Television actor Ronit Roy has been banned from acting in "Sarrkkar" by Ekta Kapoor, who felt his presence in another soap at the same time as her "Kasauti Zindagi Kay" featuring him, could affect the viewings of her serial.

The actor, who plays debonair Rishabh Bajaj in "Kasauti...", was supposed to have acted in the pivotal role of a wounded chief minister's son in the Shobha De-written script.

The serial was also to star his real-life brother Rohit Roy. But sitcom-mogul Kapoor clipped his wings just before he made his flight - either he continued playing Bajaj on "Kasauti...", or he moved on completely to the new soap.

Roy opted to stay on in Kapoor's serial.

"It wasn't a show of strength, or my attempt to prove how powerful I am," laughs Kapoor.

"Ronit is a dear friend and a very important actor in our serial. I had no objection to him doing another serial. But to my horror, 'Sarrkkar' was slotted at the same time as my 'Kasauti...'. Surely, we couldn't have Ronit competing against himself," she explained.

As a result, Ronit has stopped shooting for "Sarrkkar" with immediate effect, thereby putting the whole project into a quandary.