Actually Gul was quite hung up on KSG playing the role - she did give some interviews in the beginning of the show too that KSG will play this role. But then KSG had a very bad phase in his life with affair and 3 timing and he also didn't expect the role to become such a big hit. SP was the one who pushed Barun for the role and maybe due to that gratitude also Barun didn't speak out against SP and Gul after the red ticker disclaimer.By the time SPA 2012 happened, everyone knew how popular ASR turned out to be and that's when KSG realized what he missed out and hence he jumped in 4Lions next show QH. I think the casting and the story for QH started around May-june(since it takes 5-6 months before to launch a show) and then itself you could see Gul's interest waning in her show IPK. So basically IPK was never IPK after May, the creatives wanted to move on to QH and the storyline never made any sense - like the kernal guy mentioned on IPK forum, good storylines were never accepted and swept off the discussion. I don't fault Barun to leave the show - his contract was up, he was tired and exhausted and the storyline was not making any sense. Only thing I feel bad is that the PH could have given a decent end to this show and could have gotten in everyone's good books and closed the show gracefully. Now Gul is so ready to cover for KSG - pity she didn't feel the same for Barun and didn't have any qualms on throwing the entire blame on him for the show closure. Dekhte hai, phront phront what happens with KSG and Gul.