Bahus outshine each other

Akshay Trittiya, celebrated on 30 April this year, is a day when traditional Indians make it a point to don new jewellery, as an auspicious symbol for the year ahead. And who better to plug the yellow metal to the masses than those symbols of true bharitya nari-dom - the TV bahus? This year, The World Gold Council and D'damas have snapped up Tulsi, sorry, Smriti Z Iraani. Desi brand Tanishq, not to be outdone, has pitched Paravti, aka Sakshi Tanwar into the ring. Both daughters in law of Star Plus have been regularly making their appearances on the telly across channels in TVCs, exhorting the viewer to buy gold and more gold this Akshay Trittiya. Both, needless to say, are dripping in gold. We are waiting to see the next quarter accounts of both Tanishq and D'damas. Will that show which bahu carries more weight? Secretaries wanted! What's common between Anuj Saxena, Maninee Mihir Misra and hubby, Mihir Misra and Rakshanda Khan? No, neither do they have the same brand of car nor are they coming together in a show. The common factor between them is that they share a common secretary - Anand. The man mainly co-ordinates the dates of shoot with the various production houses to make their work easier. If the actors are doing more than one show, managing their date diaries becomes a tedious job! If the secretary is able to get some show that is an aded advantage of having him on board! Usually, television actors coordinate their dates themselves and approach producers directly for work, but now with the medium going great guns, TV stars are going all out to hire secretaries - so incase you are star struck and at the same time have the ability to juggle dates and times, this is a job tailor made for you! (We last heard that Kamalika Guha is looking for a secretary!) Har rang kuch kehta hai! The set of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge is a colourful one, (illuminated as it is with hundreds of tiny bulbs), but the one colour that attracts the most attention is undoubtedly Sidhu's turban that's well in sync with his tie. At a recent set visit, when a journalist asked the man the secret of his 'colourful' screen presence, the man broke into his trademark guffaw. "I design them myself! I dye my turbans according to my tie!," chuckled Sidhu as he rattled off another one of his one liners! Even in Star One's Kya Hoga Nimmo ka, the man plays a very flamboyant God! He teams his turban with the kind of avatar he flaunts at that given moment and doesn't seem to care much what he's playing! Quite like in his cricketing days, Sidhu does exactly what he wants to do...God be damned! Aisa Des...stars prefer '9 to 10' block at home? The venue was just right- a dhaba called Firangi to ring in Sony's new show Aisa Des Hai Mera, which opens with the sights and sounds of London and a 'firangi' looking lead. But were all the other leads of the show also holidaying abroad when producer Manish Goswami threw the bash in a suburban Mumbai restaurant on Monday? Kanwaljeet was presumably shooting in Dubai and hence missed the party. But apart from leads, Soumya and Pawan Shankar, the star dazzle was a little thin in attendance. True, the show's spine - including veteran director Lekh Tandon, Sony's COO N P Singh and programming heads Anupama Mandloi and Gursheel Walia were present on the occasion. Bharat Kapoor and Manav Vij were the only other actors from the show that attended the do. But where were the others from the massive cast? Catching the show on the telly at home, in line with the channel's new push for the premium 9 to 10 slot? Your guess is as good as ours. Knchi has a new look! Kanchi Kaul is looking ravishing in Ek Ladki Anjani Si these days - she has traded her curls for straight locks! Kanchi, who plays the 18-year-old Ananya in the Sony show gets artificially inseminated in the show and her life's still in doldrums, but the lady seems to have time for a little makeover. "I love the look I sport in Ek Ladki…it is very trendy and young keeping with my character and the newly acquired straight hair is just great," quips Kanchi. Kanchi dons long skirts and kurtis with embroidered bags to play Ananya. Does the new look suggest that the girl is maturing into a woman???? Fame Gurukul finalist sells Sauna Fit! Arpita Mukherjee, in one of her interviews to Tellychakkar.com, had expressed her desire to be a popular playback singer, but it seems that the lady has again put the desire on hold. The singer can be seen quite often on a local channel selling Sauna Fit, a kind of a belt that helps reduce body fat. No doubt that the lady does a great job, but it's a pity to see her on screen doing something like that and not singing her heart out! We hear that Arpita is doing a lot of stage shows (and surely earning big bucks!), but we hope we'll soon see the lady crooning in her melodious voice for the Bollywood glamour brigade!