Earshot

Baby, babyAnother casualty is Amita Nangia. Rumours are floating around that she has taken sanyas from television because of her husband'...

Baby, baby
Another casualty is Amita Nangia. Rumours are floating around that she has taken sanyas from television because of her husband8217;s demands. But the real story is that Nangia is on maternity leave 8212; she is pregnant and expecting next month. Says she, quot;I8217;m not quitting for God8217;s sake!8230;quot; And in true blue fillum style she continues, quot;8230;I8217;ll die acting! I8217;m now playing the biggest role of my life that of a mother.quot;

Extra-marital?
On the romantic front, the latest buzz is of an affair between Ravi Gosain, who plays Nigoda in Amanat Zee, and newcomer Ritu. The duo has been spotted together at parties, shoots and movie halls. Rumours have it that Ritu has moved into Gosain8217;s house. But like every romantic story, this too has a kahani mein twist 8212; Gosain is a married man, his wife is expecting a baby and is currently in Delhi! Wonder what will happen when she returns!

Just gossip
On the other hand, here is an affair that never was. Actress Sharmili Raj is pretty peeved these days after a gossip rag carried stories about an alleged affair with actor Adarsh Gautam. Raj and Gautam have played Shiv-Parvati in the serial Shiv Puran and acted as a husband-wife jodi in Main Dilli Hoon DD. What really riled her, was that the mag went ahead and darkly hinted that the twosome have been secretly married for some time. Raves Raj, quot;Adarsh is a married man and such rumours create problems8230; People will write any rubbish to sell!quot;

Two-in-one
Girish Mallik, the star of Banegi Apni Baat Zee, has turned director with her home production, Rab Rakha, which has been approved for Star Plus. He also directs Babul Supriya8217;s music video Tu Hi Tu and another serial called Sarhad for Channel 4, based on prisoners of the 1971 war. Morever, he is also directing Hum Kise Se Kam Nahi for producer Manish Goswami. quot;I took up direction to do the kind of work I want to. I want to make people aware of the possiblities on TV,quot; he says. But his kind of work is not limited to direction 8212; he will also act in all the projects! Well, we wonder if the best way to promote yourself as an actor is to double up as a director!

Zee flicks
While Bollywood stars are increasingly shifting towards the small screen, Zee Network is moving the other way. After producing telefilms, they are now venturing into feature films. While the project is still under wraps, the buzz is that Sunny Deol will play the lead role in Zee8217;s still untitled debut film. The director will be Anil Sharma, who has also directed Dharmendra in Farishtey and more recently, Govinda and Manisha Koirala in Maharaja.

Name Game
Sanjay Khan is back in the news 8212; but for all the wrong reasons. His serial Jai Hanuman DD1 will soon go off air due to differences with S.S.Gill. The other serial, Panipat Ki Akhri Jang, which was to start on DD2 quite soon, is also mired in trouble. Sources reveal this project is nothing but old stories with new titles a rehash of Khan8217;s earlier serial, The Great Marathas. Khan has even received summons from a Delhi court asking for a clarification.

Taken for a ride
Arjun Singh Rathod8217;s debut dream project Maharana Pratap DD1 may have gone off the air, but he has still managed to stay in the news. He recently had a major showdown with partners Nand Kishore and Prithvi Raj. The report is that after Nimbus agreed to market the serial, Rathod got greedy and wanted to edge out his partners. They agreed to back out, if Rathod could buy out their stake in the project. And here is where matters got murky since Rathod did not have money, he gave them post-dated cheques which, predictably, bounced. Morever, when the partners tried to sell the car given by Rathod as compensation, they found that it was under a loan finance scheme and could not be sold!