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'I have never rested on past laurels'
AT catches Smriti Iraani in a chatty mood
TANVI TRIVEDI Times News Network
Smriti Iraani has many faces: that of a politician, social worker, television producer, actor, wife and mom. And to give the 30-year old credit, she performs all the roles of her life with effortless ease. While it might be tough to pin her down for an interview, after a slew of SMSes and phone-calls, when the soap-box's favourite bahu does take time out for Ahmedabad Times, it's worth the effort. And unlike a lot of her contemporaries, she seems absolutely unruffled when we ask her uncomfortable questions.
Smriti takes it as a compliment when her shows are compared with other production houses. If given an opportunity, would she want to go back to being Tulsi? "Why doesn't anyone ask me, why I was thrown out of Balaji? Just because I was trying to be self-sufficient?" Smriti considers the whole issue best left in the cold storage for now.
Having been in the industry for more than a decade now, she is quite surprised when people call her one of the most influential actors on the small screen. "Oh! am I? I think, I have never rested on past laurels. And I think people know that I am not Tulsi, but Smriti. But yes, I do have Ekta Kapoor, and many television channels to thank for making me what I am today," she says.
Mouthing the right lines as if on cue from the director and sounding as eloquent as a politician, the actor says, "doing social work wasn't pre-planned". What about politics, does it gives her a chance to serve the society? "If you really want to do something, you can," says the actor, who has started an NGO, which is funded entirely by her. "I am trying to involve women from 55 districts of Maharashtra to actively participate in politics. Along with that, I am also ensuring that villages in Maharashtra get their share of water," she adds.
Smriti considers the stage as her first love. And now that her play — ' went on to become a huge success, she's hoping to produce another play this year. Viruddh and Mere Apne, soaps that she's produced have been receiving critical acclaim for her. Smriti believes TV soaps can be "different if each character is wellrounded and convincing". And while she's shot up TRPs of many prime-time soaps with her tear-jerking acts, she would like to experiment with every genre on television.
For someone, whose family astrologer predicted she could never do much in life, proving people wrong has been a sort of personal challenge for Smriti. A firm believer in shaping her own destiny, the actor admits somethings are better left to God. And now, does Smriti aspire for anything more? She jokes, "Is there room for anything more in my life now? On a serious note, I think professionally, the opportunity to do something new will never cease to attract me, ever."
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Smriti takes it as a compliment when her shows are compared with other production houses. If given an opportunity, would she want to go back to being Tulsi? "Why doesn't anyone ask me, why I was thrown out of Balaji? Just because I was trying to be self-sufficient?" Smriti considers the whole issue best left in the cold storage for now.
Having been in the industry for more than a decade now, she is quite surprised when people call her one of the most influential actors on the small screen. "Oh! am I? I think, I have never rested on past laurels. And I think people know that I am not Tulsi, but Smriti. But yes, I do have Ekta Kapoor, and many television channels to thank for making me what I am today," she says.
Mouthing the right lines as if on cue from the director and sounding as eloquent as a politician, the actor says, "doing social work wasn't pre-planned". What about politics, does it gives her a chance to serve the society? "If you really want to do something, you can," says the actor, who has started an NGO, which is funded entirely by her. "I am trying to involve women from 55 districts of Maharashtra to actively participate in politics. Along with that, I am also ensuring that villages in Maharashtra get their share of water," she adds.
Smriti considers the stage as her first love. And now that her play — ' went on to become a huge success, she's hoping to produce another play this year. Viruddh and Mere Apne, soaps that she's produced have been receiving critical acclaim for her. Smriti believes TV soaps can be "different if each character is wellrounded and convincing". And while she's shot up TRPs of many prime-time soaps with her tear-jerking acts, she would like to experiment with every genre on television.
For someone, whose family astrologer predicted she could never do much in life, proving people wrong has been a sort of personal challenge for Smriti. A firm believer in shaping her own destiny, the actor admits somethings are better left to God. And now, does Smriti aspire for anything more? She jokes, "Is there room for anything more in my life now? On a serious note, I think professionally, the opportunity to do something new will never cease to attract me, ever."
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Smriti Iraani
Source: Times Of India-Ahmedabad Times
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