Chhavi Mittal, Rajshri Thakur all Glitter

Zee TV's Carnival 2006 is a unique concept through which fans of Indian television (read fans of Zee TV) are given a chance to meet and interact with their favourite screen idols.

At the recently held Carnival in London, major Zee stars were invited to be a part of the festivities. Among the lucky chosen names were that of Ashish Nayyar, lead actor, Tumhari Disha (which also happens to be the oldest running serial of the channel at the moment) and the heroine Rajshri Thakur (Saloni) of the current number one show Saat Phere.

The carnival being a huge success is another story but reports were doing the rounds that Chhavi Mittal (female lead, Tumhari Disha) was unhappy about the fact that not she but DK (Ashish) was invited to the carnival. The argument being in a woman oriented serial, the title character (that's she) should have had more rights to represent Zee.

There were also reports that Chhavi threw tantrums on the sets of the serial to vent out her anger and frustration. Though close sources from the production house confirm the news, Chhavi, when contacted chose to be diplomatic. "Though it's unfortunate but I am happy that they invited Ashish. May be Ashish is more popular than me in London," says Chhavi trying to hide her displeasure.

The producer of the show Rupali Guha denied any knowledge on the matter. "I am not aware of any such incident. You have to ask Chhavi or the organisers. I wouldn't like to comment on the issue," she categorically said. But again, she also chose to be diplomatic and not irk her actors by confirming the news. All she did was, put the ball in someone else's court.

When contacted, Ashish Nayyar had this to say (even though we knew what's coming up), "Zee TV first checked out the popularity quotient of the star and then took a decision on whom to send to the event. Guess they decided that DK being a male character is more popular amongst the ladies because women enjoy these serials more. But I do not think Chhavi Mittal had a problem with my trip."

"Everyone wants to steer clear of controversies and controversial statements. But the fact remains that Chhavi threw a lot of tantrums on the sets post the news of Ashish being sent for the carnival", says a close source from the production house. Not only that, sources confirm that after Chhavi realising that Ashish' is far more popular she has started paying more attention to her work.

Hopefully next time it will be Chhavi who will be more in demand and her complaints will be put to rest. But one good thing that happened following this carnival fiasco is that Chhavi has realised that it's her work which gets her noticed and not any tantrums.