'I thank my fans for being a special part of my life' - Smriti Irani

On the occasion of Telly Buzz's first anniversary, Smriti Irani, the iconic bahu of Indian Television gets talking to our reporter Melanie about what she thinks about the site, her plans for the future and how her fans have been an intricate part in shaping her career as an actor and a producer in an exclusive video interview.

Here are some excerpts from the interview...

With india-forums.com/tellybuzz completing a year and you being a regular reader here, what do you have to say about the site?

I login to India-Forums under a guise and whenever there is constructive criticism, I try to incorporate it in my work. Whenever something is said out of pure spite, which I have noticed, it happens at times, it’s nice to see that my fans are quick to defend me. I think any actor for a true measure of their performance, for a true measure of their likability should login to india-forums.com.

Smriti Irani is back in Kyunki. When do we see you return into Shantiniketan as the real Tulsi?

I really don’t know what is going to happen in the story track. My basic style of working is that I come on the sets, look at the scripts and then shoot. I don’t believe in heavy duty story sessions because I think I have made a place for myself in the industry where I don’t think I need to put that kind of pressure on the producer.

How is the track in Mere Apne going to proceed in the future?

I am very glad that Mere Apne has managed to get such high GRPs for 9X. The mission with which the show started was that it would get a visibility for the channel and that is what we achieved. This is my third project as a producer and I am very proud that whatever I create doesn’t end without any news. It creates that kind of an impact in the industry. Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasmaan was a different story, Viruddh was completely different from the regular saas bahu dramas and though Mere Apne is set in a Benaras backdrop, it is more about the generation conflicts in a different flavor.

The audience has seen you as an actor and a producer. Now they get to see a different persona of you as an anchor on the reality show Yeh Hai Jalwa. How does it feel stepping into the shoes of an anchor?

I took up Yeh Hai Jalwa for three reasons only. Firstly, Indrani Mukherjee, the Chairperson of 9X, second is Cineyug and third being Sakshi Tanwar. I am enjoying my camaraderie with Sakshi. But honestly, my best anchoring work was doing a show Kuch Dil Se on SAB TV. The difference between the two shows is that Jalwa is completely scripted while Kuch Dil Se had me hosting impromptu.

A message for your fans.

You know the brilliance of my fans is that they don’t like messages. They don’t like to be preached and are very normal people. They don’t like to ponder too much, are very chilled out and that’s what I like about them. But this is to all my fans on india-forums who write about me, to me, for me and some against me. I’d just like to say thank you for standing by me, I read each one of your messages, and I really appreciate it because this industry is very tough with its ups come the downs. Whenever I feel low, whenever I want to measure myself as an actor or measure the impact I leave on the society as an actor, I login to india-forums. So thank you for being such a special part of my life.

To get a glimpse of Smriti Irani and to know what she has to say about all her fans, don't forget to watch her soon-to-be-uploaded exclusive video only on india-forums.com/tellybuzz

Reporter and Author: Melanie