Held at the Chitrakoot Grounds, the event, hosted by actors Anoop Soni and Mona Singh, saw other small screen celebrities like Ronit Roy, Aishwarya Sakhuja, Shweta Tiwari, Sharad Kelkar, Rashmi Desai and composer Anu Malik. Veteran Bollywood actress Asha Parekh, who was a member of the awards jury, was present too, as was the entire team of the show CID .

"The audience has supported and encouraged us for the past 15 years. So we are here to encourage their bravery and motivate others to live fearlessly," said actor Shivaji Satam, who plays ACP Pradyuman in the long-running show.

Among the winners were Anjum, a class 10 student, who rescued some of her friends from a train accident Another class 10 boy Abhishek Ranjan was awarded for his green movement - he runs an awareness programme with the support of 350 other students and they are on the mission to grow neem plantations across the country. Parents of Keenan and Reuben were also among those honoured.

A minute's silence was observed in the memory of both the boys, who were killed in Mumbai while fighting eve-teasers. B.

P. Singh, producer of CID said: "Fifteen years is a unique feat and we are happy with the response our show has been getting in so many years.

We got 24,000 entries for the awards this year and we got to know that people are enthusiastic to get recognised for their brave acts, and we will continue doing so." Shweta Tiwari and Aishwarya Sakhuja added glamour to the event with their performances.

There was also a team performance by members of CID . The humour to the show was infused by Ali Asgar and comedian Kapil.

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But it was required. The knee operation and the leap of Saat Phere happened almost at the same time and it was a good coincidence for me.

But to be very honest with you, I would not have liked to continue in the older role. I feel I have done justice to Nahar's role but I would not be able to do justice to it after the leap, ? says Sharad.

It would take few months for the actor to recover from the surgery and he is already planning his comeback into the limelight, ?I am open to television and even theatre after I am back. I think theatre gives an actor a big opportunity to improve his acting skills and also get immediate feedback.

Films according to me is sheer luck. I want to learn martial arts also.

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More than the cooking, the celebs are enthusiastic about the fun and games on the show. Fathom this, hunk Sharad Kelkar was chosen to participate in a sari-drpaing contest, and he surprisingly beat a woman at this task.

The unlucky lady in question is Kishori Shahane, a.k.

a Rani Maa of 'Aise Karo Na Vida' fame. The actress was a little embarrassed at her loss.

However, she's got a valid reason to offer. ?Initially, I was a bit surprised by the result.

How could a man beat a lady in a sari-draping contest? However, Sharad had an added advantage as he had to merely tuck in the sari in his trousers. I was wearing a sari, and asking me to drape another one over it was never going to be an easy task?, said Shahane.

Apparently, this is no big loss for Shahane. If men are succeeding in the feminine task, then the ladies are doing vice versa.

?Recently, I won in ganna (sugarcane) grinding contest. This was stressful to the body.

Everyone expected the powerful males to win this contest, but I threw a surprise. That makes up for the sari-draping loss?, the actress sighed (less)

The lure of the screen can indeed stretch far. There are thousands of acting hopefuls trying their luck day in and day out in the City of Dreams.

For some, the gamble pays off, for others it just doesn?t. It may sound surprising, but there are many in Tellywood for whom acting happened just like that while they were busy pursuing other career options.

Anuj Saxena, for instance, is a qualified doctor who was running his successful family pharmaceutical business when the acting bug bit him. Anuj got launched in a movie by Viveck Vaswani which sank without a trace following which he did a few insignificant roles in TV serials in the late 90s.

He struck gold with Balaji Telefilms after he got selected for Kkusum and later in serials like Pratima and Risshton Ki Dor. Even now Anuj juggles a successful acting career along with his business and his newly found production venture.

?Actually, I am handling all of it quite well, ? says Anuj smugly, adding that now he has become an expert in multi-tasking. Haatim and Resham Dankh starrer Raahil Azam is another surprise.

His first profession? ?I am a qualified software engineer. I was working in Bangalore before I ended up in this profession.

I realised acting was my calling, ? says Raahil who maintains that it was pure fascination and the will to do something different which landed him in this aasmaan. Saakshi Tanwar, one of the famous bahus now, was a former computer software consultant.

After graduation, Saakshi was preparing for entrance tests to the administrative services and mass communications when a close friend suggested that she audition for a film song- based programme on Doordarshan. Meanwhile, her ?traditional? career didn?t take off when she failed to clear either of the tests.

?If I don?t get through any exam in the first attempt then it is not meant for me, ? says Saakshi. That?s when the small screen happened for Saakshi Tanwar.

Even then, during her initial days, Saakshi tried to keep her other ?interests? alive. She picked serials that didn?t require much commitment so that she could continue with a computer course.

For a long time Saakshi divided her time between computer classes and acting. She was seen in Ehsaas, Dastoor, X-Zone, Bhanwar, Rajdhani among other serials, before the big one ? Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii ? happened.

Surprisingly, in spite of her inclination towards a corporate career, Saakshi has been playing Parvati, a woman who takes all injustices in the world lying low so convincingly for years. Surely, that?s what acting is all about! Another actor made famous by Balaji serials, Ronit Roy, was into a different profession, too, before the greasepaint got to him.

Ronit initially started out as an editor. The money was good and he continued as an editor even as his film career didn?t take off.

Until, of course, his television career gave him stardom, fame and money. ?I am a graduate in physical education, ? claims Sharad Kelkar who plays Nahar Singh in the super successful Saat Phere.

In fact, Sharad was working as a physical instructor before he got into acting on a full fledged basis. Well, that explains Sharad?s great physique and his popularity among female audiences.

But seriously, there are certainly many other such small screen aspirants working silently elsewhere and waiting for things histrionic and glamorous to fall into place (less)

As we said, there is no barrier and all film industries can be a part of this competitive sport. It is great to see them unite and play cricket in a sporting spirit," said Sohail, who owns Bollywood team Mumbai Heroes.

The 20-20 cricket tournament has teams not only from Hindi cinema, but also Telugu, Kannada and Tamil cinema. While actor Vishnu Manchu owns Telugu Warriors, L.

Ganga Prasad of GVR Infra Projects is the owner of Chennai Rhinos, and Ashok Kheny of AKK Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

has Karnataka Bulldozers. "It is great fun and we have a good laugh in the after parties regarding the experiences of the game.

We are not cricketers. We are just actors training to play good cricket.

Getting everyone together is good fun," he added. Sohail's team boasts of actors and filmmakers like Suniel Shetty, Riteish Deshmukh , Aftab Shivdasani , Sohail himself, Sonu Sood, Apoorv Lakhia, Shabbir Ahluwalia , Sunny Singh , Varun Badola, Kabir Sadanand, Raja Bherwani, Angad Bedi, Tushaar Jalota, Sharad Kelkar, Varun Rao, Sachin Joshi, Ashish Chaudhary and Vatsal Seth.

However, Salman Khan would not be able to play. "Unfortunately not.

His filming schedule and surgery last year have restricted him from playing but he may play in the next season of CCL. He is the icon player and ambassador of our team," said Sohail.

After an exciting first season, the second season brings in two new teams Bengal Tigers, owned by filmmaker Boney Kapoor and his actress wife Sridevi , and Kerala Strikers of the Malayalam film industry owned by National Award winning actor Mohanlal. And Sohail says that more teams are likely to join in.

"The league is also growing in size. Last year we had four teams, this year we've got six teams and next year we are going to have eight teams and then we are going to end with ten teams.

We are going to introduce the Marathi and Punjabi team next year," said Sohail. "Then there will be a Bhojpuri and a Gujarati team.

We plan to cover all the film industries of India and it is a great platform for bringing together directors and producers," he added. The Celebrity Cricket League matches will begin Jan 13 in Sharjah (less)