There’s more than adopted children that Madonna and Sushmita Sen have in common. The Material Girl and our Miss Universe are both deeply into Kabbalah. For the uninitiated, Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought that explores the mystical aspect of Judaism. Madonna, of course, has been a Kabbalah believer from ever since, but Sushmita has got into it recently. “I was chasing a particular number, 47, which I thought was very auspicious and this led me to the study of Kabbalah,” explained Ms Sen. “So I went to the Kabbalah Centre in New York and picked up every single possible literature they had on the subject. Today I feel like I know it a bit.”
That was two-and-half years ago. Since then, the actress says Kabbalah has brought about fabulous changes in her life. “We are talking about anti-ageing and stuff. All of this is to age gracefully, not to fight it, not restrict yourself to other peoples’ definition of ageing or of growing old. Through Kabbalah, I found ways to stay young and yet, gracefully accept that every single line on your face is something you’ve earned. So as long as you enjoy and cherish them, you’re going to age gracefully and like who you are,” she said earnestly
On the work front, the actress is currently involved with Dulha Mil Gaya and the yet to be released Karma Confessions And Holi. “There’s also David Dhawan’s film, the working title of which is Do Not Disturb, in which I’m with Govinda,” she said.
Most importantly, there’s Jhansi Ki Rani Lakshmibai which Sushmita is producing, directing and acting in. Talking about this whole experience, she said, “It’s a tough call, because of the sheer size of the canvas of the film that I want to make. I’d much rather be doing three years of pre-production than three years of postproduction. I have a very emotional tie with the film. Tons of work has gone into the scripting, presentation, etc. I want it to be a 2010 release and if everything goes well, Insha Allah it should be so,” she added.

Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen and former Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram will judge the new TV reality show “Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina”.

The dance based reality show will feature a team of a cricketer and a TV actress competing against other teams.

The trailers of the show are being aired on channel Colors.

Though the channel refused to divulge the names of the participants, a reliable source told IANS that Irfan Pathan, Vinod Kambli, Dinesh Karthik, S. Sreesanth, Parthiv Patel, Shama Sikander and Shweta Salve might be participating in the show.

“Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina” will be aired once the ongoing season of “Bigg Boss” comes to an end.

Joining the league of film stars on the small screen, actress Sushmita Sen recently made her debut with the reality show Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena.

By roping in popular cricketers to shake a leg for the first time on a reality dance show, Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena has managed to create the right buzz. But Sushmita’s looks has drawn criticism, all that weight the actress has added to her tall frame hasn’t gone down well with her fans, and of course the media.

“I love these weighty issues. I think they are lovely. One of the concerns that I have often had are about people and not necessarily people in general but specifically people in media. It’s the fact that when you run out of story ideas you look for weighty issues to talk about and that’s not a problem as long as it doesn’t blow up too much in poeple’s faces and takes away from the work that I am doing which is whether TV or film. You talk about what you want, I will be very happy bystander,” Sushmita said.

The actress will soon be turning director with her ambitious dream project, a film on the life of Rani Laxmibai. And she says she has a very strong reason for going behind the camera.

“I have lived with this film for a year-and-a-half. For me to get anybody else to direct this film would mean conflict of interests on the sets because we would be constantly fighting about which visions to fulfill and that’s why I am doing it,” Sushmita said.

Sushmita also plans to essay the title role of Rani Laxmibai in the film and is currently immersed in the pre-production.

“The film will be made soon. But right now my primary concern is quite few of them. It is a huge canvas. It is a women-oriented film which is not necessarily one of the most saleable concept on commercial Indian films term. And it’s a very big film and I don’t want to compromise on it,” she said.

“Having said that, we have finished the screenplay, we are down to storyboarding and once the storyboarding is complete and my seven minutes presentation is ready for my international buyers, that’s when I close the chapter till I am ready with my wishlist, my technicians and the funding,” she added.

Sushmita’s directorial debut in and as Rani Laxmibai, well that’s one film we definitely wouldn’t want to miss.

Guess who’s making former Pakistan cricket captain and swing king Wasim Akram sway to her tunes nowadays? Bollywood actress and former beauty queen Sushmita Sen.

Akram, who is currently co-judging an Indian reality TV show Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina with Sushmita, is totally gaga over the actress.

“I think she is an incredible person, very helpful, extremely professional and, yes, she has really made me comfortable on the show,” said Akram in an interview.

Akram first interacted with Sushmita in Dubai in 2006.

“I met her about two years ago in Dubai. We did a telethon for Imran Khan’s cancer hospital together. That was two days in a row and almost three hours live on TV. So I got to interact with her. We managed to raise quite a bit of money,” he said.

Sushmita was also one of the reasons why he agreed to be on the judging panel of this show.

“So far the game is really exciting and fun. It’s something very different and that’s why I agreed to the show and, plus, I was told that Sushmita would be there; so I agreed.”

Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina pits six pairs of a cricketer and a TV actress each to display their dancing skills. The cricketers on the show include S. Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Vinod Kambli, Irfan Pathan, Dinesh Kartik and Nikhil Mehra.

In one of the recent episodes, Akram has been seen reciting shayari (Urdu couplets) to flatter the actress, but he has not shaken a leg with her so far. Any plans?

“Maybe. In fact, they have tried to make me dance, but I really can’t handle that sort of pressure. Playing the world cup final twice was okay, but not this,” he says.

Akram is also entirely dependent on Sushmita to judge the dancing capabilities of the contestants, as he “can’t make out the head or tail of dancing”.

“I wanted to see how the cricketers behave on the stage. I’m not judging the technicalities of their dance. For that Sushmita is there. I have no clue about dancing, what would I comment. I’m not looking at their steps at all. For me, their passion is important,” he said.

He added: “We are not looking for a dance icon who would go into Bollywood and dance. The idea is to have cricketers dancing and see how they do on the stage. The girls, all six of them, are very talented and excellent. But, for the boys, it’s a new thing.”

So what is his criterion for judging? “For me it’s like one day cricket – perform on the day, if you play well, you’ll win.”

Akram feels that though such a show will be a hit in Pakistan, not many cricketers there will agree to take part in it.

“It will be a big hit there no doubt, but where will the Pakistani cricketers dance there? I don’t think the Pakistani cricketers will dance. First let them play well at least,” he said and laughed.

A lot of actors in India and Pakistan are looking to make a mark in Bollywood, but Akram feels otherwise.

“I do enjoy acting and watching movies. But acting is a proper profession; you have to learn for it. I’ve seen cricketers who have done films. But after one or two films, they are not seen any more and I don’t want to be one of them.

“I am happy to leave acting in Bollywood to Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Amitabh Bachchan – all these great actors,” said Akram.