Guest gal: Ishaa Koppikar

This Friday, it is time to go Khallas over comedy. Joining the talented men of humour on The Great Indian Laughter Champions Dwitiya this week will be the sexy Ishaa Koppikar.

After Rauf Lala was crowned Hasi Ka Shahenshah, STAR One is ready with a new comedy series, replete with the wittiest and the most hilarious stand-up comedians that have triumphed on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge. So, this Friday, at 9 pm, you can catch the likes of Khayali Saharan, Rajkumar Javkar, Uday Dahiya, Dharshi and Season One winner Sunil Pal.

Happy laughing!

Global fame: Yash Chopra

Chopra chosen

At the BAFTAs held last week, Yash Chopra received a lifetime membership to the British Academy for his contribution to the Indian film industry. He is the first Indian to be honoured at the BAFTA in the 59-year history of the academy.

Celebrating Indian cinema this year, BAFTA dedicated a three-day weekend to showcase films from this part of the world. Not surprisingly, Veer-Zaara got top billing. Taking centre stage at the opening day press conference on July 14 and flanked by Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar, Chopra said: ?It?s an honour not only for me personally but the entire Indian industry... Opening these doors is a step in the right direction in getting the recognition truly deserved by Indian cinema. It should not be long before our films get nominated and hopefully pick up the prestigious awards. On our part, we must ensure we make better films.?

Reacting to the induction of Chopra into the academy, the other Khan, Aamir, said: ?The primary job of a director is to communicate with his audiences, and over the last 50 years, no one has done this better than Yash Chopra.?

If Karan Johar said the reason he became a film maker was ?Yash Chopra?, Gurinder Chadha summed things up from the other side: ?It makes us all in the British film industry proud to see Yashji take centrestage at BAFTA.?

Three cheers: Sudipta with Rupanjana and Sonali. Picture by Aranya Sen

New game

Sudipta Chakraborty has switched to a bohemian look for Ravi Ojha?s new megaserial Khela, flashing a nose ring with junk jewellery and scraggly auburn hair.

Spinning a mystery around the murder of Aniruddha, the only son of industrialist Rathikant Burman (Dipankar De), Ojha brings to light the real faces of the Burman household. With her attire and attitude, Sudipta upsets the rules of the conservative Burman family.

The Khela cast includes Saheb Chatterjee, Arunima Ghosh, Badshah Moitra, Moumita Gupta and Aloknanda Roy.

Banking on a healthy budget, Ojha has already shot portions of the serial in Sikkim. ?We?ve laid the foundation for 1,000 episodes and hope to add some more, depending on positive feedback from viewers,? said Ojha, who returns to the small screen after scripting the success stories of Ek Akaasher Niche and Nana Ranger Dinguli.

?Unlike national network channels, Bengali channels do not interfere with producer-directors. It helps maintain quality in the production. Apart from that, Mumbai gives more importance to appearances and that?s why models get the chance instead of talented actors,? he added.

Khela, which went on air on July 17, comes Monday to Saturday, 9 pm on Zee Bangla.