Getting ready to celebrate

He's the favourite deity of the Bollywood and television fraternity. So, do our telly stars intend taking a break to bring home the lord of prosperity, Ganesh, home this year? Or will they be on the sets, insisting that work is worship?
Kavita Shyam spoke to a few artistes to find out how Ganesh Chaturthi is being celebrated in Mumbai tomorrow.

Sai Deodhar, who married fellow artiste Shakti Anand earlier this year, will have to divide her time between her parents' place (where Ganpati is brought home every year) and her in-laws' house this year. "Since ours is a Punjabi cum Maharashtrian household now, we are anyway going to have a big Ganpati puja at home with friends and family over for the celebrations," she gushes.

Manish Goyal and wife Poonam are looking forward to celebrating the utsav with much fervour too.While Manish plans to do the 'arti' and go for work later in the day with plans to return early for the evening 'arti', Poonam will be taking two days off work for the puja. Right now, both are busy with decorations are at home.

Sachin Pilgaonkar, who's going to be seen on screen after a long time on Star One's Nach Baliye says that even though he's busy shooting, he will be visiting temples besides visiting friends and relatives during the 11 day long festival. "Since I am the man of the house I will have to be at home and juggle time for the festival with my work." Mansi Joshi Roy too will be visiting her loved ones this year and says she plans to bring an image of the elephant god home next year. Brother- in- law Ronit Bose Roy is a big Ganapti bhakt and will be having Ganesh sthapana in his new home. "I will have to squeeze out time from shooting for the celebrations at home," he sighs.

For Indian Idol finalist Prajakta Shukre, Ganpati celebrations back home in Jabalpur were a whole lot of fun with family and friends. Now in Mumbai, she will spend time with her family and visit temples all over the city, she says. Of course, she will also have to start working on a Sony album soon so there is a lot of work too that would keep her busy during the festival.

Model-actor Aditi Govitrikar says excitedly that she would be performing at the Pune festival this year and also visiting relatives and friends there. So here's one star who will be combining work with pleasure!

Shweta Salve does not seem very happy about the fact that she will be going abroad this week for work, but once she comes back, she will be ready to celebrate the festival by visiting temples and meeting up with her folks. "I used to look forward to the Ganpati puja every year as a child but for the past two years, I only manage to get time to meet up with family and friends."Indian Idol runners- up Rahul Vaidya will be tied up with shows in Mumbai, Pune and other places in Maharashtra and would also be later joining in his housing society's Ganpati celebrations . For many stars, it is their professional commitments that will keep them away from the Ganesh celebrations at home and for many like Pallavi Joshi and Rinku Dhawan, it will mean taking a day off to unwind and avoid the traffic and enjoy the festival with their kids. For now, it's raining modaks, aartis and celebrations galore for our telly stars..Ganpati Bappa Morya!