Tathoi

All these months she, along with fellow anchor Aritra, stood on stage watching others her age face the camera in Zee Bangla’s Dance Bangla Dance(DBD)Junior. Now little Tathoi is herself facing the heat of competition. The girl from Behala has made it to the top three in her category in Pogo Amazing Kids Awards (PAKA) 2008, which puts the spotlight on talented children across the country without putting them through the grind of on-screen performance and elimination.

“I was told about the contest by a teacher in my school (National Gems High School). I sent the channel DVDs as proof of my talents — anchoring, acting and dancing. I also sent clips of my interviews.”

As DBD anchor, the 11-year-old has received a lot of local media attention. But now she is contending for the Alpenliebe Amazing Kid Entertainer title along with Tarush Lalwani, 8, and Kaustubh Ghosh, 11, both from Mumbai. “I am representing Bengal,’ says Tathoi, oozing confidence.

Her name echoes a rhythm, and she loves dancing. “I would start dancing on my own to any song as a child.” So her mother got her to learn Odissi from the age of three. She has about 10 films in her kitty, allowing her to rub shoulders with names like Prosenjit and Rituporno Ghosh, in whose Shob Choritro Kalponik she will be seen. But she loves to talk about anchoring. “I got an award for anchoring.”

Above all, Tathoi has the blessings of her dance guru Dona Ganguly, who wished her luck and spoke about her potential on a video album that Pogo is putting together on each of the nominees. But DBD Mahaguru Mithun Chakraborty is not aware about the nomination. “MG must be in Ooty now, or shooting abroad.”

What rings in her ear is his comment when she came to the floor the first day. “Shooting with such a big star made me a bit nervous. But he came forward and told me: ‘Tumi bhoy paabe na. Amra tomar songe achhi. (Don’t panic. We are with you).’”

The decision for the PAKA title is resting with judge Vinay Pathak and the announcement will be made on the grand finale on November 30, but Tathoi is not nervous this time