And the sufferer is none other than Balajee Telefilms whose schedules are going awry.
Says a source very close the serial, "It's becoming more and more difficult for us to co-ordinate Shweta's dates. She's sometimes hours and hours late for shooting. This may be a permissible lapse in a feature film. But in a daily soap even half an hour's delay means an inexcusable delay in delivering the episode."
The last straw was an incident at the shooting of Pradeep Sarkar's Laga Chunri Mein Daag.The cast and crew were aghast at the number of times people from Balajee Telefilms were sent to get Shweta.
Says the Balajee source, "Everyone from the Yashraj crew was stunned. They said not the biggest star from cinema is so pampered and in –demand. That's when we did some serious re-thinking."
According to inside information, Ekta is now thinking of relocating Kasauti Zindagi Kay from daily primetime to an afternoon slot.
Says the source, "It's the only way to beat the incessant attack on deadlines that Kasauti.... is suffering. See, now that Cezanne Khanna is out of Kasauti, the serial can't survive without Shweta, at least not at primetime. And Shweta knows it."
As per clandestine plans at Balajee, the creative heads now intend to give Star Plus a brand new show to replace Kasauti ....which has been on air for over five years at primetime, relocate Kasauti... to the afternoon slot and replace Shweta.
The other prime-time biggie from Balajee Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Tthi would probably see the return of Smriti Irani as soon as the actress is inclined to do.
While refusing to comment on the casting freeze in Kasauti.... Ekta Kapoor says, "The cast is a perennial problem for us. The actors beceome successful through the show and then start believing that the show runs on their steam. But the truth, I'm afraid, is otherwise."