| Withdrawal symptoms |
After hogging the limelight for several years, many of our small screen actors are backing out of Balaji Telefilms. Gauri Kohli finds out why |
With Smriti Irani being the latest casualty of the consistent battles between Balaji Telefilms and its actors, the number of those opting out of small screen's biggest production house is on the rise. Irani's exit from Kyunkii, where she played Tulsi to perfection for almost seven years, came as a shock and surprise to many who thought the character will die with her.
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Til date, many prominent stars of television have decided to part ways with Balaji citing personal and professional reasons. One might call it dj vu, but it all started with Amar Upadhyay, who gathered accolades for playing Mihir in the same show, so much so that Ekta Kapoor had to bring him back post his death sequence after the nation went into a tizzy.
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The list seems to be increasing with the likes of Cezanne Khan, Rajeev Khandelwal, Iqbal Khan, Sachin Sharma, Amit Sareen, Barkha Bisht and Nausheen Ali Sardar fading out after hogging the limelight initially. A few of them have been sailors in the same boat- having achieved personal milestones as well as earning the coveted TRPs for their respective shows, come what may. One thing that's common between these names is that they are not comfortable with Ekta's sure shot success mantra - generation leap.
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Most of them refused to age with grey hair and wrinkles, whether on their face or on the choice of their committed audiences.
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Says Rajeev Khandelwal, who shot to fame as Sujal in Kahin To Hoga, one of the few Balaji soaps that ran for more than five years without a leap, "the character I play is the most important thing for me. Everything else comes later. After playing Sujal for a long time, I did not feel satisfied and that's when I decided to quit."
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But wasn't his exit a consequence of a nasty spat between Ekta? "I have great respect for Ekta and thank her for casting me as Sujal. I would like to work with her again," was his prompt reply to whether he's at loggerheads with her. Khandelwal is currently seen in Left Right Left on SAB.
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Cezanne's move to Sony is yet another example of the current trend of actors changing loyalties. Apparently, Cezanne did not get any offer from Balaji after Kasautii Zindagi Kay, although he played a key role in the show's popularity as Anurag for more than five years. He was also supposed to do another show with Aamna Shariff as his leading lady for Sony. But, the project did not materialise and the buzz is that he has signed Ek Ladki Anjaani Si instead.
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He was reportedly not too happy with the idea of the first generation leap in the storyline in Kasauti and was asked to play the role of a father to youngsters of his age. Still, he stuck on because the show gave him unprecedented popularity. But the second 20-year leap was stretching things too far. So, he quit.
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Ditto for Sachin Sharma, who played Krishna in Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii and Vansh in K Street Pali Hill. On being asked his decision to quit both the shows, the actor refrained to comment on why he had taken the decision.
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"The decision to quit was mutual. I would not like to get into the details of why I am moved out from both the serials," he quipped.
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He later starred in Aroona Irani's Vaidehi where he played an impotent husband but the show failed to click. Iqbal Khan, who became the heartthrob of millions some years ago with Kaisa Yeh Pyar Hai and Karam Apna Apna recently, had to make a tough choice between his personal and professional life. And he chose the former.
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| Out of all of them, some have managed to bag another plum role and the rest, have decided to create another Balaji - a phenomenon that has launched and popularised many young guns on the small screen. |
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