Klash of the titans

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dures

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Posted: 18 years ago

Klash of the titans

< content=07/15/2007 name=date>

The Ekta-Smriti plot thickens further. The K-files turn out to be murkier than we thought

The exit of Smriti Irani and the entry of Gautami Gadgil as Tulsi was supposed to make the TRPs of Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi plummet. To everyone's surprise the serial's popularity has shown no downward trend. And now, Ekta Kapoor is in two minds about her original plan to bring back Smriti Irani after a while.

A very knowledgeable source from Balaji says, "Everyone was convinced that Gautami Gadgil would be hard to accept as Tulsi, by viewers. Even Ekta was initially convinced that Gautami would be at the most be only adequate, and that Smriti Irani's demands would have to be met after re-negotation. But now Ekta is having second thoughts."

Smriti Irani

Many versions on the friction between Ekta and Smriti have been propounded. But the real reason behind the fall-out runs deeper than has so far been made public.

Says our source, "It started eight months ago when Smriti went to Ekta's mother Shobha Kapoor and said that she didn't want Balaji to produce her serial Thodisi Zameen Thoda Aasman. When Ekta heard this, she was furious. Ekta had stepped in to get Sony's approval since they had refused to take Thodisi Zameen without Ekta's backing. Then Smriti threatened to quit Kyunkii… and Ekta made it clear that this arm-twisting wouldn't work. Smriti stayed on but began to act difficult. When she had a play abroad, she again came to Ekta saying she wanted to quit. Once she was shooting for Viruddh and she sent a message to the Kyunkii… unit saying she couldn't come because she was unwell. We sent our unit to her Viruddh set to shoot for Kyunkii… She was extremely rude and dismissive. In the last few months of her tenure as Tulsi, Smriti Irani shot for no more than six days a month, and that too for a few hours every day. Smriti was paid by the hour rather than by the day."

Ekta, our source says, kept her peace because she believed Kyunkii….would suffer seriously without Smriti. "Then something happened that blew Ekta's mind. The flashpoint between Ekta and Smriti was reached when at a meeting at the Star office Smriti behaved very rudely with Shobha Kapoor," says the source.

That's when Ekta decided enough was enough. Our source says, "Smriti was flying high. She thought Viruddh would rule the TRP charts. Ekta made up her mind to ask Smriti to leave. Before she could take action, Viruddh tanked. Keeping the best interests of the serial in mind, Ekta invited Smriti for coffee and re-negotiation at a caf near the Balaji office. Smriti and Ekta had an amicable meeting where Ekta suggested that Smriti take a three-month break from Kyunkii…."

In reality, Ekta wanted to see if in these three months another Tulsi would work on Kyunkii …. And now Gautami Gadgil has been accepted as Tulsi. The ratings of Kyunkii… have been steady and growing. Says our source, "This, Smriti never expected. She thought no one could replace her. At the same time, Sandeep Sikcand at Sony and Anshuman Swami at Applause Entertainment have been asked to leave from their companies because of losses suffered over Viruddh, etc. Apparently Sikcand has now fallen out with Smriti Irani and openly blames her for his problems at Sony. Sikcand has been sending feelers to Balaji, asking for his old job."

Ekta Kapoor

But will Ekta take Smriti back as Tulsi? "The entire Balaji team has suffered trying to trail Smriti. When Smriti's 'friend' claimed she had suffered a miscarriage working on Kyunkii…. Ekta felt like killing off Tulsi in the serial. Will she take Smriti back? A final call will be taken only in September," concludes the source.

When contacted, Ekta laughs off the rumours of Smriti's impending comeback in Kyunkii… "Smriti hasn't told me when she wants to come back on the show. But Gautami has been widely accepted as Tulsi. That's a big triumph for us," she says.

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Klash of the titans

Klash of the titans

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