Ekta Kapoor to pull out of Smriti’s STAR show

Former pals Ekta Kapoor and Smriti Z Irani seem to be at loggerheads these days. The latest is that Ekta is pulling out of Smriti’s STAR Plus’ drama ‘Thodi Si Zameen Thoda Sa Aasman’.

The buzz in the Balaji Telefilms camp is of Ekta parting ways from ‘Thodi Si Zameen…’ in two weeks time. According to the Mid-Day magazine, a member working on the show said “For quite some time, there have been creative issues that have been affecting the show. Now it is final that Ekta will pull out of Thodi Si….”

Apparently the reason behind the fallout between the two is because of Smriti’s devotion to her new project for Sony Entertainment Television Asia called ‘Viruddh’. It goes without saying that Smriti owes a lot of her success to Ekta whose popularity shot-up when ‘Kyunki Saans Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ hit the air on STAR Plus.

The source adds, “Smriti hasn�۪t been giving enough time to Kyunki. She has been having major confrontations with Ekta and the creative heads of the serial because of this. So much so, that relations between them have become very bitter.”

A source in Balaji admits, “Things have been souring between Smriti and Balaji for some time now. Thodi Si Zameen… was not garnering any profits, but that is expected in the initial stages. The main reason for Balaji pulling out of the show is production and costing issues.”

As for when Balaji is scheduled to pull out of Smriti�۪s show, the source says, “The contract between Balaji Telefilms and Smriti was for 52 episodes.

Once the 52 episodes are over (in two weeks), Balaji will pull out. None of us expected Balaji to pull out of Smriti�۪s show. Thodi Si Zameen�۪s extension was a given, so Balaji�۪s exit comes as a huge shock.”

With today’s news, are the days numbered for ‘Thoda Si Zameen…’, after all the programme has been shunted to another timeslot when ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ was launched last month.