Sushmita: slow and steady!

Almost a decade back, she made her presence felt on the small screen as Neena Gupta and Kawanljeet's daughter Meethi in Star Plus's Saans. But somehow her career graph has not been exciting so far. Last seen in India Calling, this bong beauty was quiet gung-ho about playing a journalist, Arundhati in Sony's Vaidehi. And her role looked quiet promising from episode one of the show, but her character somehow didn't develop much. Now after a short haul, Miss Daan is back to help the protagonist Vaidehi in taking revenge! "I will soon be seen in the show to support Vaidehi as a journalist. In my own way I give it back to her family who has been torturing her endlessly. I like playing such strong characters on screen, "elaborates Sushmita. "I commence shooting for this daily from 8 November and the episodes will be aired from next week onwards," smiles the actor who has recently completed an episodic in Sony's Akela. Here's hoping that her patience pays off and she gets her due! Sooraj Thappar in a new avatar! Sooraj Thappar will be seen donning a new avatar in Sony's Man Main Hain Vishwaas. He will play Jaswinder Singh, a sardar, who's a sweet, understanding and a down to earth person who loves to look at the lighter side of life. Recalling how it was shot, Sooraj Thapar tells us what a hard time he had during the making of this serial, because of the difficult working conditions. "First of all, I had to wear this beard and moustache and then the big Pagdi which covered half my eyebrows and tied tightly around my head. And even worse was because we were shooting in a non - ac area, so it was really hot and uncomfortable. But it was necessary to give a natural performance and make it realistic." Well, that was a pity ! But we're sure a little effort is going to pay off really well. His work has been critically appreciated in the past and we this time too will be applauded. Way to go Soorajji !! An air-hostess' advantage Gunjan Walia's one helluva excited girl who has got to play her dream role of the lead protagonist Krishna in Kuch Apne Kuch Paraye on ahara One. After doing K Street Pali Hill, Sindoorr and Kkusum, she seems to have finally got her due. On her return trip to Mumbai from Delhi where she had been to attend a press conference for her daily soap, she was seated along with co-stars Sachin Tyagi (her bro-in-law) and Chaitanya Choudhary (her hero) in the aircraft, when she suddenly saw the flaps going up again in the about-to-land plane. "I also heard the Captain call for the crew and got alarmed because being an airhostess (I used to fly with Jet Airways) before entering the acting scene, I knew what it meant when the Capt. called for the crew." Meanwhile her co-stars got worried and pestered her for an explanation as Gunjan monitored outside conditions, but she refused to divulge anything as she did not want to frighten them, until everything became alright and the flight landed safely! That is the advantage of being an air-hostess - you know exactly when things go wrong! It's raining TV stars at premiers Of late we have noticed that our TV fraternity has been thronging film premiers, especially angrezi movies. Here they get the dual advantage of getting a free invitation of catching up on the film as well an opportunity to grab a place on page 3. Similar was the case at the recent special screening of the Leonardo De Caprio film, Departed at a suburban multiplex. Marked present were tellydom's Rucha Gujrati, Chetan Hansraj with wife Lavinia, Kushal Punjabi, VJ Maria Goretti, Mini Mathur with hubby Kabir, Shreeyas Talpade (now a film star), Samir Soni and many more recognizable faces from the small screen. So here's a short cut to fame for the wannabes on TV. Try grabbing an invite for such premiers. You have a chance to get noticed!