DID Grandmaster Mithun Chakraborty gets jiggy on stage with host Jay Bhanushali; (right) Anil Kapoor on the red carpet

On a day when half of Mumbai had come to a stand-still to salute Sachin Tendulkar on his last day as a Team India cricketer, top telly stars were sweating it out at Andheri Sports Complex. The pitch for which they were preparing was the channel’s annual show — Zee Rishtey Awards (ZRA) — that evening.

Little women

Mahima Makwana aka Rachana of Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke was waiting for her turn to take the stage. “I am so glad they gave me a dhinchak song, given I am such a chhuimui shy girl in the serial. I will also dance a duet with Gunjan (her on-screen cousin) as part of the opening act,” the teenager chirped.

Elsewhere 16-year-old Ulka Gupta, seen earlier as the young Jhansi ki Rani, was fighting hard to promote her new serial Khelti Hai Zindagi Aankh Micholi. “It hasn’t got enough publicity. Please write about it,” she told every reporter she met. No more butterflies in her stomach on the eve of her third ZRA performance.

Telly stars as dancers

Watching the younger lot shake their booty, Alok Nath turned pensive. “TV is a monster that pays you a lot of money. And dancing is part of an actor’s all-round growth. So why shouldn’t TV stars dance?” he reasoned. Did he enjoy shaking a leg? “I have two left feet,” he chickened out with a smile.

The handsome Karan Grover of Punarvivah — Ek Nayi Umeed admitted being a bad dancer. “In any case, the film guys get a month to rehearse whereas we have four days. We are more efficient.” Among his colleagues he gave Manish Paul a perfect 10 and Rithvik Dhanjani a nine. “Me? Not more than five.”

The final word came from choreographer Geeta Kapoor — she picked the duo of Rithvik-Asha (Negi) as her favourite.

Thoda tantrum, thodi picnic

Spotted with her face covered from the sun with a scarf was Ankita Lokhande, her temper boiling over like the heat. “I had asked for a solo vanity (van). I give you five minutes to arrange for one. It’s my fifth Rishtey Award. I can expect at least this much,” she fumed.

Asked if she was missing beau Sushant Singh Rajput, with whom she had danced at ZRA 2010, she mellowed: “It’s been two years that he’s not around on the sets (of Pavitra Rishta). I have got used to that. I don’t miss him,” she said, adding “not much” after a pause. “Are you sure you want that to go in print?” a voice warned her from a distance. “My baby knows me,” Ankita smiled, as a coordinator ran in with news of her vanity van.

The voice was that of Hiten Tejwani, who had replaced Sushant in the serial. “I don’t have much to do tonight. I am here for a picnic,” he smiled.

Nervy nawab

Rajat Tokas was clearly tense on the eve of his first live show. “I don’t know how I will screw up, but if I do I will do so royally,” he laughed a tad hysterically. He took comfort in the fact that as emperor Akbar he has been riding horses. “And elephants are easier to mount than horse. Horses don’t keep still and elephants don’t move,” he laughed. Seeing the jumbo that was waiting to be mounted by her king, Paridhi ‘Jodha’ Sharma said she had no regrets missing out on the royal entrance Akbar would be making at the show. “I am happier on my feet. Thank you.”

Taunt of the night

“Grandmaster ka kursi kab chhod rahe hain, Dada? Anchoring mein paisa nahin hai.” Who said: Jay Bhanushali, the anchor of ZRA and Dance India Dance (DID).

To whom: Mithun Chakraborty, the Grandmaster of DID since Season 1.

(Zee Rishtey Awards beams on Zee TV on Sunday at 8pm)