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The
whole tamasha was dreadfully delayed, inopportune
and in bad taste. I am a citizen of India. And I am
not convinced that Govinda is a traitor just because
he shook hands with Dawood. I was rather touched with
the exposes that happened on other news channels last
week. While Zee News trailed and retrieved a woman
who had disappeared on Karva Chauth, Channel 7 did
a rather sweet investigative report on a group of
kids who stayed awake to get into the Guinness book.
To me these news-breakers made more sense than watching
some stale archival home-video dug up by spiteful
vicious elements who have no access to the film industry
and have therefore decided to damn it. On the same
channel, I saw Shatrughan Sinha making some very,
very tall claims on Janta Ki Adaalat. According
to Mr Sinha, he had been offered the role that Amitabh
Bachchan did in Deewaar.
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Er…
both the film's director and writer duo Salim-Javed strongly
refute that. Is there no elbowroom for authenticity on the
news channels any more? Thank God for the Nightingale Lata
Mangeshkar's superb tête-à-tête with
Prabhu Chawla on Aaj Tak's Seedhi Baat. As in the
Bachchan chat last week, Prabhuji tried to be softspoken
and attentive, succeeding only partially. Whenever he tried
to get extra-cocky (e.g when he raised the issue of her
money) Lataji put him in his place with a smile.
****
Soha
Ali Khan showed up with Sharman Joshi on Star Plus' Baa,
Bahu Aur Baby. It made me think about all the big-screen
aspirants who have made a place for themselves on television...
like Iqbal Khan. He can't get over it. "Back home in
Kashmir my show is more popular than KBC. When I
went home recently I was treated like a rock star."
The
popular character Angad in Sony's Kaisa Yeh Pyar Hai
is now a double role... or so it seems.
According
to inside information, it's just the protagonist Angad inventing
his own double to get even with his enemies… sort of
what Dev Anand did in Vijay Anand's crime caper Jewel
Thief.
Laughs
Angad's godmom Ekta Kapoor, "Iqbal Khan as Angad is
rocking. He'll remain exclusively on Kaisa Yeh Pyar Hai.
His popularity is uncontainable. He has no time to do another
show."
Fate
has strange plans for the unsuspecting. Iqbal Khan started
his career as the disastrous debutant in the farce Funtoosh.
"My
career could've been wiped out after that. Then came another
film, the thriller Bullet. We all worked very hard
on the action scenes. We shot in Bulgaria… But it fell
apart."
On
the brink, this Kashmiri actor would have probably returned
home. But then television and Ekta Kapoor happened. "I
don't know what I'd have done if Kaisa Yeh Pyar Hai
hadn't come along. My well-wishers told me going from cinema
to television would kill my chances in the movies. But you
know what? I'm glad movies didn't happen. Better the monarch
on the small screen than a struggler on the large screen…
I had no one to give me a decent break in movies. Thank
God for Ekta Kapoor who saw me as the right person to play
Angad in Kaisa Yeh Pyar Hai."
Today
there's no looking back for Iqbal. "The fan mail and
adulation I get is overwhelming. My fans are mostly girls.
They call. I SMS them back for their kindness. God knows
how they get my address. But they send me gifts at home…
chocolates, candles, little gestures to show how much they
love me. Recently, I had been to Maldives for a show. I
couldn't step out of my hotel… I'm so grateful for
all the love... I'm loving every minute of this sudden hyper-activity
in my life. Actually, I was working as much as 23 hours
a day. I had to be hospitalised twice for exhaustion. Now
I work 13 hours. There's no time to do any other serial
at all. I'll remain exclusive to Kaisa Yeh Pyar Hai…
just like Cezanne Khan who does only Kasauti Zindagi
Kay."
Does
Iqbal face an identity crisis when people call out to him
as Angad? "Not at all. There's only one Angad. And
he's played by Iqbal Khan. There's no confusion about the
identity."
Iqbal
shyly reveals there's a lady love on the scene. "She's
Sneha Chhabra… and pyar happened to me from before
Kaisa Yeh Pyar Hai. She has been with me from the
time I was hanging out of trains and buses, struggling to
keep my body and soul together. Today, Sneha is as much
a part of my success as she was a part of my struggle."
Marriage?
"Not for another four years… I need to buy a house,
build on my savings account. I think I need to ask Ekta
for a raise," he jokes.
"Right
now I just want to enjoy what God has given me."
(The
views expressed here are those of the author and Indiantelevision.com
need not necessarily subscribe to the same)
The
witch-hunting went on for days… The brief clip was telecast
repeatedly with the lipsmacking relish of a one-day cricket
match. And then we had the two Buddha-like anchors grilling,
dissecting and analyzing as though they had just got themselves
degrees in Moral Science. And it was done with a whole lot
of self-congratulation.
