Hunted by Zee, chosen by Sahara!

Amruta Khanvilkar's is a strange success story. The petite Puneiite spent a large part of 2004 grooming and preening for Zee's talent hunt - India's Best Cinestars Ki Khoj. The second year B Com student even reached the last round, where eight finalists were chosen. When she was eliminated after that round, little had she thought that one of the show's judges, Ken Ghosh, would offer her a prominent role in Sahara One's forthcoming A.D.A. For the last one month, Amruta has been shooting 12 hours a day with a dozen of similar youngsters chosen for the show, along with veterans of the likes of the Nirmal Pandey and Deepshikha. "I was one of Ken sir's favourites all along in the Zee hunt," gushes the pretty 19 year old. "And I happened to be the first among the finalists who landed this good a role." Ken Ghosh, who returns to television after a stint with music videos and films, is on the panel of judges of both, Zee's talent hunt and Sahara's own Mr and Miss Bollywood. Although A.D.A, a story of Bollywood aspirants training at the Acting and Dance Academy, has temporarily put Amruta's own Bollywood dreams into deep freeze, there are no regrets. "I couldn't have thought of getting anything bigger than this, where I get to play myself and dress up exactly the way I do usually," she says. "I wouldn't have been able to play older matronly roles wearing heavy sarees," she grins. Well, Zee's loss has been Sahara's gain.