If you were wondering whether the bubbly salwar kameez clad Chandani aka Mansi Parekh of India Calling has called it quits from tellywood, no worry! As this gujju babe herself confirms, "I am here to stay. How can I dump a medium which has really become big off late? Even Shah Rukh Khan is doing KBC."

So where has you been all this while? "I had taken a break to recharge my batteries and now I am back with bang! Currently, I'm doing episodic shows. Like last week I had appeared in CID and Man Mein Hai Visshwas, and this week I will be seen in Lucky and Aahat. In the former, I essay the role of a smart con artist, who tries to entice Lucky in order, to lay her hands on a precious diamond, while in Aahat, I play an emotional and hysterical girl, who calls a spirit for fun, but unfortunately, the ghost refuses to go back and ends up entering her sister's body and killing her father. Both these shows see me in a complete different light from my plain Jane, India Calling image."

And she indeed enjoyed the experience as she quotes, "It's really good to take up such roles as not only do you get to play different characters; you also aren't tied up to the project for too long."

What about full fledged roles? "I do have something big lined up, but wouldn't like to reveal anything till it starts rolling. I am a bit superstitious that way."

On opening the closed book (India Calling), Manasi agrees that the track of the show went awry towards the end. "To be fair the new romantic angle was not given enough time to gain currency. All daily shows deviate from the principle stories, so we were not wrong there. Another issue which affected the popularity of the show was some dispute between the cable operators and Star One, which led to the channel being taken off air for some time."

She also plans to join the herd when it comes to Bollywood (why don't they say Hollywood ever?). "Luckily times have changed for the better, where there is scope for serious cinema like Omkara where one does not need to strip to be seen. The new lot of film directors respect new talent and give it due recognition".
Mansi signs off on this note leaving us with some homework about her new show. Watch this space for updates!