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Sagarika
is still licking the wounds inflicted by Zee when the channel dumped
her unceremoniously as the Antakshari
hostess after just a couple of episodes. The petite Bengali singer
however is not willing to take it lying down, she tells Vickey
Lalwani.
We
are surprised to see you out of 'Antakshari' so soon?
You can say that again!!
 Were
you contracted for a specific duration?
Yes. My contract got over. But later I learnt that the contract
was designed in a way to suit Pallavi Joshi's convenience. I was
a stop-gap arrangement.
So
why didn't you confront the channel?
Frankly, I learnt this from a Marathi newspaper and dismissed
it as a rumour. Things were rolling fine at the time. I could have
asked Gajendra Singh about it as he was pretty close to us. As you
know, my brother Shaan is doing a show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa for
him. But I trusted him. I thought it would be silly and immature
to ask him something that I had read. I thought if there ever was
something like that, Singh would have told me about it. But alas!
Did
you feel cheated?
'Cheated' is the right word. If that was the case, I wish they
had been transparent to me about it.
And
then you confronted him?
'Arre nahin yaar. Kya fayda hota?' The damage had been done.
And then I realised that I had been taken for a ride.
Could
you elaborate on that?
When I joined, he kept telling me that he wanted to induct some
youth element into his show. We had many meetings. I offered several
inputs. But he never incorporated any.
How
did Shaan take it?
Shaan was disgusted. He rang up Singh's wife Ashwini and had
a big showdown with her.
 But
he is still doing 'Sa Re Ga Ma Pa'?
Yes. That's for professional reasons. But I am sure that the
relations between Singh and him are not as good as they were.
A
Zee spokesperson said that you couldn't induct the youth element
they were looking for? Is Pallavi youthful according to you?
No comments. Anyway, think of it, what was my role? I was just
an add-on. The entire spotlight is on Annu Kapoor.
The
same spokesperson said that you were not in sync with Annu...
(Interrupts) I had no problems with Annu Kapoor.
As
of now, how are your relations with Gajendra Singh?
Zero.
What's
next on television?
I have conceptualised a cookery show for Zoom. I am waiting
for their reply.
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