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| (From top) Meghaa with Mousumi Chatterjee, Sohini with Tapas Pal, and Sreenanda with Tanusree Shankar |
If you thought the Congress was all about family dynasty, try Tollywood. With star parents as role models, the GenY brat pack is dressing up for its date with tinseltown. Here’s the all-girls club. Hey, where are the boys?
(Younger daughter of Anjana Bhowmick)
Age: 22
What she’s doing: Keeping her fingers crossed for launchboat Premi. Anchoring the popular travel show Musafir Hoon Yaron on Star Plus keeps her busy, too.
What she wants: Good roles on big screen. “The films my mother acted in had such great scripts. I would like to do such roles,” Chandana says.
Family factor: Mother is a major influence, but older sis Nelanjana has been a great guide, too. “I don’t take any decisions without consulting them. Mom helped me out with the dialogues of Premi and was there through the entire shoot, in Calcutta and Gangtok,” chirps Chandana.
(Daughter of Tapas Pal)
Age: 17
What she’s doing: Shooting for Salilmoy Ghosh’s Ekti Meye Tamoshi with Jishu Sengupta as her leading man. Better still, wait for the Christmas release of Anjan Dutt’s Bow Barracks Forever, where Sohini will be seen as the mischievous Anglo-Indian girl Sally. “Studies are important. So, I am shooting in the summer holidays and the next assignment won’t be before the Pujas,” says the Class XII student of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy.
What she wants: Good roles to help her realise her potential. Bow Barracks… was a great experience for the girl who says she knew nothing about acting before.
Family factor: “Dad is guiding me with my career. I haven’t seen most of his films, but I loved him in Dadar Kirti,” smiles Sohini.
(Daughter of Mousumi Chatterjee)
Age: 20
What she’s doing: Weighing the pros and cons before saying yes to her debut film. After graduating from Mithibhai College, Mumbai, last year, Meghaa honed her histrionics with a four-month acting course at Kishore Namit Acting Academy.
What she wants: Follow her mother’s footsteps. Meghaa can speak fluent Bengali, has got feelers from Tollywood, but is focussed on Bollywood for now. “I have been receiving offers since I was in school. But my parents were keen that I finish my graduation first,” says Meghaa.
Family factor: Mother Mousumi is whom she has wished to emulate since childhood. “I would watch her do the make-up before leaving for a shoot. When she was gone, I would pose in front of the mirror and try out little acts. One day, she caught me in the act,” giggles the granddaughter of the late Hemanta Mukherjee.
(Daughter of Tanushree Shankar)
Age: 23
What she’s doing: Waiting for the right film role to roll in. Busy working in Mumbai on a “project which would be a tribute” to her family. Had her first brush with the camera for the telefilm Kal Baisakhi.
What she wants: Full-time acting. After a stint at Roshan Taneja’s Acting School, Sreenanda flew to New York last summer for a course in acting.
Family factor: “My father (the late Ananda Shankar) has always been an inspiration and my mother has always supported me. I had her support when I decided to drop out of school and start living on my own in Mumbai,” signs off Sreenanda.
U n I, in this musical world
Is MTV using the Bollywood brand to reel in the eyeballs, or is it the other way round?
It’s not quite clear who is benefiting more, but the pop music channel that has proved its youth marketing-muscle worldwide, is busy tying up with a number of high-profile filmi projects.
MTV recently announced a host of initiatives to cement its celluloid connection. Starting with Ab Tak Chhappan, the channel has also promoted Shaadi Ka Laddoo, Masti, Main Hoon Na, Yuva and Hum Tum.
Lots of Lakshya can be seen on the air currently as MTV’s next big promotion project. It has also struck a deal with Ram Gopal Varma to push around six of his productions over the next year.
“Along with cricket, Bollywood has clearly emerged as the national obsession. This is a great way to bring exclusive film-based programming to our viewers,” Cyrus Oshidar, vice president, creative and content, MTV Networks India, told Metro on Sunday.
Cricket will continue to appear as it does now, through spoofs and one-off shows.
Bollywood stands to benefit by films being kept in the public eye constantly — “on air, off-air and online”. From promos being run on the air and regular mentions in programmes, complete shows about the movies and innovative gimmicks are all part of the comprehensive package.
For Ab Tak Chappan, for example, a newspaper on encounter killings was circulated. Interviews with the stars — in character — were also beamed.
MTV, on the other hand, benefits through content alone, clarified the Mumbai-based creative chief. Such deals will only be extended to films that fit the channel profile.
“We will bring exclusive behind the scenes footage and interviews with the stars for our audiences… Things no other channel will have access to,” said Oshidar.
This may not increase the time devoted to Bollywood, but is designed to strengthen it. MTV co-produced the Hum Tum title song, U n I (Mere Dil Vich Hum Tum), by Rishi Rich, and Oshidar did not rule out similar ventures in future.
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Two new shows — Desi Raj and Page 3 —have also hit the airwaves. In the first, the careers of artistes behind the Indian wave in global music will be explored. Page 3 is a more “frothy” lifestyle show.
Tug-of-love: Chandana chooses between J and J
She’s the love interest of two pals — co-stars Jeet and Jishu Sengupta — in Shree Venkatesh’s Premi. Charming Chandana is fighting those butterflies in the stomach with her debut film slated for a June 25 release. The younger daughter of Anjana Bhowmick shot to fame as the bubbly Aditi and then Pari in the small-screen teen romances Just Mohabbat and Dil Se Dosti. A familiar face in TV commercials, she will soon foray into South Indian films.
