Walking tall

Sandeep Rajora (last seen in Kareena Kareena??), has reportedly won ten lakh rupees while competing in AXN's forthcoming Fear Factor. Of course, he was also recently in the news for his alleged break up with girlfriend Kavita Kaushik. But not many know that once, not so long ago, Sandeep shot to fame by winning the title of Mr. Pune in the Gladrags model hunt in the beginning of his career. Another distinction to Sandeep's credit is that he is possibly the tallest actor on Indian television, walking tall at six feet and two and a half inches. With brothers Ronit and Rohit Roy currently out of the Sarrkkar script, Sandeep is enjoying his moment in the spotlight as Mauli Ganguly's husband. At least one person isn't praying for the Roy brothers' swift return, we are sure. Bhavana Balsaver runs for animals! When the entire city is geared up for the marathon fever here is our celeb, who sees this race as an opportunity to help. Bhavana Balsaver (currently doing the serial Home Sweet Home on Zee Smile) will be running the Mumbai Marathon on 15 January for the cause of Animal Welfare. "In the application we were asked if we'd like to run for charity... I thought it was a good idea. Whether it's me or the organisation that we believe in, there should be people around who voice opinions for the animals, I want to be the voice of the animals. Everyone talks about the problem but I want to be the solution. The marathon has given me a chance to put forward a helping hand for hundreds of animals," says Bhavana. All work and no play for Ronit Holiday fever is still on in TV world. Several TV stars still haven't returned from their New Year festivities. On the Kasautii Zindagi Kay sets, we hear, the script is being hurriedly changed at the last minute. The reason? Ronit Bose Roy is the only lead who's available currently, so the writers have incorporated scenes wherein Mr Bajaj takes centrestage, hunting for Prerna. Shweta Tiwari, who essays Prerna, is of course, yet to return from her vacation as is Cezanne Khan, who is still holidaying in Bangkok. Ronit is the first one to have come back to the sets. Besides, he is also making it a point to be present for the Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi shoots. That's some work loyalty. We are impressed, Mr Roy! Death knell for Jassi...? Okay, so Jassi and Armaan have finally tied the knot in far away Malaysia. That puts the other suitors safely out of the frame, and hopefully resolves the myriad issues that plagued India's first television plain Jane. Now we hear that Sony has decided that enough is enough, and that Jassi...will wind up. On 16 February, to be precise. Sony is loath to confirm the channel driver's demise just yet, but we have it on authority that another show, perhaps a reality show like Paisa Bhari Ho Gaya, will take its place. Is that Mona Singh heaving a sigh of relief? Or is that the audience? Channel wars of a different kind! 2006 seems to have got its first taste of channel wars! The Orange County, America’s favourite teen drama launched on 30 December, 2005 at 9:30 pm on Zee Cafe and the same is all set to debut again on Star World on 3 January at 9 pm! And this is not all! While Zee Cafe will air the show twice a week -- Friday and Sunday, with Sunday airing back to back episodes (8:30 repeat of the earlier episode and a fresh episode at 9:30 pm), Star World seems to have lost this battle with OC being a weekly. So, by the end of every week, Zee Cafe viewers will be automatically one episode richer! Pawan in Darna Mana Hai! Pawan Shankar who made a mark for himself with the character of charismatic lawyer, Siddhanth on Star One, is back with another show on the same channel -- albeit for a single story. The actor will be seen in Darna Mana Hai, and accompanying him will be Shama Sikander. Sources tell us that Pawan's character in this show ill be different from Siddhanth and the twist is that viewers will not know if his character is negative or positive till the final episode. In something that cannot be short of any coincidence, both Pawan and Shama's shows have come to an end..so this is a nice stop gap experience that both these artists must be looking forward to! The story starring the duo will be on air on 16 January onwards.