Though she was ousted from Samir Karnik's Kyon? Ho Gaya Na Pyaar (starring Vivek Oberoi and Aishwarya Rai), Payal Rohatgi (Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai) has bagged the Knockout Beer television commercial.
She says, "I am dancing in a beer bar where a hooligan tries to act fresh with me. Manoj Bajpai acts as my knight in shining armour and saves me. The ad has been very shot in a very filmi and lavish style by [director] Pankuj Parashar."
Arif Zakaria's busy schedule
Arif Zakaria (of Darmiyan fame) has a dramatic cameo in Anil Sharma's The Hero -- Love Story of a Spy (starring Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta and Priyanka Chopra).
He will also be seen in Dance Like A Man, directed by Pamela Rooks (best remembered for the award-winning Miss Betty's Children, based on her own novel, and Train To Pakistan, based on Khushwant Singh's novel of the same name).
Arif plays a dancer who has an ego clash with his dancer-wife Shobhana (National Award-winning actress and niece of legendary Tamil stars Padmini and Ragini).
He will then be seen as a negative character in Mukesh Bhatt's Footpath (starring Aftab Shivdasani and Rahul Dev), directed by Vikram Bhatt. He has also shot for two English films -- Tryst With Destiny and The Refugee.
Amarr Upadhyay in two Partho Ghosh films
According to the grapevine, Partho Ghosh's yet untitled next film for Lucky Star Entertainment will feature Amarr Upadhyay, along with Manoj Bajpai, Milind Soman, Shilpa Shetty and Isha Koppikar. Amarr has already starred in Ghosh's Ek Bar Kaho (opposite Kirti Chawla), slated for a June release.
His other June release will be Raman Kumar's Wah Wah Ramji, opposite Reema Sen.
Sanjay Khan's one-stop shop
Actor-producer-director Sanjay Khan's television and film production company, Numero Uno Limited, recently opened a studio equipped with the latest technology to handle all creative, technical, pre and post-production requirements.
Located in Andheri, northwest Mumbai, the studio boasts of an experienced panel of directors, cameramen, editors, creative writers, scriptwriters, technicians, production crew, casters and schedulers.
NTR's grandson joins filmi bandwagon
Telugu star and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister, the late N T Rama Rao's grandson Kalyanram is trying his luck in films.
He will begin his career with Ushakiron Movies' untitled venture directed by Kasi Viswanath. The film, which is nearing completion, also stars newcomer Akanksha.
Incidentally, Viswanath's debut venture, Nuvvu Lekha, was a superhit.