DEEPALI DHINGRA Times News Network
Aroona Irani will soon be seen in Ekta Kapoor's soap Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki on Star Plus, which is a little surprising since Aroona has a production house of her own. Mention this to her and Aroona says, "That way, every other production house is my rival. But the fact remains that I'm an actor. If Ekta was an actor, I would have loved to cast her in my serial. Just like how she said 'Aroona aunty, will you work in my serial?' I would have asked her 'Beta will you work in my serial?'" she says with a smile.
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According to Aroona, she took up the opportunity to play the character of Narayani Devi in the serial as she believes that Ekta's company is the best place to work in, if she wants to work outside. "I'm very excited about this role. I have known Jeetendra and Shobha even before Ekta was born. So for me, working with her company is like moving from one room of my house to another," she adds. But isn't she afraid of any ego hassles, considering she's senior to Ekta? "Of course not," says Aroona, "After all, an actor is supposed to follow the ideas conceived by the director."
Aroona who had packed in so much of punch as a scheming mother-in-law in Beta, is now hardly seen in films. "I got busy with my serials," explains Aroona, who also laments the fact that good roles are hardly written for female actors of her age, but if she's offered a good role in a film, then she will definitely take it up.
So who's the one actor she wouldn't mind working with year after year? "That has to be Sangeeta Ghosh. I haven't seen a more professional actor than her and I'm sure I won't for the next 40 years," she smiles.
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Kavyanjali, Nimmo and Kasautii Zindagii
A few weeks ago, Balaji Telefilms sued actress Barkha Bisht (Kavyanjali, Nimmo and Kasautii Zindagii Kay) to restrain her from walking out of their serials.
They says she did not give them adequate notice when she started shooting for Rajashri's Pyaar Ke Do Naam, Ek Raadha Ek Shyaam.
Now, Balaji will be filing a suit claiming damages worth 25 to 30 lakh against the actress, for causing a delay in shooting.
Says Balaji head, Ekta Kapoor, "It's true that we have decided to file a case claiming damages worth lakhs. You can't sign a contract and then walk out because you have a better opportunity.
When Barkha was jobless, she would come to the Balaji office every day and ask for work. We gave her three serials - Kavyanjali, Kasautii Zindagii Kay, and a parallel role to Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka.
When her show, Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi, ended, we relocated her. We suffered major losses with Barkha; she was one of the reasons why Nimmo was postponed from December to March."
Barkha speaks
Says Barkha, "I don't really know what's happening. The case is in court and I wouldn't want to comment on it. I don't know what charges have been levelled against me." Does she know about the damages? "No, I am not aware of it."
Says Balaji Telefilms lawyer, Sandeep Singh Siddhu, "Barkha had a contract with Balaji, which stated that she would shoot for 20 days with us. Then she got the offer from Rajashri, which she did not disclose to us.
When we found out and spoke to her about it, she was very adamant and asked us to replace her. It was then that we exercised our legal rights and the court told us that we were entitled to get damages from her. It's not about troubling her; we want to set a precedent in this industry so that others don't behave like this."
Siddhu adds, "The first case, which we have already filed against Barkha, is a civil case. It is to restrain her from doing any other serials in the time she committed to Balaji. She has to honour her commitments to Balaji.
She signed three contracts with us, which state that till the completion of the serials, and without giving reasonable notice, she can't walk out of them."
Heavy loss
This is the first time that a production house is claiming such a huge amount as damages. Says Siddhu, "People have to get more professional. Balaji has 17 serials on the floors. If all artistes started acting this way, we wouldn't be able to shoot. This will be beneficial for other TV producers too.
We plan to file two suits against Barkha now - one for damages, and the other for starting arbitration proceedings, where arbitrators will listen to both sides.
She started giving us problems with dates and then failed to turn up for the shooting schedule. Tapes got delayed, the cast and crew was kept waiting, there was a loss of money resulting from that and we have sufficient evidence to prove it."
Sanjit Bedi left out of Kasturi
Ekta's much awaited show Kasturi has finally gone on air. The first person to speak to the world that he's doing the show was Sanjit Bedi. But ironically, the show has gone on air without even the actor being informed about it. Now if the the buzz is to be believed then the reason for showing him the door was that Sanjit's doing Smriti Irani's Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasmaan.
Well, Sanjit Bedi is quite upset though he refuses to admit this to anyone; afterall he still continues to be a part of Kasauti remember.
Jas walks out of Doli Saja Ke :
We had told you about Jas Arora replacing Anuj Saxena in Aruna Irani's Doli Saja Ke for Sahara One. But now it seems, even he has walked out of show after shooting for a few episodes. A little birdie told us Jas was made to wait for seven hours for a particular shooting sequence and then he was asked to wear glasses for a slightly mature look.
For those uninitiated, the good looking hunk plays father to Barkha Bisht in the show and the role (a cameo of sorts - almost 20 episodes) was earlier slated to be enacted by Anuj Saxena but he recently quit it on grounds of inordinate delays.
Though the production team tried to convince the actor he categorically refused to wear glasses. The grapevine goes that Jas was also unhappy with the production house's way of functioning and just left the sets in a huff and refused to shoot.
The show is going on air on 30th of this month and promos currently on-air look quite promising. But now the moot point is who will replace Jas?
Keep watching this space for more and we'll keep you posted on the next best replacement for the role
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