Filmmaker Ekta Kapoor casts Samir Soni in her serial

They have been best friends for a long time. In all the parties that TV doyenne Ekta Kapoor hosted, jewellery designer and former actor, Neelam Kothari would be the first to be invited. But this time, Kapoor has apparently gone a step ahead and roped in Neelam’s hubby, actor Samir Soni as the hero of one of her television serials, thus giving a fresh lease of life to his acting career.

It was Kapoor, who started the trend of introducing new faces instead of working with established stars in soaps. “She has decided to change her strategy and make a TV serial, which will have Samir in the lead.  He’ll be playing a lawyer in the series which is loosely based on a popular international soap,” says a source.

Samir has always been Kapoor’s friend, but she never considered him for a TV serial. Not even when Samir made news as a winner of  Bigg Boss. But things changed after Samir’s marriage to Neelam.

“Ekta wanted to do something with Samir immediately. She also wanted to have Samir do the TV serial in place of Ram Kapoor along with Sakshi Tanwar (the serial is on air now) but somehow the plan didn’t materialise. But now, she has decided to ask her staff to write a brand new TV show specially keeping him in mind,” the source adds.

Samir, sources say, has already started getting ready for the role which will be aired on prime time replacing a current Kapoorshow, which already has a high TRP rating.