Factoring in the birthday

Achint Kaur sure is a practical lady. Instead of taking a day on her birthday to enjoy, she's busy shooting for Fear Factor India in far off Malaysia. Achint is one of the bunch of actors handpicked by Sony to participate in the desi version of the daring do show. So, when is she coming back to celebrate? "I will be back late tomorrow night, but I am not that sentimental about birthdays!" she laughs. With a salon to take care of, apart from her acting assignments, we are sure Achint has a lot on her plate these days! Rohit Roy -- once the judge, now being judged! Rohit Roy has plenty of reasons to dance with joy…quiet literally! The handsome actor who is hosting Dance Divas on Zoom, will be seen in Star One's new reality show, Nach Baliya, where he himself will have to put on his dancing shoes. And if this is not all, he will be accompanied by his wife, Manasi Joshi. We asked him how it felt to see that tables turned on him -- "Since I don't dance on an everyday basis, it'll be slightly difficult for me as far as Nach Baliye is concerned, because here I will be needed to perform every week. I will have to be on my guard on the show with my choreographers around." While he is used to seeing the tension of the dancers from the other side of the lens in the Zoom show, in this show, Rohit will be made to sweat it out by both his choreographers and wifey dearest! What's the Bluff Master doing? Vinod Sharawat, the garrulous host of Bluff Master on Star One is up to some serious business. With Nach Baliye, coming in the same slot of Bluff Master, Vinod has not been shooting for the show. Instead Vinod has been channeling his energies into feature films. Vinod has two films up his sleeve; shooting for one he claims is going to commence from 15 September and the other one from January 2006. But wait, shhh… all is still secret, so don't go tell anyone! Ararara...when will Ketaki's woes be over? Poor Ketaki Dave. Will she be ever to able to shed her Daksha chachi image? The lady, who has entered the Jassi.... track as Brinda Khatri, rues the fact that the 'Gujju ben' tag follows her wherever she goes. "Even in Jassi, they wanted me to do the same bit," she grimaces, "but I refused." Now, she's being shown as a Gujju married to a Punjabi guy! And there's this typical music track that plays in the background whenever Ketaki enters the frame! Even in Star Plus' Sonpari, where she appeared for a mere two episodes, they had dandiya music accompanying her entry into each scene. "I have such a strong grounding in theatre and I would love to do something that Divya Seth is doing in Sarrkkar. But I know such roles may never come to me, despite the fact that before Daksha happened, I had spent all my theatre life doing serious roles!!" Is anyone listening? Bhaktiar's dance flair! Bhakhtiar Irani claims he's the best dancer on the television scene today. "Probably, a Hussain or a Rohit Roy can dance, but I'm pretty sure about how good I am" The Batliwala House no. 43 host used to work with Farah Khan as a choreographer, but claims he was hardly given any opportunity to ascend. "I'd had enough of staying in the background not being seen enough," he says. So, one day Bhaktiar went to Farah and told her that he couldn't handle it anymore and needed more work. That's when he decided to stop dancing and Batliwala happened. Hidden talents of Bhakhtiar, huh? Challenge goes Uncensored! If you thought you had seen it all on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa's Challenge, here's some more fodder for those still hungry for fights between the celeb judges. Challenge Uncensored, that starts this Sunday on Zee will showcase some hard hitting footage, comprising all that's been shot on the sets of SRGMP and off it. All the controversial fights and the interesting goof ups will be the highlights of the episode, we hear. Getting more real on a reality show, if that's possible! Kaun Banega Crorepati climbs and how! Critics of the show notwithstanding, its popularity continues to soar; people continue staying hooked to it. Remember when Harshwardhan Nawathe became India's first 'crorepati,' and people left work early to catch the show! Well, the fever seems to have picked up from where it left with retro bars and lounges in Mumbai pulling up projector screens where they play KBC on weekends! One such hangout, the Classique Club at Lokhandwala screens the show for its patrons. "Technically we have only sports channels playing on our projector at the bar. But as people have started asking for KBC, we play it. Most of our patrons are middle-aged and so they probably lke watching Mr. Bachchan probe the contestants." Way to go, shall we say! . Crying over lost jewels Although the lady didn't show any signs of melancholy, Sakshi Tanwar aka Parvati is still sad about losing her precious jewels in the deluge that hit the city last month. "They were beautiful. And I lost a brand new saree as well," sighs Sakshi, who was informed about her loss by her on screen hubby, Om. Far away in Delhi, all the lovely lady could do was hope that her friends and loved ones were safe. Perhaps the loss of the jewels was symbolic as her character will no longer need to adorn herself with jewellery. Kiran's exit from the show has made it sure that Parvati will now no longer wear the sindoor and managalsutra that were her trademark. "I don't mind the look at all. It will be a nice change and I will be doing something different," says Sakshi who left for Nashik on 10 August.