Primetime drama-Article

Ekta Kapoor is caught in a channel war. Star Plus, a channel she has had a long-standing association with, has asked her to prevent her new show Kya Dill Mein Hai from airing on channel 9X, which launches tonight.

Originally slotted to air at 9.30 pm, Kya Dill Mein Hai, has been replaced by Siddharth Basu's Jiya Jale. Ekta's show has been withheld for now and is likely to be aired on weekends. Our source says, "The show will be aired as an hourly on Fridays and Saturdays around the first week of December."

According to a well-placed source, Ekta had signed an exclusive contract with Star Plus many years ago. Says the source, "Ekta and Star Plus have shared a special association for several years. Back then, Ekta had signed a contract with the channel that prohibited her from airing a show in the same time slot on a rival channel. So far it worked well with Sony TV and Zee TV. However, when 9X announced that two Balaji shows would be aired at 9 pm and 9.30 pm respectively, it caught the attention of the Star authorities. Since Ekta already has Kasturi running at 9.30 pm on Star Plus, it would lead to a breach of contract."

Her other show, Kahe Na Kahe, will air as per schedule since Ekta doesn't have any show running in the 9 pm slot on Star Plus.

Meanwhile, Siddharth Basu gears up to fill in the 9.30 pm slot. He says, "Yes, our show Jiya Jale is slotted for 9.30 pm. It was initially scheduled to be aired at 8.30 pm. We were informed of the change in the programming a few days ago."

Ekta Kapoor was not available for comment.

• Originally slotted to air at 9.30 pm, Kya Dill Mein Hai, has been replaced by Siddharth Basu's Jiya Jale. Ekta's show has been withheld for now...