india's no. 1 bahu takes on bollywood

Of late, television actress Smriti Irani (of Tulsi fame) has been open about her ambitions to produce a Hindi film. Time and again, she has said, "I am eyeing Bollywood as a producer and I may launch a film this year itself," she had said.

Well, it's official now. Smriti will produce a Hindi film in joint collaboration with UTV. The film is a comedy and will go on floors in the second half of this year. Confirming the same, Smriti says that she goes back a long way with Ronnie Screwvala of UTV. "I have full faith in him as a producer. He understands cinema really well. And UTV has the best distribution and marketing system."

The script is being penned by Kamlesh Pandey (who has written Rang De Basanti, Beta, Tezaab) and the screenplay will be by Imtiaz Patel (who wrote Ekta Kapoor's popular comedy show Hum Paanch and written many David Dhawan's films). Kamlesh and Imtiaz have been associated with Smriti for some time now. Kamlesh wrote Smriti's TV serials Virrudh and Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Aasman and Imtiaz wrote the screenplay of Smriti's Gujarati play Maniben.com.

The cast is still being finalised. The film will star two male leads and one female lead. Smriti was tightlipped about the man who will hold the directorial reins of her first baby in Bollywood. However, she added, "The comedy is of a very different kind, never before explored in Indian cinema. We are very excited about it and will leave no stone unturned. The film will be shot entirely in India."

UTV's Executive VP, Marketing, Distribution and Syndication, Siddharth Roy Kapur, adds, "We are looking forward to working with Smriti. It's a very interesting subject. Smriti is a rather creative soul."

Well, India's number one bahu, this is what we indeed call progress. Model, TV actress, politician, play producer and now Bollywood producer! The way is up if you're Smriti, it seems.

The comedy is of a very different kind, never before explored in Indian cinema. We are very excited about it and will leave no stone unturned - Smriti Irani