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After the now-famous walkout of Urvashi Dholakia (Komolika of Kasauti Zindagi Kaay), the sets of Kandy Floss have been much haunted by people from the Fourth Estate. Little wonder that the anchor of the talk-show (or complete telemagazine as she likes to call it) Archana Puran Singh was unsurprised at a request for an interview.
The day's topic for was 'New Age Heroines' and present on the show were Balika Badhu Mousumi Chaterjee and her daughter Meghaa who is scheduled to launch her career through a teleserial soon.
The location for the day's shoot a coffee shop in a posh suburb of Mumbai, wasn't extraordinary. What was extraordinary was the person in control Archana. "I have always been typecast for the Miss Braganza kind of roles involving a lot of comedy," says the actress. "The other kind of role I have played is that of a vamp, so Kandy Floss was a welcome change."
That she is playing her new role to perfection is evident from the growing popularity of the show. But are they trying to spice things up by editing statements and making it more controversial? "Not at all. We are not into that kind of clever editing. In fact, in many instances, we have had to do the opposite. We had to edit statements to make it worthy of telecasting! Celebrities have made such controversial statements you will find it difficult to believe. It's similar to journalism do you print everything you know? You don't. You censor some parts," Singh explains, while preparing for her shoot.
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"At the same time, it's an adult world and all of us are adults so, while we do censor some scenes, we try and present the facts as they are. As an anchor of Kandy Floss, I feel what Urvashi Dholakia did was perfectly alright. Everyone has his or her right to speak up and walk out if they feel like. It is their show after all. You are listening to stuff directly from the horse's mouth, not from an anchor," explains Archana.
But too much controversy does make one suspicious. Like most other things in showbiz, is this show also doctored? Are the questions and answers well rehearsed before the shoot? A vehement denial from Singh follows. "Not at all. Yes, guests are briefed about the broad theme of the discussions, but the question-answer sessions follow their own course. For example, we recently had an episode featuring Rakhi Sawant and Sandhya Mridul. Both were told that the topic would be 'daring to bare'. But that was it after that, what both said was impromptu. There were no rehearsals."
In fact, Archana even went on to make a dig about Ekta's bindi in one of the episodes. A smiling Archana replies, "I was possibly the first one to do that! Kandy Floss is her baby and the concept of the show is to not spare anyone. But let me clarify, I share a lovely relationship with Ekta. In fact, she used to call me Ma'am initially, and began calling me by name only after I insisted that she do."
But does she feel the show is steadily becoming a platform for mudslinging and washing dirty linen in public? "The fun of this show is the fact that every celebrity is welcome. If someone calls a co-actor a dog on my show, both parties are more than welcome to come and speak up! I don't take sides," says Archana, in her usual loud and flamboyant style.
Kandy Floss has already shown mudslinging matches between Shweta Tiwari and Cezanne Khan (Prerna and Anurag Basu of Kasauti Zindagi Kaay), apart from the famous walkout involving Urvashi Dholakia and Whirlpool model Amrita Saluja.
By this time, the guests for the day Mousumi and Meghaa are ready for the shoot. The topic how does today's mother react to her daughter when she performs on screen? If one considers the nature of roles and type of dresses they have to wear, it can't be a very comfortable situation for any mother.
Then again, if you want to be in a comfortable position, the Kandy Floss hot seat isn't the place to be!
Watch Kandyfloss at 11pm every Friday on Sony Entertainment Television.