The new avataar of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge, Ek Main Aur Ek Tu, is ready for telecast from March 16. Besides the fact that it features the contestants from Sa Re Ga Ma Pa who didn’t quite make it to the finals, Ek Main Aur Ek Tu will undergo a complete change in the profile of the judges. Revealing his plans the show’s producer-director Gajendra Singh says, “We don’t want Ek Main Aur Ek Tu to look like a carryover of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Nor do we want the two shows to have a similar profile. That’s why we’ve decided to have a different genre of judges. While Sa Re Ga Ma Pa contestants will continue to be judged by composers, Ek Main?will have two singers Leslie Lewis and Hariharan partnering the judging job.” Incidentally, Leslie and Hariharan share a larger partnership. They are part of a band called Country Cousins. “Their knowledge of music is immense,” elaborates Gajendra Singh. “We will be bringing lots of professional singers on Ek Main Ek Aur Tu. Many singers have as much knowledge as the composers.”

Many TV actors before him including Amarr Upadhyay and Parmeet Sethi have failed. Will Manish Goel who shot to renewed fame with his appearance on Nach Baliye make the grade? “This is the year that will decide my fate once and for all. I’m ready to make the leap from television to cinema. I’m aware that other TV stars have fallen flat on their face in trying films. But my transition won’t be that sudden.” Manish plans to cut himself from television after his current serial is over. “The afternoon soap Bhabhi has made me a household name. I’m known more by my character’s name in that serial than by my own name. To go from being Tilak to Manish in the public mind won’t be easy. After Bhabhi completes its innings soon I plan to take a long break, change my look completely and come back films.” Will Manish succeed where his colleagues have repeatedly floundered? “I don’t know! I’m praying to prove the cynics wrong. Nach Baliye has given me a renewed self-confidence. I wonder if I can use that success to go to another level in my career. My wife Poonam tells me there’s nothing more I can do on television. Either I go further or I remain where I am. I’m 30 and my film career either starts now or never.”