Earshot — Khan can sing

Double trouble

Kader Khan has added his name to the list of big screen stars who have trained their sights on television. The funniest bad man of Bollywood who makes his small screen debut with Babubhai Thiba’s Mr Dhansukh. Khan not only plays the father and son (yes, a double dose of Khan’s gags and antics), he also writes the script. Mr Dhansukh goes on air on October 8 on DD-Metro. But why did successful villain and character actor turn his sights to television? "Every actor reaches a point of saturation. And it is better to go for a change before you reach that stage. Besides there are certain things which aren’t possible on the big screen but can be done on television as it has a wider reach," he says. He also plans to produce a serial and a couple of talk shows which will launch his son Khan Jr. as a director.

Star absence

Another celluloid star who’s trained her sights on the small screen is none other than mast mast Raveena Tandon. She — along with her father Ravi Tandon and brother Rajiv — has started a software company called RT Video Unit. The company’s first projects are two serials, Betaab and Zalzala, both directed by Arun Frank of Andaaz fame.

To promote the serials, the Tandons organised a press screening, recently. Naturally, the scribes were more interested in the producer of the serials than the programmes themselves. Unfortunately, on the day of the screening, Raveena landed up in hospital and the party had to be called off.

Music rights

Aadesh Srivastav’s new album Namaste on Pen Audio has run into trouble. Prior to its release last week, it came under a cloud when television actress Amita Nangia accused the company of stealing her concept. Sanjeev Kohli, who was supposed to write and compose the music for her, says, "It was our concept, and I was surprised to see its world premiere on Music Asia."

Aadesh denies these charges. He says the entire album is his original creation and he had composed the tune for the title track nearly five years ago. Says Rajesh Aggarwal, director of Pen Audio, "Amita had given a proposal 10 months ago and we gave it back to her since we couldn’t negotiate a price with her. Aadesh came to us with this song and we did this album. If at all there is something common to the two, it’s just a coincidence."

He did, he did

Here’s the katha behind the now famous Gaatha on Star Plus. Shashi Ranjan, the producer of the Shotgun Show on Zee TV claims that the serial was originally his baby. "I had thought of Gaatha two years ago when nothing was being planned for the 50th year of independence. Now, of course, everyone is cashing in on it."

He says that he had planned the serial along with Ramesh Sippy and Subodh Lal and claims that Sippy had walked out saying that the terms were not agreeable to him. "What bothers me is that he has not even credited me with the concept. I had spent my own money recording a few songs for the serials," he says.

While Sippy doesn’t deny that it was meant to be a joint venture, he says that it was originally planned for Doordarshan. The other two partners got tired of waiting for various clearances from the channel and backed out thinking that the project wasn’t all that viable, after all. He took over the projects and settled their dues before parting ways. "No creative element in Gaatha belongs to anyone else except myself and my writer, Manohar Shyam Joshi. As for the concept, no one can claim originality for 50 years of India’s independence," says Sippy.