Producer Ekta Kapoor on Tuesday shared a cryptic message to her Instagram Story, asking “unprofessional actors” giving interviews about her shows to “shut up”.

Her post comes hot on the heels of recent comments made by long-time collaborator, actor Ram Kapoor, about a controversial kissing scene in the show Bade Achhe Lagte Hain. The on-screen kiss, a first for Indian television, saw Ram lock lips with his co-star, actor Sakshi Tanwar.

Ram revealed in a recent interview with YouTuber Siddharth Kannan that it was Ekta, the producer of the show, who wrote the scene.

Ram explained, “Mera kaam, as an actor, is to do my job. Mera kaam hai script ko follow karo. Script mein woh scene hai, main kaise bol sakta hoon ki, ‘Ye main nahi kar sakta?’”

He shared that though he did discuss his apprehension about the on-screen kiss but said that Ekta insisted on it. “I told Ekta, ‘Are you sure you? Television mein kabhi hua nahi hai,’” he recalled. Ram pointed out that it would be a big deal as three generations would watch the show together.

He went on, “Ekta was very confident ki woh [scene] karna hai. She trusted us. I said, ‘Okay, I’ll first get a go-ahead from my wife.’ Fir maine Sakshi ko bola ki, ‘Look, I will handle Ekta. If you have a problem, tell me.” But Ekta went ahead with the lip-lock scene anyway.

As soon as clips from the interview surfaced online, Ekta seemingly hit back at Ram without mentioning him by name. She also accused such “unprofessional actors” of spreading “false information” and peddling “skewed stories”.

The show, which premiered in 2011, featured Ram and Tanwar as a couple — Ram and Priya, respectively.