She was once the most loved bahu of television, but of late Smriti Iraani has only met with disappointment. Life has been difficult as a producer with all her shows having been consigned to history. And history is what Smriti looked for as she tried to recreate the magic of Gandhi. Sadly, Smriti’s ambitious international show on Mahatma Gandhi has been scrapped.

This was revealed to us by a source who was closely associated with the show. Gandhi was to be made in two languages – Hindi and English. The English version was tipped to air on B.B.C.

Gandhi was meant to be a co-production between Smriti’s Ugraya Entertainment Pvt Ltd and UTV.

Confirming the news, Winay Mahajan, VP, TV (Business development & operations), UTV content, says “Well, I wouldn’t say it’s scrapped but I rather say it’s been pushed back.”

So, is it high production cost that has proved the bane for this show? “No, cost is always secondary. You need to get all the logistics right. However, somehow we could never work on the format and other logistics. We had begun pre-production work but things didn’t progress thereafter. However, I’m still optimistic that such a concept can never fail,” said Mahajan.

Despite repeated attempts, Smriti Iraani remained unavailable for comment.