TV actress Sonarika Bhadoria, who played Parvati in mythological drama show "Devon ke Dev Mahadev", says she had put down her papers three months back, but stayed on when producers promised a salary hike. However, she says when the makers failed to fulfil their promise, they sent her a termination mail, forcing her to bow out. But the producers have a different story to tell.
"Three months ago I had given a notice that I would be leaving the show as I was getting good offers. I didn't want to continue playing Parvati," Sonarika told IANS.
"But then I had a talk with the head of production. We narrowed down on one thing that is monetary matter. They were willing to give me a good amount of money, so I continued shooting," she added.
While she had been promised a hike, there were rumours that Nikhil Sinha, producer and series director, was planning to replace her with another actress.
"When I approached them (producers about the rumours), they asked me to chill. As far as I know, Pooja (Bose) was to play Sita, so I was very confident about it. Hence, I told the media that I am playing Parvati," said Sonarika, who played the character for more than a year.
One day she got a call from the head of production saying that the amount that was decided earlier is out of their budget.
"He told me that whatever amount was decided, I can't give that much as it's out of budget. I felt cheated because they told me at the last moment. I was asked to take a decision whether to continue with the show or not. I asked for some time," she said.
"On July 7 late night, I got a termination mail. I had to give my decision by morning. When I woke up, my staff called me and said there was a new girl on the set who had started shooting," she added.
The termination mail and replacement news came as a shock for the 20-year-old, but she got over it soon.
Now she has got a new hair cut and she is spending time with her family and friends.
"I feel happy as somewhere down the line I wanted to quit. It's not that I am devastated. I feel free. When I was acting as Parvati, I didn't get my hair cut for a year. The first thing I did after I got the news was visit a spa and then get a new hair cut. Now, I have fringes, which I really wanted," said Sonarika.
Post the incident, she is neither bitter, nor does she hold any grudge against the show producer or the channel.
She won't mind taking up TV assignments as long as they are interesting, but her focus right now is films. A dance reality show would also work as she loves dancing.
When contacted, Sinha said that Sonarika did put down her papers three months back.
But added that "her contract was initially for two years and there was no exit clause".
"Eventually she didn't want to continue for whatever reasons. Then she put down her papers. We had a chat with her and we agreed upon certain amount of money," Sinha told IANS.
As the amount demanded by Sonarika didn't go down well with the producer, both parties decided to call it quits.
"The discussion was done in May end and since she was happy with the offer, she continued with the show. Her contract ended around June 12. She asked for a hike, which was unheard of. We had discussed the money part and she was given a good raise but, the hike she asked for was unprecedented. So obviously we didn't have that kind of budget," Sinha said.
"We called her and told her we can't offer you this kind of money... We gave her a choice and later she called and said she can't work with this budget and called it quits," he added
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