Liar liar?

Stars' antics can sometimes be traced to their craving for publicity. Aamir Ali reportedly was down with gastroenteritis recently, if his claims had in a city tabloid are to be believed. But then we caught a sight of the actor at the premiere of Tom Dick and Harry at Cinemax Andheri on Thursday night, munching on popcorn and spending the entire three hours glued to his seat. Aren't people down with gastro supposed to be resting at home and eating boiled stuff? And can they take the strain of sitting in a theatre seat for three hours? Sometimes, we wonder. Was Sulbha Arya Nimmo's Kanta ben??? The Kanta ben rage seems to have affected televison as well! And who better to get inspired by it, but Ekta Kapoor, who was so taken in by the character in Karan Johar's Kal Ho Na Ho that not only did she cast a character of the same name in Nimmo..., but wanted Sulbha Arya, (the original Ben) to play the part. Bharati Achrekar, who is now playing the Maharasdtrian ben now was signed on when Sulbha Arya couldn't take on the project. "I already had too much on my plate, so I couldn't take it up," says Sulbhaji who is currently doing Yes Boss and will soon be seen as Fatema bi in Twinkle Beauty Parlour. Well, all said and done, Kanta ben lives on in Bharti Achrekar and that should make Sulbha Arya proud enough! . Beauty treatment! Now, this is an innovative one! We have heard of creative ad agencies being roped in for creating signature for new shows. But Sab TV went a step further when it designed the mast of Twinkle Beauty Parlour, its forthcoming big ticket prime time show. Apparently, the team at Sab decided to forego the agency bit and approached a poster sign painter in central Delhi itself to design a board for the fictitious parlour that will house the five lead protagonists. And it got exactly what it wanted - a garish sign that proclaims the Lajpat Nagar parlour, embellished with flowers and boasting a pretty profile in silhouette. "We wanted the title to speak to the people, to show a parlour sign like it actually is," insists the channel. Sure. Just wondering, would it have reflected some more authenticity if it had been spelt Twinkel Beuty Parlar......... Smita Bansal hates press conferences! If Smita Bansal who is playing Niyati in a Twinkle beauty Parlour originally belongs to Jaipur and is quite media shy to the extent that she wanted to avoid even coming to the press conference of Twinkle beauty Parlour. “I even gave the excuse that I am unlucky and if I go to a press conference of my new shows it flops but nobody believed it and I had no choice but to attend the press conference. I don’t like too much media attention but then it is a part of an actor’s professional life”, says Smita. Are Narayani and Nana just good friends? If the latest buzz in television circles is to be believed, Narayani Shastri, who dazzled as Piya Ka Ghar's Rimjhim and will now return as a beautician in Twinkle Beauty Parlour, has a new friend. She's always been tight lipped about her relationships, but did make a lot of public appearances with former beau Gaurav Chopra (who, incidentally, has been the more vocal and mileage seeking of the two). Now we hear (and no, it isn't Gaurav who's telling us this!) that Narayani has been regularly in touch with Nana Patekar, who was her co-star in last year's Marathi flick Pak Pak Pakak. We have it on good authority that the two meet up pretty frequently, particularly after Gaurav flew the nest for a string of concerts in South Africa and then for a Hollywood flick. Narayani though has been careful not to make any public appearances with Nana. Knowing the girl though, it would be pointless asking for confirmation of the alliance, since we are sure all she will say is Na Na Na Na re...........