Producer Raman Kumar is on cloud nine these days. His serial, Deewar, may have gone off DD 1, but exciting work continues to come his way. Kumar has recently shot two commercials for non-stick cookware! Why is he excited about it? Well, his model was none other than Hema Malini! Of course, the other reason for Raman Kumar's high sprits is the fact that he has embarked on a new project. He has floated a joint venture company with Pooja Bhatt, called Pooja Trac Productions. Ms. Bhatt seems to be burying herself in Tellywood. She has two ongoing projects which she has written. The first, called Pari, has been approved by Sony and will star Naseeruddin Shah. It will be directed by Kumar. The other one, Samay for DD (based on the novel, Wuthering Heights) will have Bhatt playing the lead and will be directed by cousin Vikram Bhatt. Quite an in-house job we think.BraveheartThe superman of Indian TV takes that role very seriously. Recently, Mukesh Khanna found himself rescuing a damsel in distress by putting his life in danger. He was shooting for Viraat (DD1) in Film City, Mumbai, when chaos struck. For that particular scene, Khanna and a woman had to ride off into the sunset on his trusty stead. But that did not happen. The actress found herself falling off the horse and in her panic grabbed Khanna who nearly took a toss. However, Shaktimaan swung into action and held on to the girl with one hand and the horse with the other.It's a different story that the shoot had to be postponed. Khanna and the actress were so shaken that doubles had to be found to stand in for them!Gulf newsOor Mangta Hai Meghna Reddy rubbed shoulders with Hollywood's bigwigs, this week, when she went to Dubai. Meghna was there to cover the opening of Planet Bollywood for her show.. She chatted with Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford . and she even danced with Patrick Swayze! Our desi superstar, Amitabh Bachchan was also there. But a Channel [V] unit member had a not-so-pleasant run in. She found herself being pushed by security so she voiced her protest in the choicest of Punjabi gaalis. Imagine her shock when the security man - a firang-looking guy - replied in the same language! It goes to show that when in Dubai, don't do as the Indians do!Change overSometimes, changes in a serial can lead to changes in the cast. When producer-director, Ajit Pal found that his serial Baat Ban Jaye (Zee) was going nowhere, he decided to make it more "bindaas" and spice it with "adult comedy". But that did not suit his star Rakhi Vijan. Apparently, she has walked out of the serial because she felt that the new thrust did not gel with her image. Pal insists that Rakhi left because "her contract is over". However, he was quick to add that the change was inevitable. "Faces get boring," he says. Tandon incidentally has been replaced by Bollywood reject, Kareena.No placeThe serial Naya Daur on Zee TV is really creating waves. Rather disturbing the air waves. The serial has been shuttled around like a badminton cork - from 10 p.m. on Thursday to 11 p.m. on the same day and then to 10:30 p.m. It's latest perch is 11 am Sunday! But Ravi Kaushal, the producer, puts up a brave face when he claims that he is not bothered by this yo-yoing. "Channel adjustments have to be made and this shifting has not affected viewership," says he. Perhaps the reason for that is simple: nobody watches Naya Daur in any case.Wild westLast week, the who's who of Tellywood came together under one roof. The occasion: a party to mark the end of the serial Parivartan. It so happened that the event coincided with the launch of the venue - Sheriff -a new Mexican restaurant in Mumbai. The menu, the decor, the gun-toting effigies of cowboys, a jail door which doubled-up as the kitchen entrance, all spelt Wild West. Even the waiters were dressed to complement the ambience - jeans, scarves, a sheriff's badge and cowboy hats were their uniforms. The stars - Kitu Gidwani, Beena, Karan Razdan, Vivek Agnihotri, Pallavi Joshi, Ashok Shekhar, Sonia Kapoor, Shabhaz Khan. - seemed to love the place as they really let their hair down and partied the night away.
