Who's the doughtier-in-law? Smriti Irani

The much-hyped Teen Kahaaniyaan, Teen Raaz and Do Anokhe episode, which is a merger of three soaps Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii and Kayamath, did not see popular bahus Tulsi Virani (Smriti Iraani) and Parvati Agrawal (Sakshi Tanwar) sharing screen space.

If sources are to be believed, Smriti Iraani and Sakshi Tanwar were so pre-occupied with some ego issues that they refused to team up in this celebrated episode. Even Ekta Kapoor failed to get them to act together.

Reliable sources at Balaji Telefilms inform that elaborate sequences featuring the two bahus were on the cards but the actresses begged out of the schedule by citing date problems. This led the production house to rewrite the scenes and settle for phone conversations between the two.

When quizzed about it, Sakshi Tanwar refused to acknowledge the cold war. She said, "It's not true. The phone conversations were always a part of the script right from beginning. Also, as per story requirements the characters were never supposed to see each other."

Our sources, however, confirm that the actresses would come up with lame excuses to avoid each other. "We didn't have any scenes with Tulsi and Parvati together as they refused to give us combination dates. Both would come up with lame excuses for not making it. These special episodes had to be shot over a period of five days. If Smriti gave dates on March 21, Parvati gave us dates on March 22 and so on. In fact, one particular day one shot in the morning shift from 7 am to 2 pm and the other shot between 2 pm and 10 pm. The war between the two is definitely hotting up," says a source from the production house.

Reportedly, the leading ladies had a minor tiff when they had appeared on Kaun Banega Crorepati, then hosted by Amitabh Bachchan. Apparently, the duo had differences while zeroing down on the right option.

Adds a cast member, "We're no strangers to the fact that Smriti and Sakshi can't see eye-to-eye. In fact, they are known to give each other a cold shoulder whenever they meet."

Smriti Iraani remained unavailable for comment.