Kumkum's entire new generation cast replaced

Just as the new generation story line was picking up, the Kumkum production team decided to replace all the new generation leads almost overnight.

The change was so sudden, that it has left everyone , especially the audience, flabbergasted.

No announcements were made, no press releases. The audience simply switched on their favourite serial one day to find that their favourite characters of Sharman or Siya or Neeti was someone entirely different.

We had already reported earlier that Vivan Bhatena, who played Dhruv, would be leaving the show as his other two shows – Maayka and Chuna hai Aasman were taking up most of his time, and he was unable to give time to the Kumkum team. But the change of the other three characters has left everone baffled.

So what brought this overnight plastic surgery? ‘Frankly, though it was a mutually amicable decision, I still am wondering why they decided to change my character,’ says an obviously bewildered but composed Gaurav Khanna, who gathered immense fan following as Sharman. ‘As producers, they know the best. I was having some date problems, with Meri Doli Tere Angna (he plays the lead) requiring a lot of my time. But it was not something that could not have been worked out. Shrman is very close to my heart, so I am sad about this,’ laments this normally chirpy actor unhappily.

With Megha Gupta, on the other hand, it is a different story. Talking exclusively to IF reporter Sree, Megha Gupta, who had been playing Neeti, says,'The story line did not appeal me. Neeti was being made negative, and I could not agree to that. Neeti is such a sweet girl, she understands the whole family so much, she has compromised so much for Sharman, she can never be shown negative. But they wanted to do that to bring twist to the story. Basically get into a tussle with Sia. But Neeti as a character would have handled anything calmly, without going negative or mean. I tried talking to the creatives, but nothing worked out. Finally we mutually agreed to part ways.’

‘I had to move on sometime or the other, so I decided to take this step,’ clarifies the pretty actress further. 'I am now concentrating on CID. I have been given a good role, and am giving nearly 25 days for CID. I need at least 5 days for myself, so i don’t think I will take up anything new as of now.’

Whatever the reason be, this kind of drastic change upsets the audience. More than the characters, they often get attached to the actors who are playing the roles. Now they not only have to deal with unpredictable characters, but also have to get used to new actors without any warning whatsoever.

As Gaurav pointed out, producers know the best. One is compelled to ponder though…..do they really?

Reporter: Srividya Rajesh, Minnie
Author: Minnie