Southern sojourn

Lyricist Sameer needs no introduction. Not if you have heard his latest song Jhalak dikhlaja? which has turned out to be a super hit. This year the songwriter completes 25 years of his career in the film industry. But that’s not the only special thing that’s happened to him. He’s also bagged his 500th film ? Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saanwariya. And now he’s storming into the south. Sameer will work for three prestigious films, including Kamal Haasan’s Dasavatharam and Singeetham Srinivasa Rao’s 3-D animation film Maya Bazar. “I’m very excited to work on south Indian projects,” says the lyricist. Both the films have music by Himesh Reshammiya. The third film is still untitled and the lyricist will work with the legendary Ilayaraja. So far, Sameer has written 5,000 songs and worked for music directors such as Nadeem-Shravan, Anand-Milind, Himesh Reshammiya and for leading film makers like Yash Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Karan Johar.

Bowing out

Guess what? Rakesh Kacker, the tightlipped advisor (broadcasting & cable) to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is leaving the telecom industry regulatory body. The Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer is said to be taking up an assignment with the Wind Energy Association. Media industry sources say that he’s still waiting for a no-objection certificate from the government. The bureaucrat has worked in the energy sector before with the Tata Energy and Research Institute. Though some in the media industry feel that he has a soft spot for broadcasters among the many stakeholders in the electronic media sector, he’s universally admired for his grasp of the complexities of the industry. During his two and a half years at TRAI, Kacker was been responsible for writing several consultation papers on television and radio.