Bollywood’s ‘serial kisser’ Emraan Hashmi in Kunal Deshmukh’s Tum Mile. “We nearly drowned four-and-a-half times shooting for the film. For days we would be shooting in knee-deep water to recreate the Mumbai floods,” she giggles.

Maybe television is safer,after all.