Sayantani Ghosh: Saas-Bahu smile

Roopa Ganguly?s done it. Indrani Halder?s tried it. And now, Sayantani Ghosh will be carrying the Tollywood torch to the national small screen.

The model-turned-actress, who even recently was dancing around trees with Prosenjit in masala potboilers like Raju Uncle and Nayak, will be playing Kumkum?s prospective bahu as the popular afternoon serial takes a 20-year time jump from Monday.

?I wanted to do something nationally and this was a dream offer,? smiles Sayantani, moments before giving her first shot for Kumkum ? Pyara Sa Bandhan at a Sakinaka studio in Mumbai on Wednesday afternoon.

?It?s not that I am quitting Bengali movies but I would definitely not go back and start from scratch all over again,? she stressed.

It was a one-and-a-half month break from work in Tollywood that prompted Sayantani to plan a quick Mumbai trip. ?I had just told Ma, cholo ekbar dekhe aashi,? she recalls. ?I was offered a big Telugu movie but I hadn?t committed to it. Once in Mumbai, I came to know that B.A.G. Films was looking for fresh faces for the new extension in Kumkum.?

It?s not that Sayantani was never interested in Bollywood. ?I had offers coming in but I didn?t want to do B-grade sex comedies,? she states. ?Like I did in Bengali films, I would only do top projects. So, I looked at television as a possible option in Mumbai.?

A surprise awaited Sayantani as she entered the B.A.G. Films office. ?They didn?t even want to watch clips from my Bengali films, they just said, ?We have got our Antara?,? gushes the girl who was crowned second runners-up at the Sananda Tilottama contest in 2003. ?I hadn?t expected such a warm reception in Mumbai. Can you believe it, I got selected in the very first office I visited!?

As Antara, Sayantani will be playing the love interest of Dhruv, Kumkum?s elder son in the serial.

?It?s a lovely character of a girl who has stayed throughout in the US but has all her Indian values in place. She comes into the Wadhwa family and wins everyone?s heart. Kumkum loves and supports her throughout and then even Sumeet starts liking her.?

Playing the latest bahu on the small screen does have its fair share of problems, though. ?I have my Part II examinations coming up in May,? says the final-year English (hons) student of Bhawanipur Education Society.

?Then I have also committed to a film by Prabhat Roy, co-starring Jeet and Swastika. While I am extremely thrilled to have bagged a prestigious project like Kumkum, I would like to finish my studies and complete my pending projects... I am not sure how I will manage that, though, with Kumkum taking up 20 to 25 days a month.?

For now, Sayantani is busy setting up her new rented place in Lokhandwala while brushing up her Hindi. ?I had lived in Mumbai till my fourth standard and I have always studied Hindi in school, so mouthing scripted dialogues shouldn?t be a problem,? declares Sayantani.

?But I am already missing Calcutta a lot as I will be camping here in Mumbai for at least a year.?

PLAYING THE HOST: Imran Khan with Sachin Tendulkar in Pakistan

King Khan

Imran Khan opens up on his life, love and dreams in a very special three-part Rendezvous with Simi Garewal that starts this Sunday.

Arguably the most charismatic sportsman from the subcontinent, now a politician and cricket expert, says: ?I was always a dreamer? From age nine onwards, I had no doubts that I would play for Pakistan. It was just a question of when. I thought I?d be the youngest cricketer ever. And then when I started playing at the age of 18, I had this ambition of taking 10 wickets in a match...?

When Simi asks him what has changed in cricket over the years, Imran names the ?the quality of fielding going up? as the positive and the ?quality of fast bowling going down? as a negative. ?We need more wicket-taking bowlers. Someone like Shoaib Akhtar concentrates more on the bowling speed rather than the wicket taking part,? he rues.

The man who discovered a whole pool of new talent for Pakistan recounts how he knew ?Inzamam-ul-Haq was a great talent? after seeing him ?play for just five minutes?, before picking Irfan Pathan as the one Indian cricketer with great potential. ?He very much reminds me of the young Wasim Akram. You can have all the talent but if you do not have the character to translate that talent into performance then it?s wasted. Irfan has it. He is a lion hearted cricketer,? adds King Khan.

From Imran the on-field champion, talk inevitably turns to Immie the off-pitch heartthrob. When asked whether the glamour factor had attracted him to a string of high-profile women, the man who made ?big boys play at line? a cult line, says: ?What attracts people, you will never know. There can be some glamorous people who are unattractive. Because they become quite self-centered, self-obsessed, actually boring. It?s actually the personality, which is the key.? Don?t miss your first date with the King Khan on Rendezvous on Sunday, April 9, 9.30 pm.