Theatre is far more challenging than working for television soaps, says popular TV star Smriti Irani.

Smriti, who acts as the iconic daughter-in-law in the TV serial "Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi", said: "You can go for retakes when you are acting in a tele-serial, but that's not possible in drama."

In the city for her first-ever theatre performance, the actor said, "I always wanted to act in plays, but I was not fully confident. Now that I have seen the stage lights, I realise the difference between theatre and screen."

Smriti enacts the role of a daughter-in-law in the Hindi play "Kuchh Tum Kaho Kuchh Hum Kahe". The mother-in-law in the play is Apara Mehta, who essays a similar role in "Kyunki... "

"Apara is the one who brought me to theatre. She says nobody can play a better daughter-in-law to her than I do," Smriti told here.

Smriti plays Tusli Virani in "Kyunki..", which is centred on a Gujarati family.

"I have a special relationship with the Gujarati community. Though I am not a Gujarati, I have come to know the Gujarati culture very well as part of my homework for my role in the TV serial," she said.

She can also speak the Gujarati language passably well. "My husband is a Parsi (a largely Gujarati-speaking community) and I picked up the language from him," she added.

While she has received many offers for cinema roles, she is not in a hurry to step into Bollywood.

"I am happy with my popularity and I am very careful not to take up movie roles that could affect my image.

"If I come across a worthwhile script, I will surely give it a thought," she said.

Smriti contested the general election last year from Delhi as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate.

"I had been associated with the youth wing of the BJP and Seva Bharati, an NGO, even before I played Tusli Irani. So it is not as if I entered politics to en-cash my popularity. I will continue to serve the party," she said.