I never had any problems with Ekta, says Nandini

By Subhash K Jha Oct 16, 2007, 4:17 GMT

Mumbai, Oct 16 (IANS) After her tormentor Nikhil Arya's departure, 'Kesar' star Nandini Sen is back in the Balaji fold. She says she never had any problems with Ekta Kapoor and it was therefore easy to join back.

'It feels good to be back... It's like home. I never had any problems with Ekta, Mrs. Shobha Kapoor or their team. In fact, I didn't take up any TV offer outside Balaji because I was sure I'd be back one day. And now the bad phase is over, I'm back,' Nandini told IANS.

Explaining her co-star's bad behaviour, Nandini said: 'A lot of misunderstandings between Balaji and me were created by Nikhil Arya. I never got along with him. He was a problem from the start, taking his own sweet time to get ready, passing nasty comments at me. And if I didn't come to his birthday parties, he'd get nastier. Eventually, I had to give up 'Kesar'.'

She said things got really ugly.

'He'd pass cheap comments. He instigated the management against me. I did meet Mrs. Shobha Kapoor. But it didn't help. I eventually even went and lodged an FIR (police complaint) against him for harassment. I withdrew into a shell.

'He used my silence against me. I don't know why he stooped to this level. There were times he'd pretend to be concerned about my family problems. But he used even that against me to instigate the management. He didn't seem to understand he was harming not just me but also the serial. The whole horrific experience has made me wiser.'

Once Nikhil left Balaji, Nandini decided to return.

'I messaged Ekta and we met up. We sorted out all the differences that were created between Balaji and I by this person,'

Nandini's new serial is yet to be worked out.

'I'm just excited to be back with Balaji. I'll leave no stone unturned to be a professional.'

Asked why the lead pairs of Ekta's serials don't get along as a rule, Nandini said: 'I don't know. It's one thing not to get along. It's another to work against your co-star's interests. Nikhil enjoyed Balaji's trust. He shouldn't have misused them. My grandma, who brought me up, believes in karma and her good karma is finally shining on me.'

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service