Actress Rakhi Vijyan who played the airheaded Sweety in Ekta Kapoor's long-running sitcom Hum Paanch, didn't quite leave Balajee in a flurry of glory.

The bitterness of the parting shows up now in a savage spoof on the tv tycoon in this week's comedy Money Hai To Honey Hai.

Ekta's protective brother Tusshar is surprised to see the satire on his sis surface on celluloid.

"When I first heard about my sister being satirized in Money Hai To Honey Hai I asked the producers how they'd feel if we did something similar to one of them in of our Balajee films.

They assured us they'd remove the scenes featuring the spoof on my sister. Now I'm told those scenes are still there. This film is going to come and go without creating any impact. Why give it any importance?

People love to pull you down when you're an icon, like Ekta. What they've done is not right. But then this industry has all kinds of people. I don't want to degrade my sister by over-reacting to this.

But I wonder if this film's director (Ganesh Acharya) would dare do this with a Shah Rukh, Aamir or Akshay Kumar? Obviously not. Because as a director he wants to work with the big stars, not antagonize them."

Tusshar says there's a difference between a homage and a spoof. "In our production C Kcompany I'm named Akshay Kumar.

I'm an ordinary Mumbai middleclass guy a crime reporter who acquires a macho heroic image through his name. My name is so much in contrast to my character. We're actually paying a homage to Akshay."

According to a source very close to the Kapoors, when Ekta heard about the sppofing in Money Hai To Honey Hai she asked Rakhi about it. When the actress admitted she was indeed playing a character like Ekta, the volatile tv tycoon slammed the phone down on Rakhi.

"What can I say?" laughs Ekta. "I'm flattered to have moved from being a humanbeing to mythology. When we heard about this my brother was more upset than I was."

This isn't the first time that Ekta is being put on screen. In a recent film Gulshan Grover had played a tv tycoon inspired by Ekta….supersititious, arrogant, imperious, etc.

"Is that how I'm being perceived by these people? Well…let me tell these filmmakers I've already spoken to my lawyers. Let them put me on screen in a positive way I don't mind. But if I'm attacked for my religious beliefs or my work ethics I'll sue the hell out of these clever filmmakers."

Ask producer Kumar Mangat about the spoofing, and he brushes it off. "We didn't even have Ekta Kapoor in mind when we did the character…No, Tusshar didn't speak to me directly. But he did send me a message through someone. I told him to see the film and decide. I don't think the character is offensive."