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Photo: S. Subramanium

New avatar Smriti Irani is rediscovering herself as a writer-producer

No longer a one-channel girl, she has successfully ventured into production with serials like Virrudh and Mere Apne and now has her eyes set on Bollywood. Well, Tulsi is dead, Smriti lingers. She rewinds, “One day I was told Tulsi has to die. Though my fans and the media wanted (her to remain), I didn’t choose to question the producer’s decision, because I didn’t when I was selected for the role.”

Was her ambition to venture into production a reason for her parting ways with Balaji? “My first production (Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasman) was with Balaji and it did quite well. I think the problem started when I decided to be on my own.” Smriti refuses to go into details. Instead she prefers to share what she tells her actors. “Show as much commitment to the serial as the producer shows in your work. If the producer is committed to cast you in all his works, only then you could resolve to work only with him.” She agrees today female actors find it difficult to get work in soaps after playing central characters. “I am an exception because I started producing serials.”

Taking pot shots at the TRP ratings, Smriti says while cinema is controlled by the creator, television is in the hands of the advertisers. “Most of the members of TAM, which gives out weekly ratings, are from the advertising fraternity. We have the right to information on government functioning but we don’t know where TAM has put its boxes. A five thousand crore industry is running R am bharose. We have a Censor Board for cinema, but no regulatory body for television content, which reaches our living rooms.”

Post Kyunki…Smriti chiselled her passion for writing. She has written two Gujarati plays and pens her serials as well, where she claims to have resurrected male characters on the small screen. Vinod Khanna’s role in Mere Apne is one example. Today she prefers the company of the likes of Jaideep Sahani and Bharatbala.

She, however, resists from commenting on the portrayal of women. “I don’t mix idealism with creativity. A story requires a villain to construct a hero. The days of spoon feeding the audience are over. I believe television writers should take a cue from cinema where subjects like Cheeni Kum and Taare Zameen Par have done well.”

An ambassador of WHO’s ORS campaign, Smriti feels an actor’s act can’t inspire people.

“It’s his life which can be a message. I have all along resisted being part of any commercial campaign though I have got tempting offers like promoting pills which can make a housewife feel active like Tulsi! I insist on visiting villages rather than ribbon cutting in cities. Instances like when I went to Jhabua, a kid identified me as Smriti and not Tulsi, give me satisfaction.”

Does it help Smriti, the politician? “I am not one of those stars who shine in the election season. I have joined a party at the organisational level and am committed to my role,” she signs off.

Starting from Munirka, Smriti participated in the Miss India contest, and worked at McDonald’s before finally making her mark in Mumbai.

In 2003, Smriti fought a Lok Sabha election from Chandni Chowk constituency, which she lost.

She runs an NGO People for Change which provides drinking water in remote areas.

Smriti plans to produce three films.

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