Earshot

Shefali againLast week, Zee Network threw a bash at Hotel Centaur to celebrate the launch of their new serial Raahein being produced by T...

Shefali again
Last week, Zee Network threw a bash at Hotel Centaur to celebrate the launch of their new serial Raahein being produced by Tracinema Vinita Nanda/Raman Kumar which replaced Ajai Sinha8217;s Hasratein. The evening took off with a speech by Mahesh Bhatt. Well, it was not a typical press conference, but more of a gathering instead where you could see almost the entire Tellywood. 8220;We8217;re celebrating, as a new child is born in our family8221; said Ranjan Bakshi, Zee vice president corporate communication. Among the celebrities spotted were Shefali Chhaya who stars in the serial, hubby Harsh, Talat Aziz, Satish Shah, Kunika and Soni Razdan.

Hi, Rai
Who8217;s Who? As you know, Who8217;s Who is a book which lists eminent Indians, celebrated personalities from various fields. You must be wondering why it is getting a mention here. That8217;s because this book also has a section on television personalities and what is worth mention is that in the TV section, it has listed only Ravi Rai, the writer-director of serials like Sailaab, Thoda Hai, Teacher. Rai was not available for a comment. Even his cell phone is usually switched off these days. Probably he is too busy writing his new soap Sparsh which he promises will be so moving viewers would forget Sailaab.

Three-in-one
Pritish Nandy Communications PNC is on a hat-trick. In one month, they have released three serials and all on different channels. It started with Raj Kahani premiering on March 14 on DD1, followed by Mr Gayab on Zee and now it8217;s Khwaish which starts this week on Sony. The latter is directed by Manu Gargi and stars Annie Thomas, Mini Mathur, Radhika Anand playing the three female protaganists and it revolves around their lives, jealousies and fantasies.

Slot plot
Zee8217;s becoming very confusing. Neeyat used to be aired on Sundays. Now it8217;s Tuesdays. Difficult to understand the channels strategies when it comes to the change of time slot and days of programmes. Tere Mere Sapne Zee has been shifted three times in approximately seven months. Ravi Rai8217;s Teacher, has had four different slots in less than a year. And usually the shift is from a prime time to a non-prime slot of 10.30 pm or 11 pm. But it seems Reena Wadhwa is plain lucky. Her Neeyat which had the Sunday 9 pm slot now gets a Tuesday 8.30 pm one. And Dayanan Rajan8217;s Kaala Sona comes up to 10pm from 10.30 pm Monday.

Write-off
Recently, we wandered onto the sets of Movers and Shakers. Well, this time we8217;re not talking about Shekhar Suman, thank god! but Sukhwant Kalsi. The name may not ring a bell, but he8217;s the one, who writes it. Believe it or not, the man does 10 hours of writing everyday. One episode a day with topical and current issues is not a joke. 8220;There is no bigger challenge than writing a stand-up like this,8221; says he and adds 8220;It8217;s difficult as I myself don8217;t know what will be the headlines tomorrow and we can8217;t write in advance8221;. Kalsi, who is Jaspal Bhatti8217;s uncle, has bigger plans. He is planning an audio magazine for kids which would be entertainment based with zero education value and he8217;d be turning director with a comical parody show.