Shweta goes under the knife
By: Vickey Lalwani
November 30, 2006

Aankhon Hi Aankhon Mein: Shweta Tiwari Shweta Tiwari will not be shooting for Kasautii Zindagii Kay at least for the next seven days. The actress is undergoing an eye surgery at Dr Himanshu Mehta’s hospital in Juhu. Tiwari had suffered an eye infection for not removing her lenses for three days during her hectic preparations for the Wild Card episode of Nach Baliye 2. She has a blood clot in her eye for the past few days. “The doctor says my vision is diminishing and I need to remove the clot. Hence, I am undergoing this surgery,” informs Shweta. Ek teer, do shikaar If all goes well and her eyes can take the toll, Dr Mehta will also perform LASIK on Tiwari’s eyes. “I want to get rid of my high number. Plus if two things can be done simultaneously, then why not? But if my eyes cannot take it now, then I shall get it done six months later. Let’s see how it goes. The doctor will take a call, there and then,” says the actress. Consequently, her play Shararat with Vinay Jain had to be cancelled in Dubai. “A play requires physical presence at that very moment. I could not comply. The producer and director were kind enough to understand and they cancelled the show without complaining.” Get together Shweta’s mother, who stays at Goregaon, will be coming to stay with her. “My mother-in-law has also come all the way from Meerut since Raja, too, is not keeping well (Raja is suffering from an abscess in his liver, which had forced the couple to bow out from Nach Baliye 2). So I am going to be with the entire family for the next one week,” enthuses Shweta. Raja on the other hand has resumed shooting for Apne Mere Apne (Doordarshan). He was present on the sets of Nach Baliye 2 last week to cheer Manav Gohil — the only co-contestant who had paid him a special visit in the hospital. His diet now includes homemade food low on spice and oil. He is still on medicines and will undergo a check-up on December 3, which will decide if he and Shweta can gyrate in Nach Baliye 2 grand finale on December 18.

Five years on, Cezanne and Shweta still aren’t talking!

So how do they manage to romance on screen? BT asks Shweta Tiwari

SUBHASH K JHA

Shweta Tiwari stunned the nation by announcing that her husband
had taken ill and that she’d be dancing alone on Star One Nach
Baliye. “I don’t even want to remember the nightmare of the past
week. It was a hard decision,” she says after the brave and enforced
solo performance. “But I had no choice.”
Reliving the nightmare of suddenly going solo, Shweta says, “When
my husband was detected with a lever abcess, we were shattered. It
started suddenly with a back pain. He couldn’t stand properly. No
medication worked. Our shoot was on Wednesday. On Monday morning he
was in acute pain. That’s when he was diagnosed with a liver abcess.
We kept hoping he’d okay by Wednesday. But it was impossible… It was
very upsetting. Though my choreographer danced instead of my
husband, we both missed him. It was upsetting, but when everyone
said I had won the contest by going there and dancing on behalf of
both me and my husband, I felt better.”
She recalls the gruelling hours of rehearsal for Nach
Baliye. “I’d shoot for my serial
Kasauti Zindagi Kay on Star Plus, from 9 am to 9 pm and from 9 pm to
4 am, I’d rehearse for Nach Baliye. Though I am not a trained
dancer, I love dancing. Until Nach Baliye, I never knew my husband
liked dancing. Poor guy! He worked so hard to keep up with me. He
rehearsed so hard for this week’s episode. And then he couldn’t
perform.”
Shweta’s five-year-old innings on Kasauti… shows no sign of
waning although she doesn’t get along with her co-star Cezanne Khan.
About her mythic animosity with Cezanne, Shweta says, “We don’t get
along, that’s it. It often happens in work places. We’d argue and
fight. I thought it better to keep away completely. We don’t talk to
each other at all. But on camera we’re professional.”

Eliminate Ravi!

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Wanted: Ravi Kishen Shweta Tiwari has a problem. She’s almost completed her first Bhojpuri film Hamar Saiyyan Hindustani, produced by her husband Raja. But now her co-star Ravi Kishen has upped and left to do something else. “He has upped and left to participate in Bigg Boss. And now my film is stuck! Why don’t they just eliminate him so that he can come back and complete my film? We still have 20 per cent of the film to complete.” Shweta had no problem speaking in Bhojpuri. “My family is from Allahabad. So I know Bhojpuri. But I’m a Mumbai girl.” Shweta is seen on television exclusively in Kasautii Zindagii Kay.  “And that’s the way I like it. No point in doing several serial since all of them is almost the same. But I do a lot of other things like ads. I’m an radio jockey too.” Shweta Tiwari What about the rumours of Kasautii Zindagii Kay coming to an end? “I have no idea. The show must go on. It’s still so popular. And frankly I enjoy doing television. I’m earning well. And everyone is so sweet to me. My family looks after my daughter Palak. I do miss spending time with her. She comes on the sets. Everyone on the sets pampers her silly. And besides we get five days off every month. One has to make sacrifices to get something in life. But yes, it’s the same serial every day. And I do get tired at times. In five years, I’ve made sure not to look repetitive. The challenge has kept me going.”

boohoo…reality and tv…

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Dost dost na raha
November 21, 2006
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Raja Chaudhary was discharged from hospital two days ago, but few of his Nach Baliye 2 co-contestants have bothered to call on him and ask about his current state of health.

Still unable to get past the quirk of fate that threw his wife Shweta Tiwari and him out from Nach Baliye 2 last Wednesday (the episode aired last night), Chaudhary was surprised that only Tanaaz Lal, Bakhtyaar Iraani and Manav Gohil tried to establish contact with him after learning that he had developed a liver abscess.

A few good friends

While Tanaaz and Bakhtyaar spoke to him over phone, Manav visited Chaudhary in the hospital after the Wednesday shoot got over. “I was expecting that all of them would come to see me,” he says candidly.

Manav got a huge watermelon with a ‘Get well soon’ message written on it. “That was a very sweet gesture. Plus, Manav’s visit wasn’t just for the heck of it. He stayed with me for over an hour. After that gruelling shoot, he could have paid a fleeting visit and left if he wanted,” says a visibly grateful Raja.

It seems, Raja was expecting some particular Nach Baliye 2 co-contestants to show up. Had he developed a close friendship with any
contestant? “No. I was just anticipating that they would turn up. If I had been in their position, I would have definitely been there,” he says.

Diet constraints

We shift tracks to cheer the man who has fought hard not to let his terrific dancer wife down. Are there any diet restrictions?

“No alcohol and cigarettes. I have been told that I cannot be subjected to passive smoking either. And I have to avoid non-vegetarian and spicy food. Most importantly, I have to stop consuming any outside food,” he replies.
Raja, who has taken leave from his two serials Apne Mere Apne and Gam Hai Na (on Doordarshan), is still not sure if Shweta and he will be able to perform in the grand finale slated for December 18.

He says, “I have to take the full course of medicines till December 3. Then, I will have to undergo a complete check-up once again. Only after that, will we be able to take a call on the finale performance,” he concludes

‘Nach’ed out of competition

Owing to Raja’s illness, the couple has bowed of the show; Shweta’s dreams of winning squashed

By: Vickey Lalwani

It’s official: Shweta Tiwari and hubby Raja Chaudhary are out of Star One’s dance show, Nach Baliye 2. This time, there’s no Wild Card round to bring them back.

Raja, who has been admitted to Arogya Nidhi Hospital (Juhu) for a liver abscess, failed to turn up for the shooting of the performance on Wednesday evening (will be telecast next Monday). No special concession was given to the couple that had made a triumphant return to the show only last week. This time, they had no choice but to quit the competition.

Class act

Shweta kept hoping that Raja would be granted special leave for two hours, but the hospital authorities did not permit emotional reasons to dictate over medical requirements. The doctors at the hospital forbade Raja from any strenuous physical activity.

Raja then informed Shweta, who decided to perform with their choreo- grapher Sagar instead. At this point, Star One made it clear to her that she wouldn’t be allotted any points but could go-ahead with her performance as a parting shot.

After her performance, the judges (Saroj Khan, Kunal Kohli and Malaika Arora) were visibly moved. They told her that she deserved 30 points for this act, and Shweta broke down.

Abrupt end

Our source at the shoot reveals, “Shweta was inconsolable backstage. Since the past few days, she has been hassled with her eye infection and then Raja fell sick on Sunday. She’s had virtually no time to practise. It is sad that it happened to a gifted dancer like her. She dearly wanted to win this contest and she knew she could pull it off.”

Feeling terribly disappointed that his health got in the way of the contest, Raja says, “The doctors said that any kind of hectic activity could prove dangerous. I eventually decided not to risk my health. In fact, I have been told not to dance for a month at least. The abscess is an infection caused by contaminated food. I have to take lots of care now.”

Shweta is definitely disappointed by this abrupt end to their participation. “We may not perform even in the grand finale slated for December 18. It will be the doctor’s call. Who would have thought that we’d go out like this? Life is full of uncertainties,” she says.

Raja-shweta Out Of ‘nach Baliye 2’
[17 Nov 2006]

Shweta-Raja bow out of ‘Nach Baliye’

Thursday, November 16, 2006  18:50 IST

Shweta Tiwari and Raja Chaudhary, who scored a perfect 30 in their very first performance on ‘Nach Baliye2’ (Star One), have had to exit the show following Raja’ s inability  to turn up for the performance. The episode will air next Monday.

An ailing Raja has been admitted to the Arogyanidhi Hospital in Juhu after being diagnosed having a liver infection. Raja, who had shown tremendous improvement in his dancing skills as he matched steps with actor spouse Shweta, has been battling the infection for some days now. But his condition worsened earlier this week and he had to be hospitalised.

The couple was hoping that he would be well enough to join Shweta for the performance yesterday.

Doctors, however, could not give Raja the permission to leave the hospital for the show, and Shweta went ahead and performed the ‘Dhol Bajne Laga’ number on her own, accompanied by her choreographer, Sagar. She left the sets soon after the performance. 

Raja’s soundbytes, recorded at the hospital, were also played during the shooting of the episode. Sources say that Raja broke down on camera. He knew that they would be  disqualified after Shweta gave a solo performance.  On watching the recording, Shweta too, started crying, sources say.

Just last week, an escatic Shweta had said that it was all due to Raja’s perseverance that  the couple had been able to put up a strong performance and re-enter the dance talent contest in the  wild card episode. “We were afraid that all the other couples would have gone far ahead in their capabilities and that we would lag behind. We put in extra effort, thanks to Raja’s determination, and here we are!” she had exulted last week.

Sadly, the euphoria turned out to be shortlived. Citing that the doctor had asked Raja to take complete bed rest for two months, the duo took a call to withdraw from the contest. Neither the couple nor the choreographer were available for comment.