Villain with a heart of gold!

Kunika Sadanand Lall, known best for her portrayals of villainous characters, the latest being --- in Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii, has filed a public interest litigation seeking a ban on candidates with a criminal background from the poll fray. The petition was filed in the Bombay High Court on Thursday, 9 September. Kunika's mission is not a flash in the pan exercise. Incensed by the omission of her own name among those of others' from the electoral lists in the parliamentary elections earlier this year, she had set up a Citizens' Forum to help cleanse the system. Today, her supporters have not just ensured that electoral lists were revised and reviewed but now want to prevent criminals from being thrust on the public through sheer lucre power. While in her first cause, Kunika was aided by celebrities like Shobhaa De and Prahlad Kakkar, this one finds Mukesh Sharma (journalist and social activist) and Gohel (a farmer from Kalyan whose land was forcefully occupied and turned into a resort by some local gangsters) with her. "Additionally we have the support of nearly 60,000 peoople from different vyapari mandals," she says enthusiastically. "It takes years to see a criminal really being convicted for his crimes. That is why we want to debar anyone- against whom criminal charges have been lodged - from contesting in the polls," she adds. Refuse to sit on the same side of the fence and it can prove dangerous for you. Lall says she has received death threats but will not bow down to pressure of any kind. "Enough is enough. We, who are known faces, must take up the cudgels to clean our system. Else, why blame the common man who turns his face the other way whenever his presence can make a big difference?" Causes are not new to this veteran actress. She has led from the front in campaigns against AIDS and been actively involved in CHIPS (Children in Pain) which recently adopted the Pratiksha Nagar School in Oshiwara (a suburb in Mumbai). "The school has children from families who live below the poverty line and the infrastructure was in shables when we took it up," Lall rewinds. Fast forward. A fund-raiser is being held in this connection on 26 September. Lall is being aided in this agenda by Dr Sunita Banerjee, Ruby Bhatia (actress) and Nisha Sagar (Ramanand Sagar's daughter-in-law), Poonam Jhaju and Shobna Desai. Recently, Lall who dabbled at television production with Strivers & Achievers on DD 2, made an entry in Ekta Kapoor's Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii (Star Plus) to create havoc in the Aggarwal family, a little before her other serial Kittie Party (Zee TV) goes off air. Lall says her role in Kahaani would last about a year. On the film front, Kunika will be soon seen as Anupama Varma's ultra-sexy mom in Mahesh Manjrekar directed Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav (Suniel Shetty, Johny Lever, Mahesh Manjrekar, Masumi Makhija, Anupama Varma) and as a socialite living a hollow existence in Madhur Bhandarkar directed Page 3 (Konkona Sen Sharma, Tara Sharma, Sandhya Hubahu Mridul and Atul Kulkarni). In February this year, the perky lady who was appointed as senior producer by Sahara Samay Mumbai in September last year, called it quits. The lady, in-charge of day-to-day operations at the news channel had opted out because of differences with the Mumbai Head, Rajiv Bajaj. All said and done, she fears that "99.9 per cent, the judge will throw out my PIL when it comes up for hearing sometime midway next week. If that happens, we are going to call a press conference and try building a massive movement. Those wishing to support me in this cause can email me at [email protected] and address their letters to Citizens Awareness Forum."