TOI: Nayikas n Dayans come together-KK

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For producer Ekta Kapoor, films and television are both equally close to her Heart. No wonder she is thrilled with the idea of promoting 'Ek Thi Daayan' (ETD), a film Balaji Telefilms has co-produced with Vishal Bhardwaj that releases April 18, as a TV series.

"Basically, television and films feed off each other and in times to come, their synergy will get newer. It's all about grabbing mind space with innovative marketing ideas. And, there can not be a better promotion for a film than through TV," says Ekta.

The series, called Ek Thhi Naayka, will feature fictionalised versions of ancient spooky stories about witchcraft. It will have eight stories about daayans spanning over 16 episodes and will trace the Journey of each naayka and the good v/s evil battle.

It was Ekta's idea to get all her lead serial actresses to play the naaykas. They will be seen in avatars connected with different states. Smriti Irani from Gujarat, Kritika Kamra from Punjab, Pooja Gor from Delhi, Aamna Shariff from UP, Shweta Tiwari from Bihar, Mouli Ganguly from West Bengal and Sakshi Tanwar from Rajasthan. The series will start with Ankita Lokhande's Marathi tales. "They were all gracious to be part of the show. In fact, Smriti has a busy Parliament schedule. Yet she managed by shooting at night," says Ekta.

ETD actors Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin, Konkona Sen Sharma and Huma Qureshi will make surprise appearances in some of the episodes. Ajit Thakur, GM, Life OK, adds, "We are very excited about this collaboration. Indian TV will see one of the most power-packed star casts assembled for any TV series ever."

Starting tonight, Ek Thhi Naayka airs every Saturday and Sunday at 11 pm on Life OK.