Mallika Sherawat: It’s the time to dandiya

Mallika Sherawat, Rakhi Sawant and Payal Rohatgi — this is not the star cast of a steamy Bollywood film but the line-up for a Raas Dandiya at Nicco Park.

No longer is the traditional band the only attraction at a Garba ground. A screen siren (read, a Bollywood babe who can move and shake it) is what dandiya organisers bank on to bring in the crowds.

“The presence of stars helps create hype and attract crowds because people continue to be crazy about stars from Bollywood,” says Gora Uzir, associated with the Raas Dandiya.

Mallika Sherawat could teach the festive revellers a thing or three about Pyaar Ke Side Effects on super Saptami (September 29). Payal Rohatgi, fresh from her O Sikander moves in Corporate, is slated to strut her stuff on naughty Navami (October 1). The hottest is saved for last with Rakhi Sawant billed to burn a Calcutta stage for the third time in four weeks for the finale on deadly Dashami (October 2).

DJ Harish would be manning the console, dishing out latest Bollywood chartbusters remixed for the dandiya crowd. Besides the three Bolly hotties, Hussain and Little Champs from Sa Re Ga Ma Pa would also make an appearance.

Roopa rocks

All smiles: Roopa Ganguly has a word with Amol Palekar on the sets of Krishnakali at Burdwan Palace. Picture by Aranya Sen

In Mumbai, Roopa Ganguly is scorching the small screen with her Shobhaa De act for Ekta Kapoor’s Karam Apna Apna. Back home, Roopa has bowled Amol Palekar over with her act for his TV serial Krishnakali, where she plays the foster mother of the title character.

“It’s a beautiful role and Amol Palekar was moved by each and every shot I gave. He is a stickler for time but is very easy with his artistes,” says Roopa, whose character is a courtesan who lived in a kothi.

“It’s about a woman’s struggle and my character, though a courtesan, is very dignified.”

Busy with a string of projects, the actress will soon be off to north Bengal for Raja Mukherjee’s Bengali film Bidhatar Lekha co-starring Jeet, Priyanshu Chatterjee and Hrishita Bhat.

Wicca women

Sarika: Serial show

She and Sarika came together for the Hindi-English bilingual film Sacred Evil; now they are planning to be back for a Bengali TV serial.

Wiccan Ipsita Roy Chakraverti and her real-life encounters with the paranormal will be serialised for ETV Bangla, where the Bollywood actress is tipped to play the wiccan. “Sarika has offered to play my part in the stories where my persona is there. Since this would be in Bengali she has suggested that I could dub for her. It was a very touching gesture,” Ipsita told Metro.

Titled Ipsita, the megaserial is being steered by Avijeet Banerjee of Adjeet, who is co-directing along with Anup Mukherjee. For the first story, Woman in Red has been chosen from Chakraverti’s book of case studies, Sacred Evil. Woman in Red is set in a palace with a nautch girl as the pivot. Earlier this year, Abhigyan Jha and Abhiyan Rajhans had turned the title story from the book into the film Sacred Evil where Sarika played the wiccan’s part.

Woman in Red has been turned into a lengthier script by Aniruddha Dhar, but not all the stories for Ipsita will be the wiccan’s own. “Stories of other writers will also be included but only those that are true and have not been fictionalised. I will have a say in deciding the stories,” says the wiccan who wants to focus on incidents that are women-centric. “There are still a lot of misconceptions and beliefs prevalent among people. And those concerning women are seldom brought into the light.”

Each story will span three to four weeks, to be aired from Monday to Saturday. “The story will be enacted Monday to Friday. On Saturday, I will explain the incident from the esoteric, psychological and scientific perspectives,” said Ipsita. “The producers will have an anchor — actor Chandan Sen — who will ask me questions on the story. We will also invite audience feedback and their queries will be answered in the later episodes.”