Razed to the ground, Smriti Irani`s Mere Apne

by Meenakshi Shankar

Jul 15, 2008, Mumbai

Shocked and disbelief ruled the roost when chaos reigned over Smriti Irani's home production, Mere Apne which is telecast on Channel 9X in which she plays one of the lead characters. On Monday, BMC's demolition squad razed the sets of Mere Apne to the ground. When the demolition squad reached the sets, actor Amit Jain and Kishori Shahane were still in the midst of giving their shots.

In a total 'Bollywood filmi ishtyle', the civic officials asked them to stop the shoot even as workers started hammering the sets. And at the end of the five hour demolition process that began at noon, the grand set was a monstrous heap of rubble. We expected a venom spewing Smriti Irani, but when contacted, in an exclusive chat with us, she said, "Applause International are the renters. And I've realized that my name is being dragged into this. I chose to remain silent and not get involved. Yes, it is my home production, but I have also realized that dragging my name into this is purely to get some mileage."

Unlike the firebrand that we know her for, the Indian bahu decided not to get involved in the matter and chose to steer clear of any controversy. "Yes, I'm the production house and we chose to outsource some of our work to the renters. We don't get involved with the nitty gritty details. And today, if my name is being dragged and if the media is going to hound me, then, I really have nothing to say. My silence speaks volumes."

We had earlier reported that her show, Mere Apne on Channel 9 X will be pulled off air this month end or August beginning. So is Smriti Irani licking her wounds over the channel's decision or is she being dragged in as a poster girl for the matter is a question that remains unanswered. Because, by then, Smriti Irani ended the conversation with, "There's too much happening at the moment!"