In a brand new role

Abhilasha Ojha speaks to Smriti Zubin Irani and finds out that she is genuinely trying hard to make a difference on television with her brand of serials.

It's a fight, a test of patience and an achievement to finally get Smriti Zubin Irani on the phone for an interview. It's been two weeks since we have been trying to track her down. If it's not her two new serials that keep her busy, her political commitments have made sure she hits the dusty tracks of Lucknow.

And if it isn't that, her phone is engaged while she converses with her crew in Mumbai, finding out details of editing and scripting progress of the serials. And if this doesn't pack her in for the day, there are other minor but imperative details that need to be smoothened.

"Kids' lunch boxes for school, their text books, school bags, uniforms "" if I don't make sure of these minute details, who else will?" she finally speaks on her way to the Lucknow airport, after hectic rounds of political rallying.

This is Smriti Zubin Irani's world. A world where 24 hours don't seem enough, and where, by her own admission, she packs in at least 30 hours of work in one day.

Some aspect of her life is bound to suffer the consequences and, unfortunately, it could be her health, something that she doesn't like discussing. The only time she briefly touches on this topic is when, during the course of our interview, we tell her that audiences, despite loving her performances, want to see her lose those extra kilos.

"I appreciate the response," she replies, "I know I need to shape up, but a lot of what one sees is the consequence of ill-health that I've battled for so many years now."

And though she knows she needs some time off, right now Smriti is upbeat about her two serials where she's not only an actor, but also the producer. What's exciting (even for audiences like us) is that these serials aren't run-of-the-mill saas-bahu tales. Quite an irony, especially as Smriti has been synonymous with kitchen sink dramas.

"I'm amazed at her courage. She was, from what I hear, single-handedly responsible for the excellent TRPs of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. From that successful journey, she is now moulding herself into a new avataar, and also presenting serials that a lot of us can relate to," says her Virrudh co-star, Sushant Singh, a critically acclaimed actor and a successful television personality.

Incidentally, Singh was approached by her previously for Smriti's other serial, Thodi Si Zameen, Thoda Sa Aasman.

Singh has a point. Smriti's serials are starkly different from Kyunki... where loud makeup, glycerine-soaked eyes, jarring music, tiring camera zooming techniques, generation leaps and convoluted, unrealistic storylines are the order of the day.

Thodi Si Zameen, Thoda Sa Aasman, a serial that appears every Sunday on the 10 pm slot on Star Plus, is about the struggles of a lower middle class girl from a Mumbai chawl. The dialogues and their delivery are suited to the way the language is spoken in such places. And though the characters portray emotions, they do so within realistic parametres.

For instance, you won't find characters crying copiously when there is a vidaai scene. Here they will playfully slap the bride's back, hold her cheeks, hug her tightly and say, "Chal ja. Apna khayal rakhna (Now go. Take care of yourself)."

Precisely the sort of behaviour one would expect from people living in a chawl. But the best part of this serial lies in the way Uma (the central character of the serial essayed by Smriti) behaves with her devilish mother-in-law. She fights for her rights, answers back with equal flourish and doesn't behave like a victim, something that most serials on telly thrive on.

"I'm not the sort of bahu who will take things lying down Ammaji," said her character in one of the episodes. A stark difference from the brand of serials which Smriti has represented till now, and where bahus invariably find themselves vulnerable.

Or look at Vasudha, the character Smriti essays in Virrudh, that runs on the prime-time slot at 9.30 pm every Monday-Thursday on Sony. She's the illegitimate child of a dubious newspaper owner who brings her home and whom she worships. She's in love with a selfless reporter (essayed by Singh) and as events unfold she will soon realise that her mother was raped by her own father, and she was the product of that one night of lust.

The episodes, for which she is working with Kamlesh Pandey, a veteran writer (he's been in the Indian entertainment industry for decades and also wrote the story of Rang De Basanti), are shot two weeks in advance and a bank of eight episodes is invariably maintained to avoid any last-minute confusion.

What's more, the script is given well in advance to actors "" another difference from a majority of serials that we see today where actors twiddle their thumbs in anticipation that some script will be handed to them on the sets.

"I am a storyteller and I was certain to tell the story my way. Very often writers get dejected by the manner in which their vision is translated on screen. So it's best to have control over your story," says Smriti.

She turned producer two years ago when her production company Ugraya Entertainment forayed into theatre. "It's the best platform to interact directly with audiences, especially as television thrives on numbers and TRPs," she adds.

While in one of the plays she strutted in a business suit, the other Gujarati play had her mouthing full dialogues in Kathiawadi Gujarati, a language she had never spoken before.

And though she admits there were people who were sceptical with her move as a producer, she still decided to take the plunge. And while telling her brand of stories was important, what was equally crucial according to her was to present a newer dimension of her acting skills for the audiences.

"I have survived because of them (audiences) and they expect much more from me," she says. Her style of working on the sets is such that as far as possible she gives her actors full-fledged narrations of the characters that they essay on screen.

"I have the best actors in my serials and they take the respective characters to another level altogether," she says. She's involved with intricate details including the look of the sets (for Virrudh, set designer Omang Kumar has been roped in). "Daniel (the music director of Virrudh) and I have been interacting on the phone and though we haven't ever met, he knows exactly what the serial demands," she says.

And what about all the media speculation of the rift between Ekta Kapoor and Smriti? "What about it? I think enough has been said in the media and I don't want to respond to that," she says flatly.

And even as reports are rife that Padmini Kolhapure has been approached for the iconic role of Tulsi, Smriti says, "Only time will tell whether I'm quitting the serial." She adds, "Right now, the television industry is struggling to reach the next level. I want to create serials that give actors, writers and directors some hope of showcasing their genuine craft. "

And though she's just started her foray in this direction, her brand of serials might just pioneer Indian television to a newer, brighter direction.