London ushers in Diwali gaiety

Kayshinee Rye Ramchurn

Diwali on the Square received yet more resounding acclaim this year. Trafalgar Square was the scene of joyous displays of colour, light, dance and music on Sunday 19th October, with celebrations starting in the early afternoon and spiralling towards a crescendo towards evening.

Thousands of enthusiasts made their way to the Square early to book their own little nook be it a comfortable seat on the stairs or a modicum of standing room amid the fast-growing crowd. And were they rewarded for their diligence!

The official kick-off was preceded by an electrifying selection of Bollywood-inspired songs while hundreds of people took over the centre of the Square for a wholehearted attempt at the traditional Garba dance, as the rest of the crowd displayed its fervent approval through continual cheering and whistling. Highlights of this pre-event warm-up were the songs 'Khaike Paan Banaraswala' and 'Dholi Taro Dhol Baaje', which left the audience wanting more.

Diwali on the Square was launched just after 4:00 pm by the lighting of diyas in honour of Lord Ganesha, the symbolic release of white and pink balloons, and a round of short speeches by the Mayor of London, members of the Diwali in London Committee and the CEO of Barclays UK Retail Banking.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, professed his esteem for the Diwali festival for its diversity and appeal to members of every community. "These days when the shares have been falling like the leaves from the trees, we all need light in our lives, ladies and gentlemen. We need Diwali to remind us about the importance of family, and of giving and of charity and of course of the amazing contribution made by the people of the Indian communities to this city of ours," he said.

After being enchanted by a live performance of Jay Kumar's Diwali anthem song, Londoners were then treated to a dance extravanganza showcasing a fine palette of traditional dance as practised in different parts of India, as well as contemporary and fusion styles of dance.

Whilst the rapt audience took in this wonderful moving mosaic, a more adventurous throng was admiring the exquisite lanterns floating in the fountains and exploring the delicacies and treasures offered at the various stalls.

Club Asia Radio was very much present as some of its emcees hosted the event, but the big surprise came from Star TV when Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki lead actress Sakshi Tanwar made her appearance on the stage. Clad in a black sari, she was elegance personified as she graced the stage with her poised demeanour and sparkling smile.

As darkness started its slow descent over Trafalgar Square, nobody could extinguish the euphoria that was kindled at the mere mention of Raghav. The star stepped onto the stage under roaring applause that grew even more thunderous as he performed three of his best loved songs.

After energising renditions of songs from the movies Bhool Bhulaiya, Jab We Met and Bachna Ae Haseeno, the celebrations soon came to a soothing end at around 20 00. Indeed, members of the Chinamaya Mission concluded the event with the Aarti and a thought-provoking address.

As the crowd slowly started its fragmented journey away from the Square, boxes containing Diwali sweets were being given out with the promise of another gloriously colourful next year!

Sniffing love?

It was actually Zee TV that kicked off the love story trend with its Karz and Om Shanti Om-inspired drama 'Banoo Mein Teri Dulhan', which is stiff competition to 'Raji ki...' at the same 8 pm slot.

Romance is on the airwaves and even Ekta Kapoor, queen of the vicious saas-bahu fights and two-timing patidevs, has felt its heat. So much so that Saakshi Tanwar of the eight-year-old yawn..sorry yarn, Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki told her viewers ‘akhri shukriya’ a week ago. ‘Kahani...’ bowed out reportedly due to falling TRPs and ‘Kyunki...’,that precursor of everything saas-bahu, is said to follow suit.

Speculation is that Ekta is filling the ‘Kahani...’ slot with a romance that’s inspired by Subhash Ghai’s 90s hit Saudagar. Proof that she too has woken up to the kahani pyar ki that’s playing out now on all channels.

Now that we have suffered through family squabbles, sis-in-law machinations and extra-marital affairs, soaps have decided to turn all soppy. There’s Star Plus’ Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat, a prince-meets-Cinderella story with newbies Kapil Nirmal and the 17-year-old Anjali Abrol playing the lead roles. The serial’s steadily gaining TRPs, thanks to the lead pair’s somewhat awkward chemistry and an Amar Chitra Katha kind of story about a raja, his good-and-evil ranis, handsome kunwars, selfish rajkumaris and loyal sevaks cavorting in a palace. Just don’t ask what time period this particular story is set in — a generous dose of suspension of disbelief is called for if you wish to enjoy its languid pace and storybook charm. Right after ‘Raja ki...’ comes ‘Kis desh mein hai mera dil’, another love story but this one in the typical high-octane low-logic Balaji mould.

I suspect it is high on popularity ratings because of the lead pair’s conventional good looks and sparkling chemistry. Even Bidaai, which is the top-rated show in Star Plus at present, has also shifted gears from the fair girl-dark girl track to the love-over-mobile phone one.

It was actually Zee TV that kicked off the love story trend with its Karz and Om Shanti Om-inspired drama ‘Banoo Mein Teri Dulhan’, which is stiff competition to ‘Raji ki...’ at the same 8 pm slot.

Once ‘Dulhan..’. topped the charts, the other channels woke up to the love mania while Zee predictably snored away its initial mover’s advantage. Sony’s just begun ‘Hum Ladkiyan’ in the prime 8.30 pm slot to counter Star Plus’ ‘Kis desh..’ Zee TV, though late in the day, has started another janam janam ki kahani in ‘Ranbir Rano’ that’s aired at 10.30 pm.

For unabashed soap fans like me, these love stories make for a welcome change from chiffon-and-sindoor-clad excesses, mostly because they have some semblance of a screenplay and fresh faces. So what if most of the romances are either too pious or too juvenile.... we couch beggars know when not to be choosers.

Om and Parvati: We feel empty

After eight long years and over five generations, it's curtains for one of Balaji Telefilms flagship shows on Star Plus.

Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, which started airing in the year 2000, made characters like Parvati and Om popular household names and it was an emotional moment on the last day of shoot for the cast and crew members.

Actor Sakshi Tanwar says, "It's very difficult for me to put in words the kind of emotion that I am going through right now."

Actor Kiran Karmarkar adds, "I feel empty. It's like I am leaving something behind and things are breaking apart. It's like I don't know what will happen next."

The popularity of reality shows and falling TRPs seem to have finally taken it's toll on this Saas-Bahu and Parivaar saga. The final episode aired on Dussehra, by highlighting the triumph of good over evil. And while some die-hard fans of Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki are disappointed by the fact that the soap is bidding farewell to it viewers, a majority seem to be heaving a sigh of relief at the departure.

According to reports, another Balaji soap will take Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki's place starting Monday.

Sakshi Tanwar Images

Sakshi Tanwar With Her Friend.

Sakshi with co-actress.

Sakshi With co-actress smriti irani on a function of star plus.

Sakshi Tanwar And smriti irani the two bahu's of indian television.

Sakhi Tanwar Wallpaper

Wallpaper of television actress sakshi tanwar. click on the image to see bigger size wallpaper of sakshi .

Sakshi Tanwar Aka Parvati

Sakshi Tanwar The popular onscreen `bhabhi or `sister -in - law` Sakshi Tanwar aka Parvati has carved out a special niche for herself in the hearts of young and old alike for her character portrayal. This extremely talented actress is born on 12th of January in the village of Alwar in Rajasthan but has completed her education from the capital of the Indian subcontinent. She completed her graduation from Delhi. After her graduations she was preparing for the entrance tests to the administrative services and mass communications when a close friend of her suggested that she should go and audition for the national broadcaster Doordarshan`s film songs based program `Albela Sur Mela`. To her surprise she was selected and from there begins her journey towards tellydom. On the other hand her traditional career graph had come to a standstill as she failed to clear both the tests. But she did not stop there. Acting was not a new experience for this Delhi lass. During her college days she was the secretary and president of the dramatic society and had her fair share of stage. Facing the camera however was altogether a different experience for her. But she was encouraged to pursue her acting career after her experience in anchoring. Initially the acting bug smote her mainly for the money and popularity. She used to pick serials that did not require much commitment but gradually she excelled her acting skills and developed into a fine actress. Sakshi Tanwar was then seen acting in soaps like Ehsaas, Dastoor, Bhanwar, X-Zone before she got her big break of playing the central role in Rajdhani. After this her life changed for better. The major turning point of her career came when she was offered the role of Parvati in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki. She got this role by sheer coincidence. She was shooting for a pilot of a serial under Balaji Productions. Suddenly Ekta Kapoor walked in the sets and offered her the role of Parvati. At first she was apprehensive about the role but after hearing the script she agreed to enact the character and the rest is history. In fact this is the role, which made her rewarded with some of the most special awards in her acting career including the `Best Actress Award`. According to this actress for playing any character she needs to get into the character for sometime. She owes the credit to portray the role of Parvati so well on screen. It was because of that lady who was so similar to Parvati that she was able to do justice to the character. To work on the character she takes a lot of help from the director. She prefers to be a director`s actress rather than being an actor`s actor. It helps her to bring out her performance well and also enhance her performance level. Once she also had to work on her voice while playing the character of Sher Bano in the soap titled Dastoor. Her favorite character remains to be that of a social worker in the serial Bhanwar. Portraying the character here was much more challenging than any other role because over here she was fighting for a 16-year old rape victim. This spontaneous actress would like to take up any roles, which would be challenging enough. For taking up a new script she would obviously look for the range of emotions she has to portray and then the comfort level to portray the role. Acting to her means portraying the character with 100% conviction. In her personal life also she is not bonded by any commitments and is free from the shackles of family life. She is looking for a partner with whom she thinks she can share her passion for acting and also develop a strong mental bond. She would prefer to continue with her acting career even after tying the knot. This extremely professional and talented actress has carved out a niche for herself in the hearts of her audiences and is sure to emerge as a more groomed actress in the years to come.

Biography l Profile l Filmography

Saakshi Tanwar is an Ace Indian Television Actress born on January 12, 1973 in Alwar Rajasthan , India.

She is best known for her role of Parvati in the popular television soap opera, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii (Translated literally as: The Story of Every Home).

Saakshi's character Parvati has been playing the ideal wife, mother, family member. The huge initial success and the subsequent continued patronage of the largely female audience of the show has been instrumental in changing the fortunes of the production house Balaji Telefilms and in creating a successful genre of tearjerker family dramas, which still continues in the Indian TV industry. Her character recently underwent a drastic makeover, to make her look modern, strong and a lady out with a vengeance to get back at each and every enemy of hers.but, now she is back to her old look. The serial enjoys tremendous popularity in India and abroad.
Early life
Saakshi Tanwar comes from a middle class family from Alwar in Rajasthan. She studied at the Lady Sri Ram college in New Delhi University.
Career
Saakshi has worked in few other serials including the very popular Devi where she plays the central character who is a spiritually inclined woman with a strong connection to Goddess Durga.she will not be seen in zees next because she is not saakshi Tanwar. but will appear in a few movies in the coming 2008, one movie that has been put onto flaws is coffe house were she wil play the main lead. the role of a bahu,with her trademark parvati look.
Television Shows
Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii
Kutumb (TV Serial)
Devi (TV Serial)
Dhadkan ( Pakistani TV Serial )
Gurukul ( TV Serial ) ( Show Host )
Koffee With Karan (Guest Appearance) (With Smriti Z Irani)
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii crossover episodes
Kahaani Jurm Ki (One Episode)
Kahiin To Hoga ( One Episode ) ( Guest Appearance )
Viraasat (One Episode) (Special Appearance)
Kavyanjali (Two Episodes) (Special Appearance)
Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin (As Jassi's Lawyer) (Special Appearance)
Kandy Floss ( TV Serial )( One Episode ) (Guest Appearance with Mona Singh )
Ab Ayega Mazaa ( One Episode ) (Guest Appearance )
Dhamaal Express With Ali Asgar (comedian)
Yeh Hai Jalwa with Smirti Zubin Irani ( Show Host)
Game Show
Kaun Banega Crorepati with Smriti Irani ( One Episode ) on STAR Plus with Amitabh Bachchan.