Wild Recon on Animal Planet

Pavitra Rishta’s Sushant to produce festival films
AFTER appearing in just one dance show Zara Nachke Dikha,Sushant Singh has sworn off reality shows forever. A professional dancer,Sushant had earlier been part of Shiamak Davar’s group and has also performed at the Commonwealth Games and several award shows. When he joined television,he was unable to pursue dance,which is his “passion”. “So when I got an opportunity to shake a leg in Zara Nachke Dikha,I took it up,” he says. However,a few episodes into the show and the actor says he was at a loss to understand the yardstick of judgement. “A good professional dancer was measured by another yardstick,whereas a non-dancer was appreciated even for a mediocre performance,which was surprising,to say the least,” says Sushant. Incidentally,though he is being appreciated in Pavitra Rishta,the numero uno show on Zee,Sushant is planning to quit TV once the serial is over. He plans to go to New York Film Academy to do a course in filmmaking. Currently,he is in the process of producing three short films for national and international film festivals. One is based on Stephen King’s story of death row,another is a dark love story and the third one revolves around schizophrenia and is written by Sushant himself,who will be acting in all the three films. “I am making festival-specific films for recognition,” admits the actor.

Kunal Ganjawala,Sonu Niigaam’s friend on Chhote Ustaad
To celebrate friendship day on August 1,Star Plus’ Chhote Ustaad will have Kunal Ganjawala as a guest judge along with Sonu Niigaam and Rahat Fatel Ali Khan,who are part of the regular panel. Apparently,Kunal and Sonu are good friends and go back a long way. Kunal knows Sonu since the time the latter used to host Sa Re Ga Ma on Zee. At that time,Kunal had taken part in the music show as a contestant. He was first formally introduced to Sonu by Nadeem of Nadeem-Shravan fame. That was almost two decades ago. Nice to know that in the cut-throat music industry,two playback singers have remained in tune with each other for so long.

Sulagna Panigrahi in Bidaai
Sulagna Panigrahi,who was last seen in Do Saheliyan and is best remembered for her role in Ambar Dhara,will be making an entry in Rajan Shahi’s Sapna Babul Ka – Bidaai soon. With two of its main actors Kinshuk Mahajan and Sara Khan out of the serial,the makers needed another girl to take the story forward. While Apurva Agnihotri made an entry after the serial took a eight-year leap,it will be Sulagna,who will be roped in to play an important role. Incidentally,Shahi had considered casting her for Swarg in the past but it didn’t work out.

Wagle to be revisited
Anjan Srivastav,whose name is synonymous with Wagle Ki Duniya,is all set to take the common man’s legacy forward with a serial Detective Wagle,the pilot of which he has submitted to Doordarshan. “I wanted to concentrate on Wagle,who has retired and is trying to solve social problems,” says Shrivastav, who has taken permission from the original creator of Wagle’s character,RK Laxman. “The entire team of Wagle Ki Duniya is indebted to RK Laxman,” says Shrivastav,who catapulted to fame with the serial. Recently,the veteran actor made an entry in SAB TV’s Mrs & Mrs Sharma Allahabadwale as Mr Sharma’s father. “Both he and I share the same traits and values in the serial. It’s not just a humorous serial,but imparts a social message albeit subtly. I liked the role and the set-up and I realised that producer Ujjwal Rana was an actor who had worked with me in Bhanwar,which made it all the more appealing” says Shrivastav.