The money was good, very good: Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million). The vehicle she chose: Sahara Entertainment Television's mega-budget serial, Karishma: The Miracles Of Destiny.

But the serial courted trouble when Barbara Taylor Bradford sued the network for allegedly taking the idea for the serial from her novel, Woman of Substance.

Scheduled for a 260-episode run, the serial was taken off air after one episode was telecast in May. After a Kolkata high court order, six more episodes were telecast in July, when Bradford moved the Supreme Court. The serial was taken off air again. Finally, in August 25, the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead.

The serial cost Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million) to make, but it took just half-a-dozen episodes for Indian audiences to overlook Karishma: The Miracles Of Destiny and prefer Sony Entertainment Television's more humble Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, slotted at the same time.

'All of us put so much into this series, things couldn't go wrong for us,' Karisma told a newspaper after the serial went on air.

Not quite. Indians, it seemed, preferred Karisma on the large screen.

'This was destined to happen'

Text: Sita Menon