Telly Gupshup - Sweta in, Shweta out

The quirky world of television is full of stars, starry mood swings, the rat race for the stellar roles and lots more... Anupama Verma too says 'Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin' She plans to concentrate on films, but seems Jassi... was one offer Anupama Verma couldn't pass up. The leggy model was spotted in the serial on Thursday and will be seen for a while in a cameo, playing the role of a 'drama queen'. Last seen in the Jackie Shroff starrer Grahan, Anupama plays a flashy, trendily outfitted socialite who plays a pivotal role in deciding who gets the contract - the first contract after Jassi is appointed CEO of Gulmohar. The fight for the contract, is of course, between Jassi and Purab. Anupama says she agreed to the cameo after director Deeya Singh called her and said she would fit the role to a T. She has already shot six days, but isn't sure how much longer she would be required in the series. Right now, though, Anupama has her sights set on the release of Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav, in which she has been paired opposite Mahesh Manjrekar. TV she did just for a lark, she says! PS - Pssst, glamorous cameos apart, Jassi herself is shortly going in for a makeover, we hear. Stay tuned for more! Bang, bang, thank you ma'm.....and KKR's over! What an end to one of Star Plus' best running series! Did Ekta Kapoor run out of ideas on this one, or was Star Plus in too much of a hurry to wind it up? Whatever the case, the last episode of Kahiin Kissi Roz saw a total of eight murders, six of them before the first break itself! Now that's an effective way of tying up loose ends in a long running show! First, Ramola Sikand bumped off Sushmita Mukherjee and three police inspectors, then two characters killed each other in a scuffle, followed by Ramola pushing off Kunal's mother from a window in an isolated haveli! Whew! For those who missed the last episode, Ramola was just pretending to be blind all these days! Of course, or she couldn't have managed the slaughter all in a single episode. Just to make sure no survivor escapes, even Ramola is finally bumped off by Kunal by the end of the show. We'll miss those bindis, Ramola! RIP. From patrolling crime to finding idols Sony's star poach Shakti Anand is well entrenched within the channel. From taking over anchoring Crime Patrol from Diwakar Pundir, Shakti has also been roped in to play roving anchor for the Mumbai leg of Sony's Indian Idols. Mumbaiites can get to see the hunk travelling the city on a bike over this weekend, exhorting folks to audition for the talent hunt. Idols anchor Mini Mathur, who's been hosting the live event with Aman Varma across the country, says they realised they needed one more person who could interact with audiences and people, while the duo mingled with the participants. Shakti fills that slot. One only hopes Shakti doesn't bring his Crime Patrol style of reporting into Idols, stressing his vowels and prodding his fingers accusingly into the camera! It's only talent he's hunting this time, not jailbirds! Sweta in, Shweta out Hottie Sweta Keswani has a new assignment. From this Saturday, you can watch her stepping into Shweta Gulati's shoes in Parde Ke Peechche on Star Plus - interviewing TV actors, commenting on them... lots more. Want to know why Gulati packed her bags? The age-old reason, err, - dates problem! Enough! Tell us something new. Mehta in UTV If all went well, Hansal Mehta was supposed to direct Ekta's forthcoming K Street Pali Hill. But Ekta has replaced Mehta by Gary Bhinder even before the first episode goes on air. "I worked with them for a month, but they wanted me to be an executor and not a director. That's not my style. We parted ways amicably," explains Mehta. Meanwhile, we hear Mehta has been roped in by UTV to direct one of their new shoes titled Family Business. The show to be aired on Starone will star a long haired pop star, Sachin. It's a gangster saga. Mehta's forte! Remember 'Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar and Chhal? 'Prratima' mein panga Another director who has been shown the door or has himself opted out, or whatever, is Ashok Gaekwad. The boss in question is Raja Mukerji. The serial we're talking about is Sahara's Prratima. "Gaekwad could not give me more than ten days in a month. This is my first project. I can't have his assistants working for me," Raja points out. Gaekwad claims that they parted ways with a smile, but insiders say that there was a panga on the sets. We aren't surprised, are you? Meanwhile, Gaekwad has his hands full with Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand (Star Plus) and Kkoi Dil Mein Hai (Sony) and two films- Siddhanth- (Jackie, Manisha) and Do Chehre (Suniel, Raveena). The former is almost complete, while the latter is more than halfway through. Beri's sweet berries Electronic engineer turned script writer Rajesh Beri (who has also been a prolific ad maker and a tele-film maker as well) is back on Bhabhi after UTV repented (what else?) not seeing his point of view on the story line. Beri who directed the first 470 episodes of Bhabhi returned to the show from the 515th episode. We hear that if all goes well, this 4 in 1 guy (he writes the story, screenplay, dialogues and screenplay) will be rolling up his sleeves to write two more projects for UTV- a half-hour social for Zee, a one-hour thriller cum social for Star. And our sleuths have come running in to say that Miditech wants him for a Sahara project as well, which requires a lot of shooting in London! Glittering auction Will they marry, won't they? Well, they will and Star Plus is going all out to make sure audiences don't forget the Sujal - Kashish wedding on Kahiin To Hoga in a hurry. On the cards is an SMS contest to bid for the Rs 20 lakh worth of diamond jewellery that Kashish will sport on her wedding day. Just so that you don't miss it, it's the same set of baubles that dreamboat Sujal has bought for his lady love. That Kashish is in no mood for romantic capers and is merely sharpening her claws for sweet revenge on Sujal will come later. Much later. Till then, employ those creative energies to offer a unique bid that will fetch a lucky viewer the prize. The auction, say enthusiastic Plus officials, begins Thursday.