News

Watching the inaugural episode of Kyunki… Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, 2025, my initial thoughts were, this is a spoof on the parivaarik theatrics of the series which took the nation by storm twenty-five years ago.

But no. These guys are serious. They mean ‘bijness’. The same overdone family ties, the hammy performances (barring Smriti Irani who cranes her still swanlike neck to bring a semblance of sensibleness into a series hellbent on shooting itself in the foot), the same tacky sets , the same uni-dimensionality and an blissful unawareness of the ground reality.

The dialogues have gotten even cheesier. At one point Tulsi Virani, overflowing with the milk of human kindness, says, ‘Baa always said, if the women of the house cook together and the aroma of the food spreads across the home then that is a parivaar.”

Seriously? The women of the world have moved on. Not in Ektaa Kapoor’s la la land.

Ekta Kapoor’s soap opera Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Thi, which initially aired from 2000-2008, is back on July 29 with Smriti Irani once again taking on the role of Tulsi, and to mark the occasion we have Smriti Irani’s throwback unpublished interview with Subhash K Jha.

For Smriti Malhotra, playing the eponymous Tulsi in the spectacularly successful soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi was a lesson in small-screen stardom. Everywhere she was greeted warmly as the No. 1 girl next door of the nation, Tulsi Virani. Did Smriti suffer from an identity crisis?

Now, where did you come from?

My first television assignment was for Shrey Guleri’s countdown show Bakeman’s Ooh La La. He had an audition in the office, and I was required to read my lines. I enjoyed doing that since it was a performance-oriented countdown show. I was required to compare the old and...

New Delhi, Feb 15 (Ians) Niyogi Books and the National School of Drama on Wednesday released actor and producer Vani Tripathi Tikoo’s book, ‘Why Can’t Elephants Be Red?’

Launched under the aegis of the Bharat Rang Mahotsav at the Kamani Auditorium in the national capital, the book was released in the presence of Union minister Smriti Irani, actor and chairperson of National School of Drama (Nsd), Paresh Rawal, and Nsd Director Ramesh Chandra Gaur.

The protagonist of the book, Akku, who is also the author’s daughter, is a lively, imaginative and adventurous two-and-a-half-year-old girl.

She loves to scribble, draw and her imagination runs riot with elephants that are red, crabs that have moustaches, and unicorns that don’t have horns. But the biggest adventure of all awaits Akku — her first day at school.

Speaking at the launch, Irani said: “This book is proof that a story can be written in pain.

India T20 cricket team captain Hardik Pandya and Natasha Stankovic are going to marry once again after the couple had a low key marriage in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. The wedding functions started in Udaipur on Monday and will continue for the next two days. The wedding will take place on February 14, Valentine’s Day.

Earlier, both of them had a court marriage on 31 May 2020. However, this time they will marry according to traditional customs. The function will be held at the Raffles hotel in Udaipur.

The couple also has a two-year-old son, Agastya.

Hardik Pandya and Natasha Stankovic reached Udaipur on Monday for the wedding. Family members and Indian cricketer Ishan Kishan have also come with them. The wedding rituals started in the evening, which will continue till February 15. The Mehndi ceremony took place on Monday while programmes like Haldi and Sangeet will be held on Tuesday.

Hardik...

New Delhi, Sep 24 (Ians) Union Minister of Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs Smriti Irani on Saturday met the five women umpires and match officials, who have been officiating in the ongoing Legends League Cricket, at her residence here.

This is a first-of-a-kind initiative in Indian cricket where Icc-approved match officials Gayathri Venugopalan, Shivani Mishra, Kim Cotton, Shubhda Bhosale and Gs Laxmi have been officiating in a men’s tournament for the first time in Indian cricketing history.

In an interaction with the match officials, the Minister applauded the remarkable initiative of Legends League to promote women umpires.

Special badges of ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ were also presented to the match officials which they will be wearing during the remaining league matches.

“Women have been making the nation proud in the field of sports and the women officials of Legends League Cricket being in the limelight is a shining example of that.

New Delhi, Aug 23 (Ians) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought Union Minister Smriti Irani’s response to tech giant Twitter’s plea for clarification on removing links of defamatory content against her and her daughter in relation to the recent bar controversy.

Earlier, the high court had directed the microblogging site to do away with those web links which contains allegations of three Congress leaders that Irani and her daughter were running an illegal bar in the Bjp-ruled Goa.

Twitter said it is only bound to take down similar content which is found to be defamatory on being provided with URLs by Irani. It also sought clarity on the matter as the case is against Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D’ Souza, who have leveled the allegations.

Issuing notice on the petition, Justice Mini Pushkarna granted two weeks’ time to the respondents to reply in the matter.

Never short of words, former Cbfc chairperson Pahlaj Nihalani feels I & B minister Smriti Irani is barking up the wrong tree by banning condom ads. “It is not condoms but paan masala that is killing people. Children seeing condom ads is not going to kill them. But being encouraged to take gutka and paanRead More

The post “Why is Akshay Kumar selling paan masala on television?” asks Pahlaj Nihalani, questioning Smriti Irani’s decision to ban condom ads at primetime appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Pooja Bedi who did the stunning Kamasutra condom ad, feels it’s time not to conceal but bring out the advantages of protected sex. “India’s greatest problem is overpopulation, and it’s absurd that we are constantly opposed to the promotion of condoms which is the most effective way of curbing it.” If the condom ads areRead More

The post ‘No condom ads on primetime television’ says Smriti Irani; Pooja Bedi who did a popular condom ad feels it’s regressive appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

On Monday, the government strictly asked TV channels not to air advertisements selling and promoting condoms as these ads are “indecent, especially for children" and can create "unhealthy practices" among them. As expected, a section of Twitter users slammed this move but some of them hailed the decision.

The post Smriti Irani bans condom ads from 6 am to 10 pm; Twitterati divided over the move appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Seems like Rajkummar Rao was the centre of attraction at the grand ceremony of the 48th International Film Festival of India (Iffi) that was held yesterday, November 20, in Goa. The actor made a light-hearted joke about the surname of the Union minister of information and broadcasting, Smriti Irani, who took it sportingly. Rajkummar RaoRead More

The post Rajkummar Rao takes a dig at Smriti Irani; minister says the government is ‘tolerant’ appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Earlier this year, the Goods and Service Tax (Gst) was implemented in the nation. While some welcomed the move, there were others who couldn’t stop bickering about it. On the other hand, the Indian film industry seems to be unhappy with the rate of Gst that has been implemented on films and cinema tickets. InRead More

The post Smriti Irani appeals to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to reduce Gst rate on films and cinema appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani says producer Ekta Kapoor chose her to lead the cast of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi even though her team had rejected her as "not fit" for television.

Smriti spoke at the 17th Indian Television Academy (Ita) Awards where she was conferred the Ita Pride of Indian Television award on Sunday night.

Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor starrer Padmavati is one of the highly awaited films of 2017. The magnum opus film helmed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali has been in the news since the film was announced. But unfortunately, the film is already mired in a lot of controversies. During the shooting of the filmRead More

The post Watch: I&B minister Smriti Irani assures safety around the release of Padmavati appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Karan Johar has been keeping quite busy at the India Economic Summit 2017 organized by World Economic Forum. The three-day long summit came to an end on Friday, October 6. Karan Johar was on three panels on three different days as he talked about business, filmmaking and changing its own narrative. On Friday, Karan JoharRead More

The post Check out: Karan Johar and Smriti Irani snap a selfie at World Economic Forum appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Actress turned politician Smriti Irani who is now a part of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry recently received words of praise from Shah Rukh Khan on social media. The superstar, it seems was impressed by her efforts taken towards development of Indian cinema and providing them with a platform to encourage their growth by promotingRead More

The post Here’s why Shah Rukh Khan appreciated actress turned politician Smriti Irani on social media appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

When asked whether her friendship with Smriti Irani helped in the ouster of Pahlaj Nihalani as Cbfc chief, Ekta Kapoor denied it with a joke..

Despite being busy with his shooting schedule, Shah Rukh Khan always takes out time to reminisce good old days with his friends and family. Recently, Shah Rukh Khan made a very interesting revelation which not a lot of people knew. It turns out that Shah Rukh Khan shares a strong bond with Union Cabinet MinisterRead More

The post This revelation Shah Rukh Khan made about Smriti Irani’s step-daughter is very surprising appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Ronit Roy ran into his Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi co-star Smriti Irani on flight from Mumbai to Delhi this week. And Ronit can’t get over how unaffected Smriti is by her changed circumstances in life. “She was warm and friendly and we reminisced over the old times.” For all practical purposes Ronit hadRead More

The post “Smriti Irani has not changed at all” – Ronit Roy appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.

Seeing how the ‘Queen’ of Bollywood has charted her career and aced her performances, it comes as no surprise to see Kangana Ranaut top the list of India’s Most Powerful Women 2015 basis the latest edition of Femina Magazine. The list features business bigwigs, corporate CEO’s, pioneering philanthropists, fashion icons and various other game changers and creative minds, that have created a massive impact with their perspective and their contribution.

Says an industry source, “It’s rare to see a woman in entertainment pip the likes of Naina Lal Kidwai, Sania Mirza, Smriti Irani to occupy the top power honor. Kangana’s unilateral commitment, her inordinate talent and her never say die attitude has made her worthy of this top spot, a rarity. She’s a role model to girls who come with the promise of talent and are committed to seeing it through without any industry backing. The...

Abhishek Bachchan plays a singer in his next film, the Umesh Shukla-helmed All Is Well. The character is modeled on Abhishek's father's character in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Abhimaan. 42 years ago, Amitabh Bachchan had played a professional singer in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Abhimaan, and then 8 years later, Big B again played a singer in Rakesh Kumar's Yaaraana. Since then this is the first time that an actor from the Bachchan parivar has played a professional singer. Says the director Umesh Shukla, "Yes, it does seem providential that Abhishek plays a singer in my film. It gave me chance to have lip-sync songs in the film." All Is Well went through a series of hiccups after Smriti Irani exited from the project. Now the film's shooting is complete and Umesh is readying the film for release on August 21. Umesh is happy with the success of Shoojit Sircar's Piku which...

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is no stranger to awards. His Devdas and Black have received the maximum number of popular awards. "But getting the Padma Shri was a different experience altogether," says Sanjay Leela Bhansali after receiving the national honour from the President at a lavish ceremony attended by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Irani. During the 2-hour function, Smriti Irani was seen in a long conversation with the director, praising his Ram Leela to the skies. Says Sanjay Leela Bhansali, "It was revealing to hear Padma winners from different walks of life express their honest opinion of my work. After receiving the Padma Shri, I am more motivated than ever to work harder and to create the kind of cinema that won't be forgotten in a hurry."...

Just a few weeks ago, Smriti Irani who plays a prominent role in Umesh Shukla's directorial All Is Well bowed out of the film owing to her political commitments. The film will now soon be back on track as the makers have found an appropriate replacement for the role and has taken Supriya Pathak on board. Supriya Pathak, who last gained many accolades for her role in Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, will now play the role of Abhishek Bachchan's mother in the film. Smriti Irani, who is also the Hrd Minister, had to complete her responsibilities because of which the shooting of the film suffered a delay. Hence, the actress decided to make an exit. Supriya, who is excited about this development, mentioned that she has had several discussions with the makers and the crew and loved the character that was offered to her. In fact, she also...

So it's final. The release of Umesh Shukla's road movie All Is Well about a family played by 'father' Rishi Kapoor, 'mother' Smriti Irani and 'son' Abhishek Bachchan on a journey of togetherness, has been postponed.

The film was scheduled for release on December 5. But now, say reliable sources, with Smriti Irani's dates unavailable to complete the last lengthy schedule, the film's makers have taken a decision to put off the release.

This leaves Prabhu Dheva's Ajay Devgn starrer Action Jackson with a clear window with no film competing for eyeballs at the box-office.

Coincidentally,Action Jackson has been grappling with its own postponements, what with Ajay Devgn's dates being an issue.

Looks like Abhishek Bachchan has shifted focus completely to sports this year. The actor not only bought a kabbadi team titled Pink Pathers for the recent kabaddi league but his team also won the trophy during the match. Now, Abhishek Bachchan who is an ardent lover of football was invited to Rome for an Interreligious Match in the Italian capital. Immediately after wrapping up the victory celebrations along with his kabaddi team, Abhishek Bachchan took a flight to Rome to catch the match that was held with the intention of bringing about peace in the world through sports. The said match was called by the Pope himself and was held at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. Abhishek was cheering for the Chennai football team that he bought recently which is also a part of the Indian Football league. It is also being said Abhishek Bachchan received this invitation from the...

The most recent schedule of Umesh Shukla's beleaguered All Is Well had to be postponed indefinitely. The cast comprising Rishi Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan who play father and son are left professionally bereft as Smriti Irani, with her daunting new job as the new government's Minister Of Human Resource Development, attends to far more crucial matters than a movie. Smriti Irani has no time to shoot for All Is Well. This puts the project in a quandary as Irani's presence is extensively required for shooting. Says a source, "All Is Well is about a road trip undertaken by father and son Rishi Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan who are later joined by their mother, played by Smriti Irani. There is no way the film can be shot without her. She is in almost every frame with Rishi and Abhishek. Until she finds the dates, the shooting remains postponed." As the project languishes,...

The new minister for Human & Resource Development, Smriti Irani, returns to her first next week when she joins the unit of Umesh Shukla's All Is Well in Mashobra in Himachal Pradesh. Having taken oath as a minister in the Narendra Modi government, Irani is also set to resume her shooting. Says director Umesh Shukla, "Smritiji has already shot extensively with Rishi Kapoorji and Abhishek. We are now shooting a song on a train with Abhishek and Asin. After that Smritiji is joining us for the rest of the shooting." Umesh says there is no clash of interest between the two roles of the actress and politician. "Even while Smritiji was contesting the elections she was very co-operative and professional. We never had to cancel a day's shooting because of her. Even now when she's a minister she has made no re-adjustments in the dates. She joins us as per schedule.

With the much awaited swearing in ceremony of Narendra Modi as India's next Prime Minister all set to happen today, the Bollywood celebrities are as excited and eager as the rest of the country. There are a few B-town residents who are already on their way to witness live the history in the making. These celebs include Salman Khan and his father Salim Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Anupam Kher and his son Sikandar Kher, Vivek Oberoi, Madhur Bhandarkar, Hema Malini, Rekha, Paresh Rawal, Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna, Kirron Kher and Smriti Irani. Look at what some of these celebs have tweeted regarding their journey to be a part of Modi's swearing-in ceremony: Anupam Kher: On my way to Delhi. Looking forward to the beginning of a new era. Jai Ho. Hema Malini: Good afternoon! Going to Delhi now to participate in the celebrations... Of course, I carry with me...

This term of elections is witnessing not just rules and regulations, but also its implementation like never before. Amongst the other terms and conditions, there is one which is related to actors who are contesting for Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission has banned the telecast of their feature films on Doordarshan. The stars include the likes of Hema Malini, Jaya Prada, Smriti Irani, Nagma, Javed Jaffery amongst others. The concerned election officials stated that the films and programmes were brought under the ambit of the model code of conduct and will now be viewed as 'objects that will influence voters'. On the other hand, the films and ads of the contesting candidates have not been banned from being telecasted on the private channels or cinema halls. Talking about this step, Up's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Umesh Sinha said that the feature films have been banned in Doordarshan as it is run through public money.

New Delhi, April 1: Actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani Tuesday said she will put up the best fight against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and is confident of winning the Lok Sabha election in Amethi.

It was decided Monday night that Irani will be the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp) candidate against Gandhi from Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

Speaking to Times Now, she said that irrespective of Amethi being a Gandhi bastion for years, "people have not received the benefits of development in the constituency, which is a national shame".

Irani said now the people of Amethi are wondering about the chances.

New Delhi, Feb 13: Actress Kirron Kher Thursday said that the country deserves capable ministers and that there is no substitute for hard work for either men or women.

"Male or female candidates, both have to work hard. You can't force people on the country if they are not skilled," she said.

Kirron, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (Bjp) in 2009, praised the party for giving opportunities to women.

"Bjp has several women who are capable. Most spokespersons of Bjp are women," Kirron said at Vote Lo Suraksha Do, a session held at the political conclave Panchayat Aaj Tak here.

Some of the prominent women leaders and spokespersons of Bjp include Sushma Swaraj, Smriti Irani, Nirmala Sitaraman and Meenakshi.

New Delhi, Oct 20: The second edition of the Max Bupa Walk for Heath Initiative, flagged off by tennis player Sania Mirza here Sunday, saw more than 16,000 people taking part.

"More and more people are realising the importance of being fit and healthy. I personally believe that walking is a great way to stay fit and I encourage everyone to start walking as it is the easiest and the best way to get healthier," said Sania, after flagging off the five-km walk.

Celebrities like Manish Paul, Pooja Bedi, Kunal Kohli, Dilip Tahil, Raza Murad, Meiyang Chang and Smriti Irani also participated in the walk.

Ians...

Balaji Motion Pictures Ltd. (Bmpl), the films division of Balaji Telefilms Ltd. (Btl), today announced the launch of its talent management arm, Balaji Spark. A talent management firm focused towards identifying and managing exceptional new talent, Spark will represent both on-screen and directorial talent discovered and launched by Bmpl and Btl in films and television respectively.

The firm will be headed by Firoz Engineer, an industry veteran who has more than 15 years of experience across entertainment, digital & technology domains. Engineer will report to Tanuj Garg, CEO – Bmpl.

Spark has already signed promising young on-screen talent like Rajat Tokas & Paridhi Sharma – the lead pair of the newly launched mega historical drama, Jodha Akbar, on Zee TV.

Siddharth Gupta and Ashish Juneja, who headline Balaji and Bejoy Nambiar’s forthcoming comedy, Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi, will also be managed by Balaji Spark.

Akshay Roy, the debutant director of the untitled Dharma – Balaji film,...

Balaji Motion Pictures Ltd. (Bmpl), the films division of Balaji Telefilms Ltd. (Btl), today announced the launch of its talent management arm, Balaji Spark. A talent management firm focused towards identifying and managing exceptional new talent, Spark will represent both on-screen and directorial talent discovered and launched by Bmpl and Btl in films and television respectively. The firm will be headed by Firoz Engineer, an industry veteran who has more than 15 years of experience across entertainment, digital & technology domains. Engineer will report to Tanuj Garg, CEO- Bmpl. Spark has already signed promising young on-screen talent like Rajat Tokas & Paridhi Sharma - the lead pair of the newly launched mega historical drama, Jodha Akbar, on Zee TV. Siddharth Gupta and Ashish Juneja, who headline Balaji and Bejoy Nambiar's forthcoming comedy, Kuku Mathur Ki Jhand Ho Gayi, will also be managed by Balaji Spark. Akshay Roy, the debutant director of the untitled Dharma - Balaji film,...

Umesh Shukla has been busy with this new five film deal with T-series and their first film is already in the final stages of its casting. While the movie already has Abhishek Bachchan, Asin and Rishi Kapoor, Smriti Irani is also set to join the league. Smriti who started her career in TV serials, has previously appeared in regional cinema too and appeared in a Hindi spiritual film titled Malik Ek. As far as the Umesh Shukla film is concerned, this untitled project will be shot in Dubai, South Africa and Himachal Pradesh. This film is produced by T-Series and Shyam Bajaj.

‘Bigg Boss 7’ pushes ahead. Instead of going on-air in November, the show will be telecast from mid-September. The promo of the show will be aired next weekend. This year the show promises an altogether new experience. One will have double feeling of hell and heaven. On the opening episode, all the contestants taking part on the show will be introduced. It is reported that TV actor Pratyuksha Bannerjee aka Anandi of popular serial Balika Vadhu, politician Smriti Irani and cricketer Harbhajan Singh are few names tabled. The show will have altogether 14 contestants. This time Salman Khan will appear twice a week instead of once. The sho...

This year audience and participants are going to experience the feeling of both hell and heaven which means innumerable entertainment and unimaginable tussles. Excitement would be like never before. The promos of the show where the host and actor Salman Khan is shown in the role of devil and angel received huge response. Now the wait is about the participants taking part on the show. It is heard that cricketer Harbhajan Singh, TV actor Pratyusha Banerjee and TV actress cum politician Smriti Irani will participate in Bigg Boss 7. Going by the latest grapevine, the other contestants are Cyrus Broacha, Barkha Bisht, Rahul Vaidya, Mahi Vij, Ni...

Mumbai, March 20: Actress-politician Smriti Irani, who will soon be seen as one of the 'naaykas' in horror TV show "Ek Thhi Naayka", says it is hard for anything in the world to scare her.

"I have reached a point where I cannot get scared of anything. Yes, I can scare people. That's why I have to work hard to look scared, especially in this show," the 36-year-old said here Tuesday on the sets of the promotional show.

For the show, Smriti shares the screen space with actors Amar Upadhyay and Jaya Bhattacharya, who worked with her in hit TV show "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi".

Jaya said she would like to meet a ghost.

In an ambitious marketing initiative, Ekta Kapoor will promote her upcoming venture Ek Thi Daayan, through a serial on Life Ok channel, Ek Thhi Naayika.

This show will not just bring eight television icons (Smriti Irani, Sakshi Tanwar, Aamna Shariff, Shweta Tiwari, Mouli Ganguly, Ankita Lokhande, Kritika Kamra and Pooja Gor it will also mark as acting debut of producers Ekta Kapoor and Vishal Bhardwaj. They will both do Shorty cameos in an episode each.

Ahead of making her acting debut, nervous Ekta says, “Don’t ever expect me to act because I will be bad at it. You might see a blink-and-miss-you’ll miss-it cameo of me standing behind a tree. I don’t mind playing a tree. As long as I don’t have dialogue, I can stand in a scene.” Talking about her role, she says, “It’s a small one. I will take my cue from Vishalji.

In an ambitious marketing initiative, Ekta Kapoor will promote her upcoming venture Ek Thi Daayan, through a serial on T.V channel, ‘Ek Thi Naayika’.This show will not just bring eight television icons, (Smriti Irani, Sakshi Tanwar, Aamna Shariff, Shweta Tiwari, Mouli Ganguly, Ankita Lokhande, Kritika Kamra and Pooja Gor) it will also mark the acting debut of producers Ekta Kapoor and Vishal Bhardwaj. They will both do cameos in an episode each. Read More...

Mumbai, March 7: When filmmaker Ekta Kapoor decided to make her acting debut with TV show "Ek Thi Naayika", she turned to Vishal Bhardwaj for acting tips.

"Ek Thi Naayika" is a especially designed TV series to promote Ekta and Bhardwaj's co-production venture "Ek Thi Daayan", a supernatural thriller that revolves around witches and hits screens April 18.

For the TV show, to be aired on Life Ok channel, eight leading ladies from the samll screen - Sakshi Tanwar, Smriti Irani, Mouli Ganguly, Pooja Gor, Aamna Sharif, Kritika Kamra, Shweta Tiwari and Ankita Lokhande - have been roped in.

When Ekta was asked to do a cameo.

In an ambitious marketing initiative, Ekta Kapoor will promote her upcoming venture Ek Thi Daayan, through a serial on Life Ok channel, Ek Thhi Naayika. This show will not just bring eight television icons (Smriti Irani, Sakshi Tanwar, Aamna Shariff, Shweta Tiwari, Mouli Ganguly, Ankita Lokhande, Kritika Kamra and Pooja Gor) together on the small screen but will also mark the acting debut of producers Ekta Kapoor and Vishal Bhardwaj. Ekta and Vishal will both do short cameos in an episode each. Talking about making her acting debut, nervous Ekta says, "Don't ever expect me to act because I will be bad at it. You might see a blink-and-miss cameo of me standing behind a tree. I don't mind playing a tree. As long as I don't have dialogue, I can stand in a scene." Talking about her role, she says, "It's a small one. I will take my cue from Vishalji.

In an ambitious marketing initiative, Ekta Kapoor will promote her upcoming venture Ek Thi Daayan, through a serial on T.V channel, 'Ek Thi Naayika'.This show will not just bring eight television icons, (Smriti Irani, Sakshi Tanwar, Aamna Shariff, Shweta Tiwari, Mouli Ganguly, Ankita Lokhande, Kritika Kamra and Pooja Gor) it will also mark the acting debut of producers Ekta Kapoor and Vishal Bhardwaj. They will both do cameos in an episode each.Ahead of making her...

New Delhi, March 4: Actress-politician Smriti Irani has turned down a role in Ekta Kapoor's promotional series "Ek Thi Naayika", as she is reluctant to portray a courtesan.

A Bharatiya Janata Party MP, Smriti prefers to be cautious about her professional decisions. When Ekta, who gave Smriti a huge platform with hit show "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi" over a decade ago, asked the actress to play a nautch girl in an episode of "Ek Thi Naayika", Smriti asked for a change. Ekta obliged, and asked Sakshi Tanwar to play the part instead.

Smriti will now feature in another story in the same show.

Confirming the same, Tanuj.

In a unique mother of all promotional tie-ups for its keenly awaited supernatural thriller Ek Thi Daayan (co-produced by Vishal Bhardwaj), Balaji Motion Pictures is creating a mega-series titled ‘Ek Thi Naayika’, which will feature the television industry’s top most actresses, coming together for the first time, in a thrilling and spooky series based on the ‘daayan’ characters in the forthcoming film.

The series will commence from March 9 and air every Saturday and Sunday at 11pm on Life Ok channel.

The high profile 16-episode series will also feature characters from ‘Ek Thi Daayan’, including an appearance by Emraan Hashmi.

All of Ekta Kapoor’s favourite leading ladies from her top-rated television series will be seen in this new and innovative television property, promising to offer television fans countrywide a huge never-seen-before treat. The big names include Smriti Malhotra Irani, Sakshi Tanwar, Aamna Sharief, Mauli Ganguly, Shweta Tiwari, Kritika Kaamra,...

New Delhi, Feb 22: Trust Ekta Kapoor to come up with unique marketing strategies. For her new film co-production "Ek Thi Daayan", she is launching a TV mega-series, through which eight TV actresses will promote the movie differently.

The show "Ek Thi Naayika", to be aired on Life Ok starting March 9, will be a 16-episode thrilling and spooky series.

All of Ekta's favourite leading ladies from her top-rated TV series will be seen in this new and innovative television property. The big names include Smriti Malhotra Irani, Sakshi Tanwar, Aamna Shariff, Mauli Ganguly, Shweta Tiwari, Kritika Kamra, Pooja Gaur and Ankita Lokhande.

"This.