ITV

Tag: Smriti Z Iraani

  • ‘Star’ quality at the Star Parivaar awards

    ‘Star’ quality at the Star Parivaar awards

    MUMBAI: Now this is what is called an award function. Hosted at the much suave south Mumbai’s NCPA, India’s lead entertainment channel Star Plus struck the right chords in most places where it mattered in the Star Parivaar Awards (awards for the most popular characters and not actors, please note) last evening.

    Star India CEO, Peter Mukerjea started the proceedings by undermining the role played by the cable operators. “Only if the consumer pays the cable operator ungrudgingly and regularly, the cable industry would survive. This in turn is very essential for the survival of the broadcasting industry,” he said.

    Quickly, the awards conferring process began. Of course, there were a few ifs and buts, but more about that later.

    Aman Varma stood as the main anchor, while others like: Smriti Z Iraani-Sakshi Tanwar, Gurdeep Kohli-Arjun Punj, Manoj Joshi-Grusha Kapoor, Pooja Kanwal-Jaya Bhattacharya, Rohit Roy- Sonal Sehgal, Riva Bubber, Shabbir-Karishma Tanna, Sumeet Sachdev-Riva Bubber, paired as co-anchors for few segments to provide him with some breaks.

    The evening belonged to Sangeeta Ghosh, Aamna Shariff, Smriti Z Iraani, Hiten Tejwani and Ekta Kapoor. While Ghosh, Shariff, Irani and Tejwani walked up the stage twice to receive two awards each, Kapoor enjoyed her glory from her front seat (sitting with her father Jetendra and brother Tusshar) as most of the awards went to characters from her serials only, viz. Kasauti Zindagii Kay, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii’, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.

    The 28-year old creative head of Balaji Telefilms was seen grinning from ear to ear when Star India’s COO, Sameer Nair walked up on stage to say a few words and raised many a laughs when he said that Deepak Sehgal (senior VP, content and programming) and Shailaja Kejriwal (Star Plus, creative director) were keen that they should have a special award to the favourite production house this year but the prospect sent a chill down his spine as he says, “I plan to stay in this city for a while.”

    Tejwani bagged the ‘Best Beta’ and ‘Favourite Damad’, while Iraani was honoured with ‘Best Saas’ and ‘Favourite Ma’.

    In his speech, Tejwani said, “Ekta had promised me that Karan on Star Plus will become bigger than Pratham (Kutumb) on Sony Entertainment Television.”

    Iraani got a little carried away and grabbed Apara Mehta up stage to say that she wanted to receive the ‘Best Saas’ Award from her reel life saas only. Her speech that followed was far too dramatic to be understood. This incident (read ’embarrassment’) could well have been avoided.

    Iraani had to share the ‘Favourite Ma’ award with Prerna (Shweta Tiwari) of Kasautii Zindagi Kay, who gave an expression of absolute disbelief when declared as a co-winner. Up stage while receiving the award from Jeetendra, Tiwari remarked, “I am ecstatic. Last year I received an award from the legendary Mr Bachchan, this year it is the man whose show has made me able and famous to get this honour.” Tiwari was also labelled as the ‘Best Bahu’ for the same serial.

    Mythological serials’ specialist Ramanand Sagar was conferred the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. The grand old man of television spoke a few words in favour of the new generation saying, “I am sure that this industry has a great future as it is in the right hands.”

    The winner who was visibly most excited was Monica Singh (Sai Deodhar) of Saara Akaash. She ran out of words caused by her overwhelming happiness, while holding the trophy aloft for ‘Best Beti’.

    Mihir Virani (Ronit Roy) who won the Best Pita award for Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi could not attend the show as he was indisposed; the exuberant brother Rohit received the trophy on his behalf.

    One felt that most of the awards were justified, except for ‘Favourite Devar’ which went to Rishi (Shabbir) of Kahiin To Hoga. Ali Asgar who deserved the award last year for this honour, was sidelined this year too. The sadness on his face was to be seen to be believed. The viewers may have been guided by Shabbir’s charming looks, but the fault lay in the fact that he had been nominated in a wrong category for sure. How can a devar who impregnates one of his bhabhi’s sisters and has a live-in relationship with another sister, be slotted in the ‘Favorite Devar’ category?

    The lighter moments of the show were provided by the Khichdi gang who took a dig on all the Star serials with statements like, “In Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand, we don’t know till date that who was the real Dev, there is no kahani in any of the channel’s serials, we must make it mandatory to start every show’s name with the letter K because it almost guarantees that public will digest it no matter what it offers.” Hansa (Supriya Pathak) performed brilliantly. Clearly, Pankaj Kapur’s family (wife Supriya, son Shahid and of course he himself are a bundle of real talent). Later, Hansa was awarded the ‘Best Jethani’ award for her histrionics in Khichdi.

    Some of the other highlights were items like: The voluptuous Sweta Keswani (ex-Avantika of Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii) and the long-legged Tasneem Sheikh (Renuka of Bhabhi) making advances towards the cute-looking Rajeev Khandelwal, but Khandelwal breaking free from them and swinging passionately (the boy would do well to attend some dancing lessons, else how would he make it in films which is his next station?) to ‘Suraj Hua Madham’ (from K3G) with Aamna Shariff. Incidentally, the duo won the ‘Best Jodi-India’ award for their characters Sujal and Kashish respectively in Kahiin To Hoga, while the ‘Best Jodi-UK’ award went to Dev (Varun Badola) and Pammi (Sangeeta Ghosh) of Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand. The chemistry between Ghosh and Vadola was too evident on stage too and Ghosh made a clarification that though it was natural for them to get excited during the overtly romantic scenes the serial had, they managed to keep their feelings at bay.

    Kashish also won the ‘Best Bahen’ award, thanked Ekta Kapoor (naturally), Rajeev Khandelwal (co-actor) and Anil Kumar (director) but did not thank Rohit Bakshi (her husband in the serial with who she had many scenes).

    Other performers who impressed in the items between the long chain of awards (courtesy, an Indian family has too many relations) were Urvashi Dholakia (who won the Favourite Sout for Komolika of Kasautii Zindagi Kay – what else!- and said that she yearns for her dream of doing a positive role gets fulfilled!), Varun Badola (what an energetic dancer!) and Sangeeta Ghosh (who gyrated to the famous sexy number ‘Laila O’ Laila’ from Qurbani).

    The channel formally announced the induction of Nausheen Ali Sardar (who stormed out of Sony’s Kkusum when the serial took a 20 year jump) into their parivaar. Clearly, Nausheen (who even danced to a number in the show which lasted for nearly three hours followed by a party at Athena which rocked till the wee hours of the morning) is all slated to strike a comeback on the small screen with a Star Plus project very soon.

    All said and done, it was an enjoyable fare.

    The other winners were:

    Favourite Dada- Babuji (Anant)- Khichdi
    Favourite Dadi- Ba (Sudha Shivpuri)- Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi
    Favourite Bahu- Prerna (Shweta Tiwari)- Kasautii Zindagi Kay
    Favourite Jadoii Kirdar- Jadooi Nani (Farida Jalal)- Shararat
    Favourite Bachcha- Sneha- Kasautii Zindagi Kay
    Favourite Bhabhi- Parvati (Sakshi Tanwar)- Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii
    Favorite Action Star – Hatim (Raahil)- Hatim
    Best Devrani– Ganga Virani (Shilpa Saklani)- Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.
    Best Yogya Bahu- Nandini (Gauri Pradhan)- Kyunki Saas Bhi Bahu Thi
    Best Sasur- Babuji (Deepak Qazir)- Kasautii Zindagi Kay
    Best Nanand- Pammi (Sangeeta Ghosh)- Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand
    Favourite Pati- Sumeet (Hussain) – Kumkum: Pyaara Sa Bandhan
    Favourite Patni – Kumkum (Juhi Parmar)- Kumkum: Pyaara Sa Bandhan.

  • Smriti loses – ideal bahu cuts no ice with Delhi voters

    Smriti loses – ideal bahu cuts no ice with Delhi voters

    MUMBAI: Indian television’s favourite bahu may have tremendous telegenic appeal, but she has no electoral allure. Her numerologically altered nomenclature has failed to win Smriti Z Iraani the Chandni Chowk seat in Delhi against Congress candidate, the astute and often acerbic lawyer Kapil Sibal.

    Iraani, who was touted as a prize catch by the Bharatiya Janata Party when she was roped into the party and made vice-president of the Maharashtra unit of the Yuva Morcha and then offered the Chandni Chowk candidature, had capitalised on her ‘Tulsi’ image extensively while campaigning. Chandni Chowk has traditionally been a BJP stronghold. 13 May however, turned to be unlucky for the TV star as she succumbed to Sibal by a record margin of 79,417 votes. The seat reverted to the Congress after two general elections, with Sibal cornering over 71 per cent of the total valid votes polled. This was a record for Chandni Chowk, which has never seen this high a percentage of votes cornered by a single political party. The maximum percentage of votes so far was 60.52 per cent, secured by the Congress in the 1984 elections, which was then riding high on the sympathy after Indira Gandhi’s assasination.

    Projecting herself as the ideal wife, mother and daughter in law, a confident Iraani, who plays Tulsi in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, had told the media, “I am not even looking at being defeated.” Iraani’s ire had broken out, however, when Mumbai eveninger Mid-day published allegations that Iraani, along with other celebrity catches of political parties, had accepted money for her membership.

    The entire ‘Virani’ family that Tulsi is a part of, had turned up in strength in Chandni Chowk last week to campaign for Iraani. While viewers may be fond of Tulsi, they have given the thumbs down sign to Iraani. Sibal led the fray right from the first round of counting, and even areas like Bazar Sitaram, which media reports say are considered sympathetic to the BJP, did not give Iraani the lead.

    For now, it’s back to the Balaji sets for the bahu.

  • Smriti may have to go off TV serials

    Smriti may have to go off TV serials

    NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate from the Chandni Chowk constituency in Delhi, Tulsi Virani aka Smriti Z Iraani may find herself in a tight spot if the election commission and its officials rule that she cannot continue to appear in television serials as it may amount to flouting of model code of conduct.

    Speaking to indiantelevision.com today, Iraani said that she and her party would abide by EC rules, but added that the rules should be applicable on everybody uniformly, including her Congress rival from the area, Kapil Sibal.

    “The party’s senior leaders are seized of the matter and we’d abide whatever EC says,” Iraani said, adding, “But by that logic, Mr.Sibal should also stop appearing on TV regularly as the spokesperson of Congress. His regular appearance would mean he too is using the medium of TV for campaigning.”

    However, what can give some margin of an escape route to Iraani is the fact that it is not clear whether EC’s diktat also applies on private satellite channels, which may not have stopped airing films and serials of those people who are contesting elections. Pubcaster Doordarshan, of course, has stopped airing serials and films of those persons who are fighting elections this time, including people like Govinda and Dharmendra.

    A resident of Chandni Chowk, Jai Prakash Aggarwal, formally lodged a complaint with the EC that the serial featuring Smriti should be stopped as it would mean using the medium of serial as a campaign tool, which is against the poll code.

    Asked whether Tulsi Virani would vanish from Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhie Bahu Thi on Star Plus for the duration of the election (till 13 May), Iraani said both she and the serial makers are law abiding citizens and “would do nothing that goes against the grain of democratic norms.”

    Still, taking a swipe at Sibal, Iraani said, “If I am an inconsequential actor, as Mr. Sibal is describing me as, then why’s he so afraid of my TV appearance?”

    Till the time of writing this report, EC had not taken a final view on Agawam’s complaint involving Iraani.

    Making Tulsi vanish for a short duration should not be a problem for Balaji telefilms, producers of the KSKBT. The scriptwriters had done that earlier too when Smriti was pregnant and had to take a short maternity sabbatical.

    Incidentally, Dharmendra can be seen in an oil company’s advertisement, which is aired on some of the private satellite channels. Has EC or anybody taken note of this fact too?

  • Smriti readies for poll battle in Delhi

    Smriti readies for poll battle in Delhi

    MUMBAI: Popular TV serial actor Smriti Z Iraani aka Tulsi of Balaji Telefilms’ flagship show Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi will be the BJP candidate in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk constitutency and will contest Kapil Sibal of the Congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

    PTI reports say Iraani’s name has been approved by BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu.

    Confirming the same to indiantelevision.com, Iraani said that she received the confirmation from the party head office early this morning. “I had no two minds while saying yes. Ever since I put my first foot forward in this field, I have been committed and will continue to do so.”

    Iraani joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in January this year, and has been one of the party’s earliest prize celebrity catches. She was appointed vice president of the party’s youth wing for a tenure of three years.

    Iraani sounded tremendously upbeat and said that she would give a run for Sibal a run for his money. “Expect a tough fight from my side,” she said, adding, “The campaigning will be very fair and the BJP will not resort to any gimmicks.”

    With her political career graph on the rise, what would she do if she won? Stay in Delhi? What would happen to her acting career? Iraani agreed that this was not an easy job because it would require her to serve the people of her constituency, but said she was confident that everything would fall in place when the time comes. “I can assure you of that,” she promised.

    “There were only three tickets left when I was chosen and I am happy that the BJP has chosen me to serve from Delhi where I spent 22 years of my life,” concluded the 28-year old Iraani.

  • Sab TV firms up current affairs channel plan – Madhavi Mutatkar to head

    Sab TV firms up current affairs channel plan – Madhavi Mutatkar to head

    MUMBAI: It was exactly this time last year, that Sab TV cofounder Markand Adhikari had announced that his network was going to launch a news channel apart from a regional language channel.
    He did not specify any timelines. Well the timelines seem to be getting clearer now. According to industry sources, Sab TV is all geared up to launch its Hindi current affairs channel shortly. Unconfirmed reports are that a head for the channel has also been appointed: Madhavi Mutatkar, the former president of Zee TV, who has been involved in television software production through her company Impact Vision, of late.
    Additionally, a wag discloses that the channel launch is being hurried through as national elections are being advanced. Adhikari is hoping to cash in on the election fever in a bid to get eyeballs and a piece of the advertising cake.
    It is learnt that Vir Sanghvi, Karan Thapar and Smriti Z Iraani, all of whom anchor news based talk shows for Sab TV, will be roped in for similar shows on the new channel.
    Mutatkar was unavailable for comment. Adhikari, when contacted, however insisted that no new channel was on the anvil and maintained that announcements would be made at an appropriate time.

  • Smriti Z Iraani appointed as BJP youth wing VP

    Smriti Z Iraani appointed as BJP youth wing VP

    MUMBAI: Here’s the latest on Bharatiya Janta Party’s newest ‘glam’ entrant – television’s favourite bahu and anchor Smriti Z Iraani. The lady’s performance during the assembly election campaign by the BJP last month has met with approval from the party’s mandarins. Her appointment as as the vice-president of the Maharashtra unit of the Yuva Morcha – the youth wing – was announced yesterday with the tenure being three years.

    Iraani had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party as party worker late last year. Speaking to indiantelevision.com Iraani explained, “Ever since I joined the party, I had a dream of motivating the youth of our country. I strongly feel that the problems of this country can be solved only through the young generation.”

    “My task will comprise of inspiring the young force of BJP and assigning them tasks at basic level,” she offered. When asked to elaborate further, she offered, “You keep hearing about senior citizens being murdered. My first plan would be to encourage youth to be keep a watch on the seniors, be on a look out if they need help. Next would be to establish a support system for the girls, so that they know where to turn to in times of need.”

    Iraani said that this post was offered to her by the delegates of the party and the process was fairly simple as it is a position within the party.

    When asked about her political ambitions, she said, “I definitely see myself in active politics for a long time. “I feel we all must do something for our country in whatever way we can. If I have got an opportunity, then why not?

    She added: “The BJP is a wonderful party to be in. Despite good results in the assembly election, we are still working. It’s not that we work to garner media spotlight when only the elections draw near. My new appointment is a case in point. “

    When queried if she would be able to continue her acting career she offered that she has an understanding with the production houses she is working with. “They know that I am a hard core professional and I won’t neglect my duties,” she said.